Does anybody know how to get tickets for the cup of China in Shenzhen? It’s a few weeks away and still no information on tickets? I live in Hong Kong. Any info would be appreciated.

It seems in bad taste especially for Minsol who is only 17. I also think it is bad taste after how many skaters recently passed away

People have been musing over the past few seasons at how many skaters, particularly juniors, are named Sofia (or a variant of the name). I crunched the numbers looking only at 2026 JGP participants and found a ridiculous stat. Apparently there’s space for exactly one Sofia in each fed this season.

Of course, there are even more Sofias who have joined the senior ranks… but this one was too perfect not to share.

See @skatingstats on Instagram for more nerdy data stories.

Did anyone happen to catch/record the story post from Sunday of Zignik’s rhythm dance sneak peek?

im a beginner figure skater and I want to get my axel in the next couple of months, does anybody have any advice or workout routines and excersizes that really helped them get their axel down?

I guess they’re updating the times as each comp happens this season 🤷🏽‍♀️

First predictions of the season (I missed this lol)

Here’s mine:

Men:
Gold: Mikhail Shaidorov
Silver: Adam Siao Him Fa
Bronze: Minkyu Seo

Women:
Gold: Yuna Aoki
Silver: Ami Nakai
Bronze: Anastasia Gubanova

Pairs:
Gold: Metelkina/Berulava
Silver: Boikova/Kozlovskii
Bronze: Zhang/Huang

Ice Dance:
Gold: FB/C
Silver: Carreira/Ponomarenko
Bronze: Davis/Smolkin

What are yours?

(It can be serious or delulu)

What are some really programs that you acknowledge are good but you could never get into? And why?

I'd like to get more invested into figure skating, but idk where to start, so I'd like some recommendations that aren't just the popular ones :)

I am very new here and I want to ask how it is here during the summer?

With longtime US Champs Chock & Bates likely retiring, there has been a massive power vacuum in the US ice dance field. Suddenly, the podium is wide open, and we’re seeing a truly exciting battle take place as the teams fight to establish themselves as one of the top US teams and hopefully get the coveted world slots. The US has one of the deepest dance benches in the field, and they’re all coming out swinging this season. Now that the Grand Prix is starting, I thought it would be fun to highlight our contenders, how they did at their challengers, and what we might see leading up to US Nationals.

1. Zingas/Kolesnik- You know them, you love them! Due to an injury, they haven’t been competing and will make their debut at Skate America in November, and their second GP will be at NHK. They have huge momentum coming off their World’s bronze, and they have massive scoring potential. This season should be theirs to lose, but they’re taking an enormous risk with their free dance to Bolero. Will it pay off?

2. Brown/Brown- Shockingly, the Browns are currently the highest scoring US dance team on the Challenger series, putting up a personal best of 190.81 points. Granted, Nepela was a very high scoring event, so it remains to be seen if they can keep it up. They have broken 190 points before at 4CC earlier this year, so they are absolutely capable. Their huge advantage is in the free dance; Queen’s Gambit is a stunning program, and at 114.22 points is the highest scoring free dance of any US team. That said, their RD is their weaker program, coming in 3rd among US teams, and it remains to be seen if judges on the GP are as lenient with their golden waltz. They’ll make their debut at Skate Canada and have a second assignment at Finlandia. Can they cement themselves as the undisputed number 3, or will their waltz hold them back?

3. Carreira/Ponomarenko- Coming in second among the US teams at 188.83 points, CPom has established themselves as the people to beat when it comes to the golden waltz. Nebelhorn was much more conservative in scoring than Nepela, and they scored an impressive 78.98 in their RD. They’ve been politicking for it hard, and it’s been working well for them! I would personally be shocked if any US team could come close to them on the GP. But they have the opposite problem from the Browns: while their RD is 1st among the US teams, their FD is 3rd. Also similar to the Browns, they’ve only competed once so far. I’m sure we’ll see them iron out the kinks. We’ll get to see at GP France and NHK. If you asked me to bet on a lock for the US podium, it would be them. Can the golden waltz nepo babies ward off the lower ranked teams?

4. Green/Parsons- Oh, Green/Parsons. These two have a strong second place showing in both programs. Combining their season’s best scores, they would have an incredible 189 points for their total score- if, however, they were able to put together two clean skates. They’ve had falls at both their events, and so their seasons best is 9 points lower than it should be at a 180.37. It really is a huge shame. They’re immensely talented, and their programs this year are very good. But ice dance rewards consistency and is so momentum based, they cannot afford to slip up in such a competitive field. Fingers crossed they have gotten out the jitters before their assignments at Skate Canada and Finlandia, where they’ll be going head to head with the Browns at both events. They’ve lost to them at Nepela, but can they put it together and snatch back that number 3rd spot?

5. Bratti/Sommerville- Brattiville is the last team I truly consider to be in the mix for the podium. That said, in a season where the teams are all coming out swinging, their programs have been considered to be on the weaker side. They’re solidly in 4th in all metrics. Their season’s best RD is 5 points below the 3rd place Browns’ at 71.24 points, and their FD at 106.79 is 3 points behind CPom’s. Their total is 178.03, which isn’t that far behind Green/Parsons, but that’s more due to GPa’s inconsistency. This team absolutely has a chance, but right now momentum is not on their side due to a poor showing at Budapest. It’s hard to compare scoring at different events, but there’s definitely a gap between them and the other 3 teams we saw on the challengers. Their assignments are China and Finlandia, the latter of which will be against the Browns and Green/Parsons in what might be one of the most intense battles of the GP series, for three teams that have very little chance of medaling. Can their dance party programs charm the judges, or are they a relic of the unpopular decisions of the previous quad?

6. The rest- Multiple other teams will be performing on the GP, but it’s unlikely that these teams will be able to break into the top teams this season. Two have managed to break the 170 point barrier, Neset/Markelov and Cui/Rogers. The former have had a rough season of it so far, redoing both their programs since their bronze medal at Lake Placid. They placed 5th at Nebelhorn with 170.76 points, and they do have two assignments on the GP, including the SkAm host slot. Meanwhile, Cui/Rogers came out of nowhere, winning Lake Placid and getting 5th at Budapest, beating Brattiville, with a 174.09. They have no GP assignments, and it will be very difficult for them to make it on even though that score will have bumped them up the list, because US dance slots are almost maxed out this year. Still, their Sinners program is one of the best programs of the season so far. I wanted to highlight these teams not because I expect them to podium or go to worlds, but to showcase the depth the US dance field has. The vampires are coming, and there is no room to fall behind.

So there you have it! It’s a brief breakdown of where teams stand going into the Grand Prix, and I for one am actually excited to watch Ice Dance this year, despite the general shenanigans that go on during this sport. I’m curious to know who everyone is rooting for, and how they think the podium and world slots will shake out.

Thank you for answering the question 🫶🏻

A bit of a vent post:

I live in an area of Canada with a relatively small skating community. My friends and I have been trying to put together an Open level synchro team for years at this point, but it seems no one wants to do this sport anymore. Synchro gets no promotion from our provincial skating board, much less in individual clubs. It is hard to watch all of these talented skaters dismiss synchro as "lesser" than singles skating. At this point, I think my team may disband due to lack of interest. We are the only team in our province trying to compete at this level, and it seems we are the only group trying improve the quality of synchro in our province. As much as we love this sport, we can't do it alone, and it hurts when nearly everyone we reach out to rejects us in favour of singles. Sometimes I wish I preferred singles over synchro, as then I would be able to complete without having to rely on others.

I think we are nearing the end of synchro as a sport, at least in my community. I feel the original magic of this sport has been lost. I remember skating synchro as a teenager and dreaming of skating on an Open level team. But it seems this dream is no longer possible to achieve in my community.

with there being a quite a few lesser known skaters there, who do you think will be one to watch and keep an eye out for?

Hiya! Longtime FS fan here! Im currently in the midst of a creative writing project with a chapter set during the grand prix circuit, and i was wondering if anyone had a bit more clarity on how starting order and groups are decided in events like skate canada or nhk trophy? Is it based on international ranking or number draw?

I care a lot about accuracy in my work so i would hate to get this wrong!

Are there any orthos in Portland who can look at figure skates? I hurt my feet a few months ago that led to nerve pain that has healed for walking, but not when doing edge work. I get pins and needles pain after just doing 5 min of swizzle pumps on a circle.

Hi! I am a New Yorker living in Paris. I am coming down for the weekend and was wondering if anyone has a spare tickets for the competitions sessions on Saturday and Sunday and the Gala Sunday? I plan to try at the stadium on the day as well. I speak French so if anyone needs assistance with anything related I would be happy to help! Cheers! :-)

Hi! I am a New Yorker living in Paris. I am coming down for the weekend and was wondering if anyone has a spare tickets for the competitions sessions on Saturday and Sunday and the Gala Sunday? I plan to try at the stadium on the day as well. I speak French so if anyone needs assistance with anyth related I would be happy to help! Cheers! :-)

I would like to read some more books on figure skating. I have read Gracie Gold's autobiography and have read some fiction too. I would really appreciate recommendations for any of your favourites - particularly non-fiction. Thanks!!

I was thinking of making a discord or whatsapp group for people who are going for asking questions/meeting up. Message me or comment if you are interested.

(picture is from the last time I went to Angers IceParc)

Soo Russian GP season just kicked off with the news that everybody's favorite neutral athlete Kamila is (returning?) to Team Tutberidze 😭

I apologize if this seems a bit long, russian fs is just genuinely the can of worms i cant seem to close

Remember when Trusova left TeamTut because she felt as if the coaches gave priority to Shcherbakova and Kostornaia over her during the 3A era and then we also know that the only reason she felt sidelined afterwards is due to Eteri's bias for Valieva (dont even come for me with the "shes just the best student" bs 😭🙏 its so clear valieva was eteri's fave) sooo now that Trusova is having a massive resurgence in popularity and has totally polarizing support, will we be getting a coaching deflection fiasco yet again ???

Let's face it, Valieva is a BRAND in Russian fs, regardless of her intl controversies, do we think the Russian federation will bless her with sky high scores even with those two lackadaisical? For lack of a better word programs???

Trusova might have the pragmatic experience of 2 intl competition podiums back to back AND new found consistency with her fp butt is it enough to overpower rusfed darling Kamila ???

The season is JUST starting and there's already so much drama (also valieva fighting for ain? Wtah💀) I CANT WAIT TO GET INTO IT !!!

(Kosto's departure ending pose )*

😬

Hello, I’m a trans masc figure skater and I have a consultation for top surgery in February, I’m sure most of my questions will be answered then, but I wanted to ask here if there’s anyone with first hand experience on how their healing process went along with getting back into training again.

Context for me: I’m 22 and have been skating for at least nine years, although most of that was building foundations and I have found that coming back to the sport as an adult has helped me improve far more than when I skated in high school. So my skill level is still pretty beginner, I have all my single jumps except for lutz and axel, but my coach and I are working on those. I have passed my pre-prelim skating skills test and am working on just honing my prelim skills before testing them.

My question I guess for anyone else is how long you were away from the ice before you went back? I know that the pamphlets and such say 4-6 weeks, but I get very very antsy when I spend more than at least two weeks away from the ice, so I’m curious how other people have handled it. I’m sure that just practicing skating skills would be fine, but yeah I’m interested in other peoples perspectives.

Kind of along with that, when did you go back to off ice training? I had a low level ankle injury earlier this year and I nearly went insane with not being able to do as much physical activity as I usually do. (I’m also a veterinary assistant so I’m used to always moving around and not sitting still for long periods of time. I think of myself as a working dog, if I don’t have a task I’ll get destructive)

Any information or thoughts would be extremely helpful, thank you!!!!

I've been working on axel for 2 years and I just feel so stuck. My main issues are I cant cross my legs and KEEP them crossed, and I cannot rotate past almost forward, so just under 1 rotation. I USED to be able to do both these things, but then my axel literally just got worse for no reason, its like I knew I was so close to landing it and got over excited and it just started getting worse and I started falling on it?

Doing it on the harness feels useless. I've landed it on one foot fully rotated, doesnt matter, I take the harness off and I cannot do it. it feels like i suddenly have weights attached to my ankles and I once again, cannot get past forward. I genuinely have no idea how I used to be able to fully rotate it. For reference I can do 2 rotations off ice EASILY, my coach often tells people how I have a "perfect" off ice axel, I can do an off ice axel perfectly in ankle weights the same weight as my skates. I can do backspin with proper checkout, waltz backspin, waltz loop, all with the legs crossed. Basically as soon as I try and actually rotate past almost forward I tilt in the air, it feels like I leave part of my body behind, and even if I do rotate slightly more doing it consistently or landing on 1 foot feels IMPOSSIBLE.

The best I've ever gotten was landing almost forward on one leg then either twizzling or hopping the rest of the rotation. I CANNOT get past that. I've tried double sal, used to be able to fully rotate that with my legs crossed as well, then randomly lost the ability to do it, now its basically the same as axel. I hate toe loop, and I cannot do a 2lo off ice and the 3 times i've tried it all felt horrible lmao. Also before anyone asks, yes I'm terrified of falling, I'm working on it with my therapist and coach, (but if anyone has additional advice PLEASE give it to me). But its not like I havent fallen on axel and 2sal before. My fear of falling is also mostly connected to crossing my legs, meaning I'm generally very relaxed if I try and just rotate on ice with my legs side by side, but guess what, still cant get past forwards because my axis starts to go wonky and I tilt. It's like I cant get all my body parts to "come together" theres always something that feels behind the rest of me. (I can fully rotate with legs side by side in ankle weights off ice btw without a wonky axis).

Right now I want nothing more than to fully rotate because I've worked really hard on being able to land on one leg (back in the day my issue was I could fully rotate and cross my legs, but couldn't land on one leg EVER) and even if I could land it on the quarter with my legs uncrossed I'd genuinely be so happy. Its so frustrating because I know I can physically do this jump, my coach tells me I can do it, other skaters are surprised I cant do it based on my off ice axel, and I know I have the ability to do it. But I cant. advice or help would be much appreciated 💔💔💔