The Skating Session

Tony and Thomas are back on this “off week” in preparation for the Grand Prix Final. We have some updates on the response from our Finlandia judging video, including reactions around the Internet and through the ISU as well as a current competitor writing to us about all of it. We also opened up the forum this week to ask questions that you would like us to answer and discuss. Enjoy! Link to YouTube videos of edges: The Four Figure Skating TurnsThomas’ “Technical Panel” Youtube videos: @thetechnical panelOlympic qualifying document / SkatingScores charts:USFS Oly Selection CriteriaSkating Scores Women's ChartSkating Scores Men's ChartSkating Scores Pairs ChartSkating Scores Dance ChartISU Technical DocumentationThe Technical Requirements for 2025/2026Ice Dance Scoring Rules & RubricScale of Values

Tony and Thomas are back after the SOS ice dance judging rant yesterday with a full review of the sixth and final Grand Prix regular season stop, Finlandia Trophy. Were there more ice dance shenanigans in the free dance? What was the fallout of the scoring yesterday? As always, a review of all four disciplines plus mention of who we will see in two weeks at the Grand Prix Final. Hopefully by then, Tony's voice and his health will be back to normal. Enjoy!

You know something is up when we break our normal upload schedule to bring you a special episode on the ice dance technical panel calling that ramped up last week at Skate America and has continued this week at Finlandia Trophy. Shawn Rettstatt, head of the ice dance technical committee, is the technical controller in both events. Although not the be-all end-all of the scores, we discuss some of the element calls we saw in the rhythm dance today. And for the millionth time, we beg for the complete overhaul the discipline needs.See it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2DZ3Kx3HTIk

Tony reports in from Lake Placid while Thomas breaks things down from home as they dissect Skate America from every angle, from NBC’s Chock/Bates-centric coverage and slow-twizzle discourse to the tech panel’s quad Lutz calls on Kevin Aymoz and Shoma Uno, Jason Brown’s Riverdance short, and the judging trends shaping the men’s field. They dig into standout dance performances from the Browns and Lajoie/Lagha, analyze the error-streaked Men's event, and have a heartfelt moment talking about fan favorite Wakaba Higuchi.

Tony and Thomas are moving right along with the Grand Prix series, this week with stop number four in Osaka, Japan for the NHK Trophy. A lengthy discussion about the dance event and the return of the Shibutanis keeps us over two hours! As always, we also highlight the pairs, mens, and women's competitions and share some of our favorite moments of the week. Enjoy, and please remember to subscribe and like!

Tony and Thomas are back with Skate Canada highlights and opinions. After last week's overall negative vibe to our review, we tried to keep all of the specific poor technical panel calls out of the conversation except for mentioning how even the ISU appointed commentator was getting fed up with it during the short programs! Included, as always, are reviews for all events: the pairs, women, men, and ice dance. Enjoy!

Tony and Thomas stayed up all night both nights watching the Cup of China the second Grand Prix event of the season. For an underwhelming competition, we still managed over 2 hours of insights and opinions! Included are all four disciplines, the questionable call that kept Sui & Han on the podium in the pairs event, the technical panels and judges in the singles' events being in a different reality, Chock & Bates season debut, and plenty of other program details and protocol analysis.Includes Chock & Bates, Zingas & Kolesnik, Lopareva & Brissaud, Smart & Dieck, Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Rinka Watanabe, Anastasiia Gubanova, Jia Shin, Rino Matsuike, Shun Sato, Daniel Grassl, Mikhail Shaidorov, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Boyang Jin, Jacob Sanchez, Junhwan Cha, Metelkina & Berulava, Conti & Macii, Sui & Han, Zhang & Huang, and more!

Tony and Thomas are fresh off watching all of the first Grand Prix of the season in France. Fresh faces, judging controversies, and new programs are all here and it must mean skating season is in full-force! We dive into ice dance first, highlighting Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron's win and the decline of Guignard & Fabbri with our own views and thoughts moving forward in the Olympic season. We also go over the womens, pairs, and mens competitions discussing the top skaters and some of our favorite moments. Includes Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron, Fear & Gibson, Reed & Ambrulevicius, Guignard & Fabbri, Davis & Smolkin, Ami Nakai, Kaori Sakamoto, Rion Sumiyoshi, Isabeau Levito, Miura & Kihara, Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps, Pavlova & Sviatchenko, Ilia Malinin, Adam Siao Him Fa, Nika Egadze, Lukas Britschgi, Francois Pitot, Andrew Torgashev, and more.

Tony and Thomas close out Skate to Milano with a full men’s free skate breakdown and an event‑wide wrap up. It is a rollercoaster of clean skates, near misses, and razor‑thin margins, all in a field so deep that great performances still fell short of Olympic tickets.Zooming out, Tony and Thomas sketch the early Olympic medal picture for the men, what this qualifier signals about PCS trends, and how quotas, citizenship clocks, and the placement of the team event could reshape the final lineup. There are throwbacks to 90s and 2000s coverage, notes on how the ISU has modernized the show, and a quick Grand Prix look‑ahead.Expect rulebook nerdery, clear scoring walk‑throughs, and warm, honest commentary with a little nostalgia.

Tony and Thomas unpack the free dance finale of the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualifier in Beijing. They walk through the judging reviews, the long waits for numbers, and the score inputs that shifted on screen while the panel finalized calls, then explain how four Olympic ice dance spots were allocated in a field separated by tenths.The leaders get a clear read: Lithuania’s Reed and Ambrulevicius win with crowd energy and big highlights, Australia’s Harris and Chan deliver a cohesive Clair de Lune that holds up on construction, Spain’s new duo skate clean enough to rise into third, and China’s Wang and Liu return with a polished, greatest‑hits style program that closes strong. Sweden’s breakout team miss the last ticket by 0.24, and Tony and Thomas show why, using clips and slow‑motion to break down the key elements that decided it.Expect rulebook nerdery, clear explanations, and side‑by‑side element analysis that maps performance choices to the numbers.

Tony and Thomas break down Day 2 of the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualifier in Beijing. First look at the men’s short program: what Petr Gumennik showed in form and scoring as a neutral athlete, where Donovan Carrillo sits after a crowd‑pleasing skate, and why a six‑point logjam from fourth through eleventh sets up chaos for the free skate. Surprises from Monaco, Ukraine, Germany, and Chinese Taipei, plus a quick audit of under‑rotations, spin calls, and PCS intent versus outcome.Pairs and women are settled. The alternates, the citizenship caveats, and what these results mean for the team event are discussed. The episode ends with a preview of the men’s free and the free dance: quad math, stamina, judging tendencies, and the scenarios that could move skaters from the middle rows to the Olympic bus.Expect rulebook nerdery, historical context, and plain‑spoken analysis with music and program talk woven through.

Tony and Thomas recap Day 1 of the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualification Event from Beijing: the rhythm dance, pairs short, and women’s short, then tee up the men. They explain how a standalone qualifier reshapes strategy, who gained real Olympic leverage, and where citizenship clocks may keep doors open a little longer.Ice dance gets a full read: four spots in play, why the PCS/ordinal spread looked chaotic, how the 1990s brief drifted into remix fatigue, and the DDR‑themed program that actually nailed the assignment. Pairs are assessed on risk vs. reliability, fundamentals, a French reboot with noticeable polish, a Japanese team with speed to burn, and why the field might be chasing four tickets, not three. In women, they check the baseline on Adeliia Petrosian, take stock of Luna Hendrickx’s readiness, highlight Anastasiia Gubanova’s spark, and spotlight a Chinese surprise to Madonna’s “Frozen” that brought a refreshing surprise..Broadcast choices get their moment too: overhead cameras, pacing, and who the commentary seemed aimed at. The men’s preview closes the episode with the contenders, the quad math, and where volatility could decide everything.Expect rulebook nerdery, historical context, and plain‑spoken analysis with a little music and production geekery along the way.

Tony and Thomas are back with another episode of The Skating Session! We highlight many of the new program announcements, especially from team Japan after debuting short programs at Dreams on Ice. Bradie Tennell, Amber Glenn, Kevin Aymoz, Daniel Grassl, Jimmy Ma, Conti & Macii and Chock & Bates are among the many skaters discussed. We also have highly differing opinions (a rarity!) on some of these program choices. Enjoy!

Season 2 Premiere! New ISU Logo, Vision 2030, Tech Panel Drama & Offseason ChaosIn honor of following the ISU calendar of events and July 1 being the start of the new season, Tony and Thomas bring to you The Skating Session Season 2 premiere! We discuss the last month of updates in the figure skating world - from the unveiling of the new ISU logo to the 'Extraordinary' Congress, the USFS 'Shibutani Rule' update, the TES score minimums, comeback, injury, and retirement news, jump upgrades, coaching changes - it's all here! Amber Glenn's Today Show interview can be found here: Figure Skater Amber Glenn Open Up About Me...

In Episode 12 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu continue their analysis of the 2025–2026 Grand Prix assignments, this time focusing on pairs and ice dance. They examine the impact of high-profile comebacks from Olympic champions Sui & Han, as well as the Shibutanis and Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron, and what those returns mean for the current competitive hierarchy.They walk through each Grand Prix event, noting how assignments reflect federation strategy, Olympic positioning, and emerging rivalries. The discussion covers everything from internal national battles in the U.S. and Canada to the evolving dance field now disrupted by returning legends. They also highlight logistical quirks, like the scarcity of spots in pairs and the underassignment of several championship medallist teams.Tony and Thomas unpack what the fall matchups may foreshadow for the Olympic season. The episode closes with commentary on media narratives, judging politics, and a preview of summer content, including retrospective deep dives into the origins of the Grand Prix series.

In Episode 11 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu dive deep into the 2025–2026 Grand Prix assignments for men and women. They walk through the ISU grids event by event, analyzing key matchups, surprise omissions, and the stakes for Olympic qualification. From comeback skaters like Sui and Han to high-stakes U.S. men's rivalries and the crowded Japanese women's field, they break down what to expect across each Grand Prix stop.They explore the implications of the ISU's assignment rules, the strategic use of TBD slots, and how federations may be angling for second spots or holding back for summer monitoring. Key themes include the unpredictability of fields, internal national battles for Olympic berths, and how consistency and fall season performances could shape the Grand Prix Final lineup.This episode is packed with technical context, roster breakdowns, and forward-looking speculation as the 2025–2026 figure skating season begins to take shape. Follow the link below to see the assignments!https://isu-skating.com/figure-skating/events/isu-grand-prix/

In Episode 10 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu share their chaotic experience securing tickets to the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. From middle-of-the-night login attempts and error messages to frantic screen refreshes and surprise Apple Pay saves, they walk through the highs and lows of navigating Ticketportal.This special episode is a candid look at what it's like to be a hardcore figure skating fan, from strategizing ticket sections to deciphering buggy interfaces and reflecting on how ticketing compares to previous events like Boston Worlds. It's an honest, behind-the-scenes perspective on the dedication (and frustration) that comes with planning a trip to one of skating's biggest events!

In Episode 9 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu explore the new rhythm dance requirements for the 2026 Olympic season, centered on a '90s dance party' theme. They break down the removal of compulsory patterns for seniors, the shift toward vibes-based judging, and the implications for technical merit in ice dance. They discuss the allowance of AI-generated music and debate whether it undermines the intent of the theme.The episode opens with major news about a likely comeback from Olympic champions Sui and Han. Tony and Thomas discuss what their return would mean for Olympic qualification in pairs and the competitive landscape overall. Tony's 90s RD Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWGRcPSwJJgFCmVXyOnsfULgzZtwD-XE8Thomas' 90s RD Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWGRcPSwJJgEM5j3GRNrCB97ftgVy2XfO

In Episode 8 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu unpack the announcement of eligible neutral athletes for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with a focus on Russian and Belarusian figure skaters who cleared the IOC screening process. They explore what the absence of Russian pairs and ice dance teams means for Olympic qualification, assess the chances of approved skaters like Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik, and explain how this impacts the final Olympic spots across disciplines.The episode covers the broader implications for competitive fairness, fan reactions, and political dynamics in the sport. Tony and Thomas also break down the qualifying structure, share historical context, and debate how fans and judges might respond to these athletes' return to Olympic ice.Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.

In Episode 7 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu dive into the shock return of Olympic bronze medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani, who have announced a comeback after seven years away from competition. They break down the potential impact on the domestic and international ice dance field, evaluate the strengths and challenges of returning elite athletes, and discuss what this means for Olympic selection.The episode also explores the return of Guillaume Cizeron with new partner Laurence Fournier-Beaudry, historical comebacks in ice dance, and what recent changes in choreography, scoring, and judging trends signal for the sport. The hosts offer sharp insights, personal stories, and speculation on how these developments could reshape the 2026 Olympic narrative. As always, they close with their thoughts on offseason projects and upcoming skating news.Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.