News & fluff via social media (figure skating focus)

[skateycat]

It's Sarah's fault for the craptacular audio of the figure skating blades on the ice sound, lol

Sarah Joy | An exclusive bts look at the lesser known side of the Winter Olympics, where the knives have never been sharper. #winterolympics... | Instagram

24K likes, 776 comments - someonesfavoritesarah on February 14, 2026: "An exclusive bts look at the lesser known side of the Winter Olympics, where the knives have never been sharper....

www.instagram.com

 

[Cachoo]

NYT pictoral retrospective of Oksana, Nancy and Lu right after the competition:

‘I Had No Idea How to Handle That’: The Drama Behind a Tense Ice Skating Moment

In 1994, the Olympics were rocked by a giant skating scandal. When it was all over, three athletes waited for their medals.

www.nytimes.com

 

[MsZem]

NYT pictoral retrospective of Oksana, Nancy and Lu right after the competition:

‘I Had No Idea How to Handle That’: The Drama Behind a Tense Ice Skating Moment

In 1994, the Olympics were rocked by a giant skating scandal. When it was all over, three athletes waited for their medals.

www.nytimes.com

I saw that earlier. It's basically as follows:

Baiul: a bunch of stuff on what happened, how she got to that point etc.

Chen: how this was the moment she decided to continue skating (yay!)

Kerrigan: we waited a very long time.

 

[tony]

Kerrigan: we waited a very long time.

She forgot the part about crying off all the makeup again anyways

 

[Cachoo]

Best Olympic Moments including commentary by Sasha Cohen:

Opinion | Our Favorite, Most Outrageous and Most Unexpected Moments of the Games

Three writers and an Olympic medalist on the grit and grace of the winter games.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Cachoo]

NYT feature on Alysa:

Alysa Liu Is Skating Again, Her Way This Time

At 16, out of love with the sport, Liu stepped away. On Thursday, she became the first American to win individual gold in women’s figure skating in 24 years.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Wyliefan]

Best Olympic Moments including commentary by Sasha Cohen:

Opinion | Our Favorite, Most Outrageous and Most Unexpected Moments of the Games

Three writers and an Olympic medalist on the grit and grace of the winter games.

www.nytimes.com

Thanks for sharing that. Sasha had a lot of really interesting things to say. I'm glad she's gotten to the point where she's able to enjoy watching skating again.

 

[victorskid]

The skaters who have accepted their invitations to skate in the Gala as posted on X on Absolute Skating:

 

[Firedancer]

Sasha Cohen wrote an article for USA Today about her experience in skating: https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-skating-2006-turin-silver-medal/88753777007/

 

[Coco]

The "Art but make it Sports" IG account has had some great stuff during the Games.

Alyssa got a turn.

Art But Make It Sports | Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, by Umberto Boccioni, 1913, (cast 1931 or 1934), 📸 by Wang Zhao | Instagram

4,099 likes, 15 comments - artbutmakeitsports on February 19, 2026: "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, by Umberto Boccioni, 1913, (cast 1931 or 1934), 📸 by Wang Zhao".

www.instagram.com

 

[Rob]

My apologies if this is a duplicate but it was too good to pass up. Tara and Johnny antics, Terry Gannon with the broom and Andrea Joyce! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU8vqbOjXo1/?igsh=bnF3OHg5dTN3cDZ6

 

[Jammers]

The skaters who have accepted their invitations to skate in the Gala as posted on X on Absolute Skating:

I mean really they picked R/A over Z/K for Ice dance?

 

[Rob]

Evan Bates selected as Closing Ceremony flag bearer.

 

[victorskid]

The Women who have accepted invitations for the Exhibition Gala according to Absolute Skating on X:

 

[Karen-W]

Wow. I'm rather shocked they invited Petrosian. I figured after they passed on Gumennik, they'd certainly not include Petrosian but would instead invite Gubanova or Samodelkina.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Seems like rather a snub for Mone, unless she was invited but said no.

 

[Debbie S]

I was thinking when I saw the list that I would rather see Mone than Petrosian.

 

[Karen-W]

Seems like rather a snub for Mone, unless she was invited but said no.

Definitely, especially since the 4th place finishers in every other discipline were invited.

 

[MsZem]

Given Petrosian's performance and reactions at the Olympics, I hope the other skaters in the gala stage an intervention.

Alysa can tell her all about having a healthy training environment and balancing training an real life. Ilia can explain how not winning an OGM does not make you a failure as a person. And Petrokina can explain about kiling people!

 

[millyskate]

I guess they are trying to appeal to a wide audience and couldn't justify 3 Ladies from Japan as they are also largely represented in the other categories. A shame for Mone, I enjoyed her skating a lot. I would have preferred Samodrmelkina but it seems the judges weren't a fan of hers these games either.

 

[just tuned in]

Disgusted that they invited Petrosian. Surprised that they did not invite Loena.

 

[Karen-W]

I guess they are trying to appeal to a wide audience and couldn't justify 3 Ladies from Japan as they are also largely represented in the other categories. A shame for Mone, I enjoyed her skating a lot. I would have preferred Samodrmelkina but it seems the judges weren't a fan of hers these games either.

Disagree. She earned a SB and scored over 200. The tech panel went to town on her spins & step sequence levels. She gets those up to L4 consistently and she'll make a huge leap up the standings. And I'm sure Raf will begin working on that during the off-season.

 

[Bill Trenary]

Evan Bates selected as Closing Ceremony flag bearer.

Along with hockey player Hilary Knight, who seemed like the right choice, too

 

[Bill Trenary]

Grassl over Rizzo? Meh. That team event long for Matteo is one of my top moments these Games

 

[millyskate]

Grassl over Rizzo? Meh. That team event long for Matteo is one of my top moments these Games

Agree! Definitely one of my favourite moments too.

 

[tangerine dream]

Grassl over Rizzo? Meh. That team event long for Matteo is one of my top moments these Games

Rizzo's also just a much more enjoyable skater - better skating skills, more expressive, more musical. A baffling choice, but I guess they just went with who placed higher.

 

[victorskid]

The official announcement of the Gala invitees from the ISU:

Olympic Figure Skating Exhibition Gala line-up

Find all information about the Olympic Figure Skating exhibition gala on Saturday, 21st February.

isu-skating.com

 

[tony]

The Skating Session by Tony Wheeler on Instagram: "2026 Olympics exhibition order of skate"

2,276 likes, 24 comments - theskatingsession on February 20, 2026: "2026 Olympics exhibition order of skate".

www.instagram.com

Order of skate for those interested

 

[Rob]

No Mone makes no sense.

Looks like there is an Italian National Team number so that will include Rizzo, Gutmann, etc?

And no OGM Kam/O’Shea except there is a Team USA number that will probably include them. Maybe just the OGMs or maybe the whole team?

 

[skipaway]

Evan Bates selected as Closing Ceremony flag bearer.

Evan Bates Learns He’s Flagbearer