Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita: “Until now, people may have said that Japan wasn’t strong in couples events, but Riku and Ryuichi taught us that Japanese athletes can become strong. They made us want to become strong as Japanese ice dancers, too.”
Ice dancers Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita, silver medalists at the Milan-Cortina Olympic team event, expressed [...]
Ilia Averbukh: “The U.S. is indeed the leader in world figure skating right now. Of course, this is a very questionable situation, because their dominance comes with the caveat ‘in the absence of Russians.’”
Ilia Averbukh commented that the current U.S. dominance in figure skating is questionable due to the absence of [...]
Sofia Samodelkina on training with Rafael Arutyunyan: “You work independently and take full responsibility for yourself and your work. This isn’t familiar or comfortable for everyone.”
Sofia Samodelkina described her experience training with Rafael Arutyunyan in the U.S., highlighting the independence [...]
Ami Nakai: “The tone of my short and free programs will be different, but for the short program, I plan to try a genre I’ve never done before. I’m thinking of doing a tango-style short program.”
Olympic bronze medalist Ami Nakai shared her plans to challenge new musical styles in her programs for the upcoming [...]
Eteri Tutberidze: “Sofia Akatieva got this injury because she was very unfocused during training. Her training process was always very difficult – it was necessary to convince, push, and motivate her.”
Eteri Tutberidze commented on the injury of 2023 Russian champion Sofia Akatieva, attributing it to a lack of focus [...]
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: “What was the most nerve-wracking moment for me at the Olympics? Probably Petya Gumennik’s short program, when I wasn’t at the Olympics.”
World and European champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva shared that the most nerve-wracking moment of the 2026 Olympics for [...]
Mao Shimada: “Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara are my idols. Someday, I want to win Olympic gold myself.”
Four-time World Junior champion Mao Shimada performed at the opening of "Bloom On Ice," expressing excitement for her [...]
Sofia Samodelkina: “When you step on the ice with Shae-Lynn Bourne, the magic begins, I swear. Of course, there are many good choreographers, but there’s something special about her.”
Sofia Samodelkina shared her experience working with renowned choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne, highlighting the [...]
Mone Chiba: “It might be difficult to make both my programs stand out, but I definitely want at least one of them to be a piece where people say, ‘Mone-chan chose this music!’ and feel my boldness.”
World silver medalist Mone Chiba celebrated her 21st birthday at the opening of the "Bloom On Ice" show, delighting [...]
“When we started pairs, there were no coaches in Japan. Having a base overseas is difficult. There’s also the language barrier, which made things tough. We want to eliminate those obstacles.”
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara held a retirement press conference, sharing their coaching ambitions and plans to [...]
Tatiana Tarasova: “I cannot say that the United States is currently the best in the world in figure skating. You can’t make such a claim when Russian skaters haven’t competed anywhere for four years.”
Tatiana Tarasova stated that the United States cannot be called the best in figure skating while Russian athletes [...]
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: “I agree with Alysa Liu that when you are given freedom and you are a senior athlete, it is beneficial. When there is a respectful and trusting relationship between athlete and coach, it helps.”
World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva agreed with Alysa Liu that granting freedom to adult athletes is beneficial, [...]
“Rio Nakata, a wonderful Japanese skater who has won the Junior Worlds several times, has great potential. I think he can provide strong competition.” Elizaveta Tuktamysheva on who would be the most intriguing skater on the international stage next season
World and European champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva commented on Yuma Kagiyama’s decision to skip the 2026/2027 [...]
Alysa Liu: “Amber saved me out of a sticky situation in Japan, where me and Isabeau, we were arm-in-arm being followed by men, and they kept stopping in front of us. She literally was like, ‘Get back.’ She’s mama bear.”
Alysa Liu Talks About Setting Boundaries with Fans and Finding Support on Tour original source: Interview Magazine [...]
Ryuichi Kihara reflected on the Olympic period, saying, “Because I knew it was the last, I couldn’t stop crying.”
World champion pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara revealed the timing and reasons behind their retirement, reflecting [...]
Sofia Samodelkina: “It’s absolutely clear to me: if I don’t land an axel or a quad next season, I won’t rise above my current standings. So the goal is clear.”
Kazakh figure skater Sofia Samodelkina shared her determination to regain ultra-C jumps, stating that without them, [...]
Alexander Zhulin: “I believe Malinin is 100 percent Russian. All the American men have Russian roots, so a lot becomes clear in this debate.”
Alexander Zhulin stated that American dominance in figure skating is debatable without direct competition against [...]
Aleksandra Boikova: “As I understand it – because there wasn’t much media coverage about Sasha’s (Galliamov) injury, the ISU decided there were some behind-the-scenes games with replacing the main entries. So they refused the substitution due to injury.”
Three-time Russian champion Aleksandra Boikova described feeling devastated after not being selected for the Olympic [...]
Ryuichi Kihara: “I didn’t think I’d cry right from the start [of press conference], but when we were sent off by our team president, it just hit me. We’ve been together for seven years, and I started remembering everything from when I first began skating.”
World champion pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara held an emotional retirement press conference, reflecting on their [...]
Sofia Samodelkina on Alysa Liu: “No one was used to seeing figure skating like this. For us, sport is a battlefield, a fight, but here’s a girl enjoying herself throughout the whole program.”
Kazakh figure skater Sofia Samodelkina defended Alysa Liu’s Olympic gold, calling criticism of her victory unfounded [...]
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara: “At the Olympics, we were 5th after the short program, and I was frustrated and said, ‘Should we go for another four years? I can’t end it like this.’ But after giving everything in the free skate, we felt a sense of completion.”
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara held a press conference in Tokyo to announce their retirement, reflecting on their [...]
“Winning the team silver with Team Japan. Everyone worked hard, and the performances were heartfelt – that’s my best memory.” Kaori Sakamoto on her Olympic memories
Olympic silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto expressed gratitude at the "Thank You Parade" in Tokyo, reflecting on the power [...]
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: “Reducing the number of jumps means that the weakest jump will be removed, not the strongest. And those who have been winning with their technical skills should continue to win, because they will still have a variety of quads.”
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva commented on the reduction of jumps in the free program, saying she views the change calmly and [...]
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron: “We plan to take a vacation, see what opportunities arise, what motivates us, and what challenges we want to set for ourselves in the future.”
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron expressed their joy at winning both Olympic and World titles in ice [...]