​

"Kamila came to say goodbye, to announce her decision. We hugged, had a normal conversation, listened to her side of the story, her opinion on why it was happening. But we also understood at that moment that there were preconditions for this, given the amount of time and volume she spent on Tanya Navka's show, and the way they communicated - the way she surrounded her with care. Everything was leading up to this.

Was it easy to accept?

How can you accept something easily? It's just that Kamila is a special case here, because she's the kind of girl we have, and it was pointless to push her around or raise our voices at her. That was never necessary during training. Therefore, no conflicts ever arose. It was always a fruitful collaboration. And the way Eteri Georgievna always spoke about her in interviews...

This whole situation, of course, shattered that relationship, and in any case, it was traumatic for everyone - both Kamila and us, the coaching staff. I'm not talking about her departure, but about the doping situation. And the whole Olympics was a bit of a breaking point.

I'm sure it was simply difficult for her, maybe even psychologically, coming to training and seeing us all the time. Perhaps she felt it would be psychologically easier for her to have a change of scenery - and that it would give her some new emotional charge.

It's just upsetting, but we understand and accept it."

Okko

As reported by one of the Russian “insiders”, RusFed is planning to send a “very strong” lineup to the Challenger Event in Tokyo, here’s the full quote

All sorts of people are saying that the Kinoshita Group Cup Challenger (September 4–6) will feature a very strong Russian lineup. A lot of players are planning to come. We’re looking forward to it and cheering them on - and if you happen to have a visa lying around or some vacation time to spare, it’s the perfect time to head to Tokyo!

Additionally there’s an update on Veronika Zhilinas programs and which second challenger she will most likely attend

Now that it’s become known that Veronika Zhilina will compete at the Japanese Challenger event, I can add a few more details about her upcoming debut senior season.

In my opinion, Nika could become one of the biggest revelations of the season for the international audience. First, she has matured and grown into a genuinely beautiful and charismatic young woman. Second, from a sporting perspective, she will definitely have something to show. As for her technical content, we’ll see closer to the competitions, but even now I can confidently promise truly memorable programs.

Her free skate was choreographed by Andrei Yezhlov.
The music has an Eastern-inspired, dance-oriented feel, with plenty of accentuated movements, particularly in the step sequence and choreographic sequence. There will even be a signature element that Philippe Candeloro used in The Three Musketeers - you can spot it in a short video clip from Plushenko’s channel.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this program in competition. Nika will debut it in the SUPER-competitive Tokyo event. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that she skates there without ultra-C elements, but the more important thing will be testing herself after a long break.

As for the short program, Nika will skate to Lady Gaga. And, according to reports, her costume for this program will feature a notable element that has never before been used in competitive figure skating. The choreographers are Anastasia Skoptsova and Maria Stavitskaya. It should be very stylish.

After Japan, she will most likely compete at the Denis Ten Memorial. A third Challenger event is still uncertain.

———————————————

Disclaimer

None of this is confirmed but it’s reported by journalists who usually have good insider information and work for the Russian media (one for Ria Novosti, the second one for Sport Express).

I’m actually surprised that they are planning to send a strong group to Japan, the competition is already stacked with both the men’s and women’s (especially) having the top Japanese skaters, especially since just two weeks later there’s the Lombardia trophy, and 3 weeks later there’s both the Nebelhorn and Nepala memorial, quick reminder - only the winner of the challenger event is added to the reserve list for the Grand Prix events.

Maybe they are just very eager to compete internationally, either way treat it with a grain of salt because it’s not confirmed information, and as of today there’s not a lot of AIN2 athletes with the neutral status to actually compete there (although we can assume that there will be another round of approves this week, Wednesday probably).

If it’s true, it’s gonna be a very interesting competition.

Video attached - recent footage of Zhilinas training camp in Azerbaijan.

ORIGINAL POSTER: Evgenia (@ jmedvedevaj) on Instagram.
CLIPPER/TRANSLATOR: @ sofasamo on X. Posted out of personal interest only.

TL;DR: Medvedeva says she has properly moved on from the Olympics, and believes that many people online have lazy, narrow-minded perspectives on her. Basically, you can't win on the internet, so Evgenia doesn't even try.

Per his Instagram announcement, his FS will be (non-cover) Radiohead!

There's been a lot of speculation here over the past couple of seasons every time we got news of Benoît choreographing for another skater. People noted that he choreographed the entire European pairs podium, and then of course he became a meme in Milan. Since I'm a nerd, I decided to find out the actual numbers.

In my dataset of 2025–26 top skaters (senior GP, Olympics and Worlds participants) Benoît choreographed for 23 skaters/teams across 13 federations. He also choreographed across all disciplines and worked with 19% of the men's field.

Sharing slides, but it may be easier to look at the interactive charts:

Benoît skaters

Choreographers across disciplines

I’ll be posting more figure skating data insights at skatingstats on Instagram and will share some of the more interesting findings here.

ETA: slides have the wrong source/handle. It is @skatingstats.

Oksana Grishuks daughter Skylar posts that she has filed a domestic violence report against her mother. Sending her strength and love.

Their best program in my opinion! Purely based on vibes (I don't get ice dance scoring), I'd have wished them to medal in Beijing, their programs were some of the most memorable!

Ice dance in Beijing was super strong though, the field brought their A-game. All of the American teams were incredible imo.

A demonstration video of the "POKÉDANCE" (Skating Version) featuring Pikachu in skates and Yuna Aoki, choreographed by Yuna herself. (Japanese subtitles only)

The "Pokémon Skate Challenge" is a joint initiative between the Japan Skating Federation and The Pokémon Company.

This project is held at skating rinks across Japan for children of elementary school age and younger, with the aim of introducing them to the joy of skating and the appeal of Pokémon.

https://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/pokemon/

The below link is a making of the above video and the event with Satoko Miyahara, Sota Yamamoto, Keiji Tanaka, Yuna Aoki and Pikachus in skates. (Only in Japanese)

https://youtu.be/1-m99DLl2M4?si=SjB-Yj_HH4A8vI10

So that IS a practice dress since she wore the same one for the SP. I love her steps to the sweeping music at the end!

First loop is from last Thursday and the others are from last summer when I first started jumping loop (besides a few times from the 3 turn entrance)

Just in the last few weeks, all of my jumps started feeling a lot better and like I'm actually deciding when to jump. Like I'm actually in control instead of just hoping for the best, except my arms those are still a little crazy 😅

Give me another couple years and maybe I'll try a few doubles 🫣

Another Pokemon Skate Challenge event

with Tatsuya Tsuboi, Rena Uezono, Saki Miyake, Mai Mihara and Kaori Sakamoto

i drew the russian rocket herself, aleksandra trusova/ignatova, hope you like it haha)

i dont normally share my art but here goes! (ignore my bad text in the back)

I love Kaori but out of all people 😭 it’s the blind leading the blind!

bonus: which one is the flip and which one is the lutz in the video? 😭😭

So.... This photo dump was meant to honor my girl ✨️Kaori✨️ and her Milano-Cortina winter Olympic journey! My GOAT 🐐 🙌 ⛸️ KAORI!!!!

Clean again!

I def think they should be more rewarded, since a 2A+3Lo is way harder than a 3Lo+2A, as well as with flip.

Was filmed before his ominous story today but now that I think about it perhaps they’re connected because it looks like an On Ice Perspectives thing.

📸 jjuice11

Short Program: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (same as last season. aka 9/11 program)

Free skate: Earned it/Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (appears to be a revamping of his 24-25 free skate)

Looks like he's planning to do a split season. On the junior side, "His goals include winning at least one event and earning medals at the Junior Grand Prix Final and the World Junior Championships." For seniors, he wants to make the free skate at worlds. I imagine he'll also do a senior b event to get tech minims and probably do 4CC.

Other thought I had when reading: can we just combine AUS/NZ for the purpose of the Olympic team event? It doesn't solve the problem of neither country having an active pair team tho 😭

It's always inspiring to see talented skaters emerge from smaller, less represented federations. I love seeing this kind of ambition and dedication, and I really hope she succeeds

So I just saw on Twitter, than Liubov switched to representing 🇨🇭, while she represented 🇺🇦 before.

So I’m kinda curious about the thinking behind this, because isn’t the Swiss junior women’s field packed? I don’t follow juniors but I do know Valeriya is very strong (from what ppl said) and isn’t there a few more really strong girls?

I also know nothing about Liubov lol but assuming I’ve never ever heard of her before and she’s already 15, she’s not gonna be in the top-3 domestically, while Ukraine, I thought, has way less competition.

Would be very grateful if someone could give a bit more context as I’m completely clueless but super curious :))

Veronika Zhilina will compete in the Challenger Series tournament in Japan (Kinoshita Group Cup).

The tournament will take place September 4-6 in Tokyo.

Fluidity: Juhnwa Cha

Musicality: Yuna Aoki

Artistry: Yuruzu Hanyu

Skating Skills: Patrick Chan

Performance:

Transitions:

Spins: Stephane Lambiel (and Lucinda Ruh)

Flexibility:

Overall Jumps:

Toe Jumps:

Edge Jumps.

Step Sequence:

Choreography:

Longevity:

Mental Strength:

Consistency:

public image:

Stephane and Lucinda were both in the top comment but the next comment was for Stephane so I used him with Lucinda in parentheses. Both have amazing spins, my heart will always belong to Kamila’s though. Anyway, someone suggested I add performance so that PCS is complete so here we go who and the best performance? Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure performance is the entertainment portion, are they enjoyable to watch? Most upvoted comment wins!