Olympic Bronze Medalists Maia & Alex Shibutani to sit out 2018-19 season

Sylvia

Sylvia

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Press release today: http://www.usfigureskating.org/story?id=91455&type=media
(4/12/18) — Olympic ice dance bronze medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani announced today that they will not compete during the 2018-19 figure skating season. Although they are not competing this season, they are not ruling out future competitions.
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Maia is quoted as saying "we have exciting projects that we have the opportunity to work on both together and individually."

April 10th article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/uta-signs-shib-sibs-1101586
Ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani have signed with UTA [United Talent Agency], The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned. They continue to be repped by Yuki Saegusa at IMG.
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They either must have some opportunities lined up for the next year or they really feel like they need a break...or both. I can’t wait to see what the next part of their career takes them but I will seriously miss them in competition. I wasn’t always following skating as closely as I do now after Kwan stopped competing, but the Shibs were the one constant that I had always paid attention to since 2009. They brought me back into skating fandom and this will be a transition for me. It's been a wild ride observing their career trajectory thus far and I am grateful that I was able to enjoy it as much as I have. Whoever I fall in love with in the future won't give me the experience being a Shibs uber has given me. It's been really crazy and I love that the Shibs and we ubers/fans were able to come out of it on the high that we did.
 
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VIETgrlTerifa said:
They either must have some opportunities lined up for the next year or they really feel like they need a break...or both. I can’t wait to see what the next part of their career takes them but I will seriously miss them in competition. I wasn’t always following skating as closely as I do now after Kwan stopped competing, but the Shibs were the one constant that I had always paid attention to since 2009. They brought back into skating fandom and this will be a transition for me.
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They've signed with United Talent Agency. http://deadline.com/2018/04/maia-sh...siblings-olympics-uta-ice-dancing-1202362128/
 
Sigh, I was kind of expecting this. I know sitting out the world championships after winning an Olympic medal is not uncommon, that decision does increase the chances that the skater or team is stepping away from competition for good. I'm very glad they have lots of opportunities available and with their talent, charisma and interests and two Olympic medals they should go far in wherever life takes them. And I'm confident we'll still see many new creative programs from them.
And I'm hoping the bronze medal American team at next year's Nationals is Hawayek and Baker. :)
 
Spiralgraph said:
Sigh, I was kind of expecting this. I know sitting out the world championships after winning an Olympic medal is not uncommon, that decision does increase the chances that the skater or team is stepping away from competition for good. I'm very glad they have lots of opportunities available and with their talent, charisma and interests and two Olympic medals they should go far in wherever life takes them. And I'm confident we'll still see many new creative programs from them.
And I'm hoping the bronze medal American team at next year's Nationals is Hawayek and Baker. :)
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I'm hoping Hawayek and Baker win the silver medal behind Hubbell and Donohue!!!!
 
Hawayek and Baker will have considerable competition from the Parsons and McNamara Carpenter, but I hope they'll be able to get new programs that are at the level of Liebestraum and that they are able to ride the momentum of this year's 4C's and Worlds and stock up on WS points next season.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
Hawayek and Baker will have considerable competition from the Parsons and McNamara Carpenter, but I hope they'll be able to get new programs that are at the level of Liebestraum and that they are able to ride the momentum of this year's 4C's and Worlds and stock up on WS points next season.
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I was really impressed by Hawayek and Baker this past season. I think they have something about them that is really "top-rate" as Dick Button would say. I am not as familiar with the Parsons and McNamara Carpenter but I seem to remember really liking McNamara Carpenter too!
 
If i was a talent agent, i would try to sell "Donny and Marie on Ice" concept for this team "Shibutani Ice".
- intro: Shibs come out and do a short fun performance (in costumes, with a theme).
- then welcome a guest celebrity/famous person: short interview about his/her involvement in any sport (fun/funny childhood stories about sport, etc).
- the "Ice Age/Skating with the stars" part: The guest and Maia or Alex perform a skating number with the guest (rehearsed in advance, with few clips of rehearsals, falling, arguing etc.)
- Then closing group number, with few back up skaters to some "Oldies but goodies tunes" from 60's, 70's, 80's for "older audience nostalgia element".
 
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Glad they are making some choices for themselves. I imagine having seen Virtue/Moir go through a break, they realize that it doesn't have to be never again. Marina doesn't have another top couple now, so they can go back. Plus, they are young, and yes, if they are hiring with a talent agency in addition to their skating management, there must be more coming up. Wishing them the best!
 
Vash01 said:
They are not retiring. That's a good news. I am sure they can use a break for now. They will come back refreshed.
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Sometimes that is how people retire in this sport, by taking a break. At this moment, Maia and Alex are suggesting that's all it is, but still...
 
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Vash01 said:
They are not retiring. That's a good news. I am sure they can use a break for now. They will come back refreshed.
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They may very well come back, but just keep in mind that Meryl and Charlie officially haven't retired either. Last season they only announced that they wouldn't compete in the Olympic season, but still wouldn't say "the R word".
 
RoseRed said:
They may very well come back, but just keep in mind that Meryl and Charlie officially haven't retired either. Last season they only announced that they wouldn't compete in the Olympic season, but still wouldn't say "the R word".
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This is totally wishful thinking but maybe the Shib sibs, Davis and White and Virtue and Moir will all compete one last time in 2022???
 
Very smart, If they compete again or not it’s great that they’re jumping on the opportunities that have presented themselves. Eventhough they’ve been around for a while the Shibs are still a young team. So if they wish to come back in a in 2019 or 2020 it should still be doable given how good good of technical skaters both of them are. I’m also glad that this will give the opportunity for the younger U.S. teams to start staking their claim going towards 2022.
 
DimaToe said:
Very smart, If they compete again or not it’s great that they’re jumping on the opportunities that have presented themselves. Eventhough they’ve been around for a while the Shibs are still a young team. So if they wish to come back in a in 2019 or 2020 it should still be doable given how good good of technical skaters both of them are. I’m also glad that this will give the opportunity for the younger U.S. teams to start staking their claim going towards 2022.
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I think that it is good for the Shibsibs if they want a break. However, I disagree that is good for a young US team. They may have their hopes dashed if the Shibsibs come back and there is one less Olympic spot up for grabs that year because of the Shibsibs returning. However, I WANT the Shibsibs to continue competing!
 
IloveFS said:
I think that it is good for the Shibsibs if they want a break. However, I disagree that is good for a young US team. They may have their hopes dashed if the Shibsibs come back and there is one less Olympic spot up for grabs that year because of the Shibsibs returning. However, I WANT the Shibsibs to continue competing!
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I love mutual disagreement, It see it as helping the younger teams because instead of trying to dethrone one of the “big 3” its just 2 veteran teams now and the competition for the 3rd sport is more within reach. With experience at the big competitions, if the Shibs do come back it would give the other teams the experience of knowing that they’ve “been there done that”, which would make for an overall more exciting U.S. dance field IMO.
 
Ugh, I go offline for 12 hrs and THIS happens. I'm sure it's a smart move for Maia and Alex and I hope thy have a blast exploring new worlds, but as a fan of *competitive* skating, theirs in particular, I'm sad. I hope it really is just a leave and not the end of their competitive careers. If they do come back I expect they will have matured in a way we haven't seen before and that will be exciting.

Anyway, well deserved and good for you, Maia and Alex! Congratulations!
 
This is not surprising news, but disappointing nonetheless. I didn't care for the Shibs for years - found them very boring - but their Coldplay turned me into a fan and they've since become one of my favorite dance teams.

Dance looks to not be very interesting over the next quad at this point, what with P/C poised for complete dominance.

Ah well, I do at least really like H/D. And Anna and Luca - are they continuing?
 
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