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

[skategal]

Tessa and Fedor dated in the 2008-2010 timeframe (not sure of exact months/years). Meryl and Fedor started dating in 2011, I think.

In other words….Fedor got around.

 

[PRlady]

Back in 1999 or so, PRkid had a photo of Fedor on her school notebook. It was not because of his skating.

 

[kwanfan1818]

One of these is not like the other.

Wrong choice of verb tense: Virtue had been dating Zoueva’s son (before Davis). Belbin before Virtue.

I hadn’t known that Davis was he long-term girlfriend going into Sochi, but it explained V/M’s and D/W’s 2013-14 FD’s.

 

[ice coverage]

Ice dance cousins Anaëlle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo making their mark in figure skating
USA's Kouevi and Homawoo are only 15 and 16 years old but have already been skating together longer than some veteran ice dance teams. The cousins paired up in 2019 and have since brought a fresh, diverse perspective to the figure skating junior circuit.

Full Olympics.com article here (Jan 3):
https://www.olympics.com/en/news/ic...ouevi-yann-homawoo-making-mark-figure-skating

 

[Theatregirl1122]

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.

If you count "your coaches break up and you keep skating with one of them" as "not staying out of it," then it's essentially impossible for anyone to stay out of it by that metric. Unless they were supposed to quit in order to successfully stay out of it.

 

[jackson]

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.

If you count "your coaches break up and you keep skating with one of them" as "not staying out of it," then it's essentially impossible for anyone to stay out of it by that metric. Unless they were supposed to quit in order to successfully stay out of it.

It sounds to me as though they came to the rink to do their work and had lives outside of the ice rink without getting in the drama and mess to me the same way I go to work and come home to my family life, hobbies, and joys. It's absurd even if meant in jest to say that they would have to quit to successfully stay out of it. Like any other job, they had to pivot as best they could to do what would work best with them.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

It sounds to me as though they came to the rink to do their work and had lives outside of the ice rink without getting in the drama and mess to me the same way I go to work and come home to my family life, hobbies, and joys. It's absurd even if meant in jest to say that they would have to quit to successfully stay out of it. Like any other job, they had to pivot as best they could to do what would work best with them.

Are you not capable of understanding that I was responding to a specific comment?

 

[kwanfan1818]

If you count "your coaches break up and you keep skating with one of them" as "not staying out of it," then it's essentially impossible for anyone to stay out of it by that metric. Unless they were supposed to quit in order to successfully stay out of it.

Quitting would be not staying out of it, too.

Everyone who is staying with Belbin and Zuerlein and posing for supportive pictures and posting hearts is not staying out of it, either. "Staying out of it" doesn't mean just not fighting on Instagram.'

None of them, except possibly the Shibutanis, was interested in being put into a position to have to choose.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Quitting would be not staying out of it, too.

Okay, so we agree that you've set up a definition of "stay out of it" that makes it impossible for anyone to do so?

What is the value of that?

 

[kwanfan1818]

That there's no staying out of it.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting from the 2026 U.S. Nationals forum in Kiss & Cry:

Ice-Dance.com has published 2 "New Team Series" articles on Junior medal contenders Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner: https://www.ice-dance.com/site/new-team-series-jasmine-robertson-chase-rohner/

And Jane Calhoun and Mark Zheltyshev: https://www.ice-dance.com/site/new-team-series-jane-calhoun-mark-zheltyshev/

IDC's Novice Dance preview/Q&A with all 5 teams: https://www.ice-dance.com/site/prev...-head-to-st-louis-for-2026-u-s-championships/

[ETA - just saw that @ice coverage posted this above yesterday - thank you! ] Olympics.com's article on the Junior ice dance cousin team of Anaëlle Kouevi, 15, and Yann Homawoo, 16, who, like Robertson/Rohner and Calhoun/Zheltshev, made their JGP debut earlier this season: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/ic...ouevi-yann-homawoo-making-mark-figure-skating

 

[jackson]

Are you not capable of understanding that I was responding to a specific comment?

No, sorry - Not capable

 

[Harbourview]

I understand how rumors, especially negative clickbait, when repeated often enough can morph into seemingly "acceptable-enough" lore. But the "foaming at the mouth" extent that false statements regarding the Shibutani's has been compounding has clearly entered into defamatory territory.

I am not family or friend of the family. As an officer of a USFS sanctioned club for many years, I have direct knowledge of facts and the truth regarding several topics. I've never previously made it a practice to post, but at this point it is frankly no longer morally tolerable to not set the record straight.

1. The Shibutani's did not have any role in the break-up of the Shpilband/Zoueva coaching partnership. Shpilband's separation from the Arctic Edge Arena was in fact not caused by any of the skaters training with both coaches as has been stated and published repeatedly by both parties. Detailed legal claims remain largely confidential and the case was ultimately settled out of court. Both Meryl Davis and Charlie White were deposed. The Shibutani's were not involved in the decision and notably no members of the family were deposed.

2. The statement that the Shibutani's are substantial contributors to USFS - is blatantly false. Confirmed with the federation.

3. The family has never sought to own or invest in a skating rink. At a Hall of Fame event at 2023 Nationals, when I asked the father if he was aware that people believed the family had sought to own or underwrite a rink or training center, he found it absolutely flabbergasting. He thought it sadly familiar yet disturbing that so much effort gets put into fabricating false narratives aimed at undermining Maia and Alex's hard work and unprecedented achievements.

 

[Rukia]

ok but none of that absolves Alex of his abusive behavior so

 

[Alilou]

ok but none of that absolves Alex of his abusive behavior so

or that their mother stood by and allowed it

 

[A.H.Black]

I understand how rumors, especially negative clickbait, when repeated often enough can morph into seemingly "acceptable-enough" lore. But the "foaming at the mouth" extent that false statements regarding the Shibutani's has been compounding has clearly entered into defamatory territory.

I am not family or friend of the family. As an officer of a USFS sanctioned club for many years, I have direct knowledge of facts and the truth regarding several topics. I've never previously made it a practice to post, but at this point it is frankly no longer morally tolerable to not set the record straight.

1. The Shibutani's did not have any role in the break-up of the Shpilband/Zoueva coaching partnership. Shpilband's separation from the Arctic Edge Arena was in fact not caused by any of the skaters training with both coaches as has been stated and published repeatedly by both parties. Detailed legal claims remain largely confidential and the case was ultimately settled out of court. Both Meryl Davis and Charlie White were deposed. The Shibutani's were not involved in the decision and notably no members of the family were deposed.

2. The statement that the Shibutani's are substantial contributors to USFS - is blatantly false. Confirmed with the federation.

3. The family has never sought to own or invest in a skating rink. At a Hall of Fame event at 2023 Nationals, when I asked the father if he was aware that people believed the family had sought to own or underwrite a rink or training center, he found it absolutely flabbergasting. He thought it sadly familiar yet disturbing that so much effort gets put into fabricating false narratives aimed at undermining Maia and Alex's hard work and unprecedented achievements.

Thank you.

 

[jackson]

ok but none of that absolves Alex of his abusive behavior so

I am not saying it's right but brothers and sisters fight, and as the John Q public, it's none of our business. Our only business/obligation as skating FANs is to watch skating and judge just that their skating. I don't like how he treated his sister, but I also would be embarrassed if people had videos of my brother and I fighting when we were younger. BTW, I have witnessed a lot of fight among partners back in the day, and they were not brother and sister - You can't imagine the half of it!

 

[Rukia]

i have 5 siblings i would never treat them like that or let them treat me like that. My only business as a skating fan is judging them how i see fit.

 

[Debbie S]

And I'll add Alex's behavior was at a rink, i.e. a public place. Public behavior is open to question.

In our social media age, USFS has encouraged skaters to post and share their lives (on and off ice) with fans. TV fluff pieces have always focused on who skaters (all athletes) are as people. When USFS and USOPC try to pair up athletes with sponsors, they're not just selling their athletic ability. My point being, off-ice image/personality is a big part of promotion of athletes and sports to fans and prospective fans. What athletes do and say when the cameras stop rolling is fair game.

 

[Alilou]

I am not saying it's right but brothers and sisters fight, and as the John Q public, it's none of our business. Our only business/obligation as skating FANs is to watch skating and judge just that their skating. I don't like how he treated his sister, but I also would be embarrassed if people had videos of my brother and I fighting when we were younger. BTW, I have witnessed a lot of fight among partners back in the day, and they were not brother and sister - You can't imagine the half of it!

This was not a fight. It was abuse.

And I'm appalled that I've read in other places that what Alex did was ok because they're family, which implies that any abuse is ok because it's within a family.

 

[angi]

This was not a fight. It was abuse.

And I'm appalled that I've read in other places that what Alex did was ok because they're family, which implies that any abuse is ok because it's within a family.

Exactly. Plus, one of the reasons Alex is so heavily criticized (aside from the obvious reason, which is the abuse) is that the Shibutanis spent their entire careers carefully putting together the most pristine and calculated brand of the perfect siblings who always "choose each other" (a line that became their go-to in recent interviews). So when the reality is so far from the image they've been pushing through their PR, and people start feeling that they're being gaslit into accepting Alex's behavior as some kind of a sibling quarrel instead of the textbook emotional abuse it was, the backlash is not only expected, but also reasonable.

 

[Karen-W]

Exactly. Plus, one of the reasons Alex is so heavily criticized (aside from the obvious reason, which is the abuse) is that the Shibutanis spent their entire careers carefully putting together the most pristine and calculated brand of the perfect siblings who always "choose each other" (a line that became their go-to in recent interviews). So when the reality is so far from the image they've been pushing through their PR, and people start feeling that they're being gaslit into accepting Alex's behavior as some kind of a sibling quarrel instead of the textbook emotional abuse it was, the backlash is not only expected, but also reasonable.

Listen, I think that it's well beyond any of us to state, unequivocally, that the "we choose each other" is a carefully crafted PR brand for them. That may very well have been true when they were still young enough to have been presented with a choice - kind of like how Anthony Ponomarenko CHOSE to remain with Christina Carreira 7-8 years ago when Igor was allegedly trying to get him to dump her & partner with someone else. We don't even know what is currently true about the Shibutani partnership. Maia may very well still be actively choosing to skate with her brother rather than dump his sorry a$$ and live her own life.

At best, we can be bothered and disturbed by what we saw in that video but none of us are inside their family dynamic and they may very well believe, even to this day, that they are choosing each other. The PR professional may simply be working with what they've got as far as branding and image because that's what the family is giving them.

I'm one of the more outspoken cynics around here and all I'm willing to venture on the topic of the Shibutanis relationship (siblings, parents, the entire family) is that it appears to be toxic in ways that many here believe they would separate themselves from if they found themselves in the same situation. But families are complex and I'm really happy none of you have ever met so many of the families I know, including my own, because y'all are seriously living on the edge of judgmental sanctimony.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Alex Shibutani chose to treat his sister for over half an hour abusively. It wasn't a reality show clip where the producers are trying to create a false narrative, rather it was raw footage.

I agree with @angi that if you're curating one image, and your behavior contradicts it, there's no surprise when you fall. And when you make a living at making your life public, no one has to like what they see or support you or wish you well or abstain from schadenfreude.

 

[my little pony]

I don't like how he treated his sister, but I also would be embarrassed if people had videos of my brother and I fighting when we were younger.

I hope you mean when you were children. they are > 30.