The Future of Figure Skating

Episode Notes Talia Barrington is a former competitive ice dancer and ballroom dancer and is currently a master's student at the NYU School of Journalism. She recently wrote an article for Slate entitled “The Once Unthinkable Revolution Coming to Figure Skating” about the changes to allow teams of any gender in ice dance and pairs. Talia broke the news that the ice dance technical committee of the...

Episode Notes Today’s guest is Ryan Stevens. Ryan is the author of three reference books about figure skating history and the fantastic resource that is the Skate Guard blog. A former figure skater and judge from Halifax, Nova Scotia, he also writes for “Skating” magazine and US Figure Skating. I’ve appreciated Ryan’s interest in all corners of skating history, especially the figures who have been...

Episode Notes Today's guest today is Megan Williams-Stewart. Megan is a board member of the Diversify Ice Foundation, and is a strong advocate for inclusion and support for other skaters of color.  Since its founding in 2017 Diversify Ice has provided sponsorship award packages worth over $30,000 to competitive minority skaters, worked with underrepresented schools to introduce the sport to more B...

Episode Notes This episode dives into the world of contemporary figure skating outside of the competitive realm. My guest is Garrett Kling, a professional figure skater, choreographer, yoga instructor, and multimedia artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With Kate McSwain, he is the Co-Executive Director of American Ice Theatre . In 2017, Garrett received the Ground Breaker Award at the U.S. Ope...

Episode Notes Meagan Duhamel is the 2018 Olympic Bronze medalist in pairs, and gold medalist in the team event. She and partner Eric Radford also won two world titles and were known for pushing the envelope technically, being the first pair to land a throw quad at the Olympics. Since her retirement, Meagan has focused on coaching and commentary and is known for being an outspoken advocate for othe...

Episode Notes My guest today is Christopher Trevisan. Chris is the Director of the Skating School of Switzerland, where he works alongside head coach Stéphane Lambiel and his students, aka Team Champéry.  In 2019, the Skating School of Switzerland became one of the ISU’s pilot Centers of Excellence. Chris also is the manager and agent for Stéphane and Deniss Vasiljevs. I’m a huge admirer of Team C...

Episode Notes TW: Eating Disorders. Today's guest is Rachael Flatt. Rachael was the 2008 World Junior Champion, and the 2010 US National Champion and placed 7th in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. After retiring from competitive skating in 2014, she completed her degree from Stanford University and has gone on to pursue a Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology, with a focus on eating disorders and ment...

Episode Notes Today I’m joined by figure skater and author Andrew J Sass. Andrew’s first middle-grade novel, “Ana on the Edge” features a 12-year-old non-binary figure skater coming to terms with her identity and what it means for her ambitions in the sport. It’s a sweet and compelling story that I think figure skating fans of any age will enjoy. Andrew is himself a non-binary adult skater and a j...

Episode Notes I’m joined by Kiira Korpi for a conversation about positive coaching and mental health in figure skating. Kiira Korpi is a two-time Olympian, a three-time European medalist, and a five-time Finnish champion. She is the author of a memoir, “Kiira Korpi: Surviving the Ruthless World of Championship Figure Skating” which was published last year in an English translation. Kiira currently...

Episode Notes Welcome back to the Future of Figure Skating. My guest today is Asher Hill, who is a choreographer, commentator, and one of the founders of the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance. With his previous partner ]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharis_Ralph )[Kharis Ralph, Asher was the 2008 Canadian national junior champion in ice dance, and went to the 2010 World Championshi...

Episode Notes Jackie Wong of Rocker Skating has become a household name among figure skating fans as the go-to source for competition reports, live-tweeting, and analysis of the sport. I talked to Jackie about his pathways into skating, the media landscape in the US, and how Asian American representation matters. We also nerded out about rule changes this season, and how different federations dete...

Episode Notes Today’s guest is the first Olympic champion I’ve had on the podcast - Charlie White!  Charlie and his ice dance partner Meryl Davis are the 2014 Olympic Gold Medalists as well as 2010 Olympic silver medalists. They are also two-time World champions and six-time national champions. In 2022, Charlie launched the Michigan Ice Dance Academy with his wife Tanith (herself an Olympic medali...

Episode Notes On this episode, I'm joined by author and professional skater Karina Manta. With her ice dance partner Joe Johnson, Karina competed internationally for the US. Karina and Joe made history as the first team where both partners were out as LGBTQ, and Karina was also the first woman skater to come out while competing - it took until 2018 to break that barrier, which is just mindblowing!...

Episode Notes In this episode, a conversation with Dr. Tina Chen, member of Skate Canada's Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. We talk cultural and systemic change, gender inclusion, combatting anti-Asian and anti-Bthe lack racism, and ethical choreography. Tina Chen has been named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women . She is a distinguished professor of History at the U...

Episode Notes There’s been increasing discussion of stress fractures, as skaters like Rika Kihira, Wakaba Higuchi, and Yuma Kagiama have struggled with that injury this season. In today’s episode, I’ll be focusing on the biomechanical research can help prevent these kinds of overuse injuries. My guest Dr, Deborah King, is Professor and Grad Chair in Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Ithaca...

Episode Notes Three-time Olympian Kirsten Moore-Towers is one of the most highly-decorated Canadian skaters of her generation. Kirsten has also been an outspoken advocate for athlete mental health and eating disorder awareness, including participating in the TSN documentary Disorder where she spoke openly about her own struggles with body image and bulimia. Kirsten and Mike retired from competitiv...

Episode Notes This episode is for the skating nerds - and for anyone who is curious about how judging works and how change is made at the ISU. My guest this week, Jeroen Prins, is a judge, technical controller, and referee and serves as the Acting Discipline Manager for figure skating for the Netherlands. Notably, he judged the pairs competition at the Beijing Olympics and the World Championships...

Episode Notes Today's episode features six-time French champion Maé Bérénice Méité in a conversation about her new programs, race in skating, injury recovery, body image, and social media marketing. Maé is making her comeback this year, after having to withdraw from the 2021 World Championships with an injured achilles tendon and then missing the 2021-22 season while she recovered. In addition to...

Today's episode features two-time Olympian, Kaitlyn Weaver in a conversation about queer representation, building inclusive community, systemic change - and the future of the rhythm dance. With her ice dance partner Andrew Poje, Kaitlyn is a three-time World medalist, a two-time Four Continents champion, a two-time Grand Prix Final champion, and a three-time Canadian national champion. Since retir...

Episode Notes This episode introduces the big question: How can figure skating be an inclusive, healthy, and joyful experience for all participants?  Transcript available at: https://bit.ly/3Jmyrwk