2025-26 U.S. Ice Dance News, Updates & Discussion - Backstreet Boys & Spice Girls

Debbie S said:
The fact that she had a major knee injury a month or so before Alex's rant makes his behavior even worse. Maia is barely back on the ice and he's cursing her out for 40 minutes over a rocker turn?

I suspect the fracture was probably a hairline fracture or severe bone bruise (or both). I've heard (non-elite) skaters in my area talk about "breaking" a bone when it's actually a bone bruise (not quite a break but still painful and debilitating).

IIRC, Penny Coomes had a fracture of her kneecap (i think she said it shattered in several places :yikes:) and she had surgery and was off the ice for almost a year.
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Did any of you see the Team USA instagram where the Shibs are playing a game on how well they know each other and the question is who is Maia figure skating idol and Alex answers himself? Like wtf. :slinkaway https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSc2gsoEYfN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

They deleted my comment on the video. lol
 
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skipaway said:
What was your comment, if I may ask?
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That the account was tone deaf for posting the video after the practice video. I posted it when the clip was first posted. Others have posted about the practice video too. Maybe they removed others too I dunno but they have posted a ton of clips since this one that pushed it far down in the feed.
 
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Rukia said:
I find the timing of posting this curious. I mean sure, she could just be proud of how far she's come, but we're also approaching a week where they will 100% want for people to have something to talk about other than how abusive her brother is.
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I only recently started reading this thread in anticipation of Nationals, and had no idea about the abuse until I read this post. I then went back in this thread and watched the first minute or two of the video, which was more than enough for me. :sick:

As I have mentioned before, I am a survivor of various kinds of sibling abuse, including bullying.

It's highly unlikely that Alex's behavior as shown in the video came out of nowhere. Did no one else notice it before? Their parents? Their coaches? If they did, they should have insisted that Alex stop and that he get psychological help. (Maia should be getting help too, but that's a different matter.) Absent such help, Alex Shibutani is not fit to be anyone's partner, on or off the ice.

(((((Maia Shibutani))))
 
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Vagabond said:
I only recently started reading this thread in anticipation of Nationals, and had no idea about the abuse until I read this post. I then went back in this thread and watched the first minute or two of the video, which was more than enough for me. :sick:

As I have mentioned before, I am a survivor of various kinds of sibling abuse, including bullying.

It's highly unlikely that Alex's behavior as shown in the video came out of nowhere. Did no one else notice it before? Their parents? Their coaches? If they did, they should have insisted that Alex stop and that he get psychological help. (Maia should be getting help too, but that's a different matter.) Absent such help, Alex Shibutani is not fit to be anyone's partner, on or off the ice.

(((((Maia Shibutani))))
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Their mother is right next to them in the video. :duh:
 
Vagabond said:
I only recently started reading this thread in anticipation of Nationals, and had no idea about the abuse until I read this post. I then went back in this thread and watched the first minute or two of the video, which was more than enough for me. :sick:

As I have mentioned before, I am a survivor of various kinds of sibling abuse, including bullying.

It's highly unlikely that Alex's behavior as shown in the video came out of nowhere. Did no one else notice it before? Their parents? Their coaches? If they did, they should have insisted that Alex stop and that he get psychological help. (Maia should be getting help too, but that's a different matter.) Absent such help, Alex Shibutani is not fit to be anyone's partner, on or off the ice.

(((((Maia Shibutani))))
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Alex’s livebarn behavior is nothing new. Ice dancer friends of mine, who competed with the Shibs back in the day, told me this is typical of Alex and that the parents are toxic as well. They say several ice dancers/coaches who were around then will have had either an unpleasant interaction with him themselves or witnessed one. (Maia OTOH was/is generally well liked and they consider her a nice person, albeit someone intimidated by her brother.) The Shibutani parents have been substantial contributors to USFS.
 
Bringing over two items I posted in the Chock/Bates fan thread last month:

Madison & Evan are featured on the Fall 2025 cover of SKATING magazine: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/791974542/
Article by Lynn Rutherford (pages 24-28 online): https://online.flippingbook.com/view/791974542/24/

Reuters article by Rory Carroll (Dec. 30, 2025):
www.reuters.com

Chock, Bates go 'all in' for Olympic gold as Milano-Cortina could be last Games

Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates are going all out for Olympic gold at the Milano-Cortina Games, embracing the pressure and the possibility that the 2026 Winter Olympics could be their final appearance on the sport's biggest stage.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
"We're certainly all in," Chock told reporters on Tuesday.
"We're entering each competition with the intention to win. We have a lot of experience under our belts and are 100% confident in our capabilities to deliver our best performances."
Bates said the way they were handling the pressure of high expectations was by sticking to their process, trusting their coaches and keeping their routines consistent.
He added that this Olympics, the duo's fourth, carried added meaning because it "could be our last."
"The older we get, the more appreciation we have for the opportunity and realizing how special it really is," he said.
"So like Maddie said, we are 100% all in and aiming for the top of the podium in Milan with also the goal to fully experience and enjoy it."
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Asked whether they would be clad once again in all black for the [FD] routine, Chock said 'yes', but added that she was hoping to add a glittering accent to the ensemble.
"Oh, we'll always be painting it black," she said.
"We might even paint it a little gold," she said with a grin.
Chock and Bates will look to capture a record seventh U.S. ice dance title when U.S Championships kick off Sunday in St. Louis.
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fan said:
Which makes the situation with Igor all the more curious…
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There were rumors at the time of the great rupture that the Shib's parents played a key role in his banishment from the rink.

Looking back on some old threads from that time, I see that there were also reports of the Shibs fighting during training. It makes me wonder whether that was really fighting or mainly Alex berating Maia.
 
Just really hoping that all this turmoil with the Shibs doesn’t impact the podium at Nats. Especially the recent social media coverage— “we didn’t skate as well as we could at the GPs because Maia was injured”. Hoping for excellent skates for everyone and an equitable and well deserved Olympic team.
 
Icetalavista said:
What was her post?
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Katarina Wolfkostin's post (sorry to have caused confusion for some here):
Sylvia said:
Katarina W. just posted a group photo of the 1 Junior team (Fugate twins are on the far left) and 4 Senior teams (Koncius/Shchepetov, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Bratti/Somerville, Green/Parsons) going to Nationals with Tanith (Greg Zuerlein is not pictured/could still be on holiday, I assume):
www.instagram.com

Katarina Wolfkostin on Instagram: "Training with the best people this Christmas ❤️🎄 We’re grateful for the past year and looking forward to nationals in two weeks!!"

katarinawolfkostin on December 26, 2025: "Training with the best people this Christmas ❤️🎄 We’re grateful for the past year and looking forward to nationals in two weeks!!".
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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AYS said:
There were rumors at the time of the great rupture that the Shib's parents played a key role in his banishment from the rink.

Looking back on some old threads from that time, I see that there were also reports of the Shibs fighting during training. It makes me wonder whether that was really fighting or mainly Alex berating Maia.
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Yes. I did hear their parents had a role from insiders.

My memory from 10+ years ago is not great so take this with a grain of salt, but my understanding was that the Shibs parents were looking to buy/invest in a rink (maybe they already had? The rumor I heard was the Ann Arbor Ice Cube) in order to start an ice dance academy centered around Marina and her students - academy being used losely here because while that was a stated goal it was more about getting the Shibs a lot of private ice time and getting Marina enough resources to focus on them more exclusively.

The Igor stuff was primarily personal drama between him and Marina/the Shib parents, but I'm not sure the details on that. I think it was something financially related?
 
Vagabond said:
I only recently started reading this thread in anticipation of Nationals, and had no idea about the abuse until I read this post. I then went back in this thread and watched the first minute or two of the video, which was more than enough for me. :sick:

As I have mentioned before, I am a survivor of various kinds of sibling abuse, including bullying.

It's highly unlikely that Alex's behavior as shown in the video came out of nowhere. Did no one else notice it before? Their parents? Their coaches? If they did, they should have insisted that Alex stop and that he get psychological help. (Maia should be getting help too, but that's a different matter.) Absent such help, Alex Shibutani is not fit to be anyone's partner,
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Willin said:
@Rackon I hadn't heard the gossip about Alex, but I certainly heard about their parents being rather intense... And throwing their money around to get what they wI always liked the Shibs’ skating, but with what I’ve learned about them I can’t root for them, especially not for an Olympic spot. Their carefully crafted image is certainly a triumph of marketing though.
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Willin said:
Yes. I did hear their parents had a role from insiders.

My memory from 10+ years ago is not great so take this with a grain of salt, but my understanding was that the Shibs parents were looking to buy/invest in a rink (maybe they already had? The rumor I heard was the Ann Arbor Ice Cube) in order to start an ice dance academy centered around Marina and her students - academy being used losely here because while that was a stated goal it was more about getting the Shibs a lot of private ice time and getting Marina enough resources to focus on them more exclusively.

The Igor stuff was primarily personal drama between him and Marina/the Shib parents, but I'm not sure the details on that. I think it was something financially related?
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The Shib parents allegedly accused Igor of not paying enough attention to the sibs. It’s been said they subsidized Marina and paid her to prioritize them.
 
So you have two coaches, each of which favored one of the top two teams, Shpilband allegedly for Davis/White and Zoueva allegedly for Virtue/Moir, with the Shibs being a lower priority for both. So why was Shpilband to blame for not giving the Shibs enough time, and not Zoueva, when the technical wasn't where the Shibs needed the work?

Were the Shibs parents assuming Davis/White would follow Shpilband, once they pounded in the wedge, and the Shibs would be "promoted"? Because they ended up with one coach who had to focus on all three instead, without the technical coach.
 
I remember at the time being told that Igor was asked to leave because he was coaching non US teams and he told them they didnt have to pay for their ice time. im not saying it's correct.
 
@kwanfan1818 @Rackon May be able to speak more to this, but my understanding was that D/W stayed out of the drama and kept their heads down. V/M as well - despite the later drama with Marina and ongoing one-sided drama with D/W. Both teams had lives well outside of the rink and just wanted to train.

The people I heard about this drama didn't really have much insight into who liked which coach better or who would go where in the split because both teams were pretty mature about it, so I doubt the Shib parents knew better. I think ultimately Zoueva won out because she was really the political power of that duo of the time - so it made sense to stay with her, especially when D/W and V/M were vying for the OGM.

I think the bigger issue is, like I said, the Shib parents wanted to buy a rink and set up this "academy" for the ShibSibs to be Marina's top team. It seems they thought it was what she wanted, or at least a good enough bribe. It certainly worked after 2014. They probably expected D/W and V/M to retire and planned accordingly. If Igor wasn't paying attention to them, he just wouldn't be part of said academy.
 
my little pony said:
I remember at the time being told that Igor was asked to leave because he was coaching non US teams and he told them they didnt have to pay for their ice time. im not saying it's correct.
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I heard that him coaching non-US teams was part of it. I didn't hear one way or the other about who was paying for their ice time.
 
There was a lot of talk that Shpilband told Zoueva that he wanted to coach some of the younger international teams, and supposedly separate from her, because he found developing teams interesting, while Zoueva, not so much. He also would have extended his politiks across different members that way had it worked out, much like IAM has done.

Willin said:
I think the bigger issue is, like I said, the Shib parents wanted to buy a rink and set up this "academy" for the ShibSibs to be Marina's top team. It seems they thought it was what she wanted, or at least a good enough bribe. It certainly worked after 2014. They probably expected D/W and V/M to retire and planned accordingly. If Igor wasn't paying attention to them, he just wouldn't be part of said academy.
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That's fine, but why not do the legwork for a new training center for after the 2014 retirements? Who else would have been in contention to be their top team, while the Shibs would have been by default. Why blow everything during the Olympic cycle?

D/W didn't "stay out of it." They made a choice. It may have been the right one for a number of reasons, personal and professional, but it was a choice. Shpilband didn't retire, and it's hard to imagine that if he had potential US Olympic champions that the right physical training conditions would have been assembled.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
D/W didn't "stay out of it." They made a choice. It may have been the right one for a number of reasons, personal and professional, but it was a choice. Shpilband didn't retire, and it's hard to imagine that if he had potential US Olympic champions that the right physical training conditions would have been assembled.
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Davis and White were not going to pick Shpilband given Meryl was seriously dating Marina’s son.
 
Davis/White were supposedly Shpilband’s favorites, while Zoueva focused on Virtue and Moir, at least while Virtue was seriously dating Zoueva’s son. Belbin had before that.

It was understandable why D/W made that choice, but, again, it was a choice. Not just a personal one, because Zoueva’s focus apparently was her son’s girlfriend’s team, no matter which of her champions he was dating.
 
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