Shibutani Return for Olympic Season

[Kelleys6th]

WOW! This is news!
Alex and Maya Shibutani will return to competition for the Olympic season of 2025-26!

Maia And Alex Shibutani Announce Return to Competitive Figure Skating | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[Jarrett]

lol something no one would have ever asked for. Sorry shibs just being honest.

 

[Karen-W]

WOW! This is news!
Alex and Maya Shibutani will return to competition for the Olympic season of 2025-26!

Maia And Alex Shibutani Announce Return to Competitive Figure Skating | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

Being actively discussed in the US Ice Dance thread...

 

[Debbie S]

There are several pages of discussion already in the U.S. dance thread.

 

[MacMadame]

Not all of us go there regularly. Thanks for posting, @Kelleys6th.

 

[FSWer]

That's great news!!!

 

[manhn]

Thanks for the new thread, I would not be reading the US Dance thread intentionally otherwise. I looked it up, Coldplay’s first album, Parachutes, was released in 2000. Drat! Anyways, so I looked up Sibling duos in the 90s…Oasis (Coldplay adjacent!), Hanson (the Shibs would be perfect for Hmm Bop!), and Kid n Play. I also think they’d be great with the theme song for Friends. They could be Ross and Monica!!

 

[moebius]

I thought this was May Fools Day joke, LOL!

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

lol something no one would have ever asked for. Sorry shibs just being honest.

No one? Please speak for yourself. As a fan, I am THRILLED! Can't wait for the Olympic season to begin! First Alysa, now the Shibs!

Eta: What the heck! I'm doing cartwheels!

 

[Carolla5501]

lol something no one would have ever asked for. Sorry shibs just being honest.

I believe the correct statement is something you would not have asked for, I doubt you can actually speak for everyone in the world. Your statement is actually incorrect by at least one other response on this thread. So instead of being honest, you’re making up fake news

 

[my little pony]

I'm kind of surprised at how divisive this is. I'm much more vested after seeing the neigh-sayers neigh. pissing off this many people at once is a gift. come through shibs! they're gonna have to learn how to stand still and shimmy while clutching the boards though.

 

[manhn]

Exactly. As if the current teams are brimming with precise technique and originality. The Shibs should come to Saskatoon!!!

 

[overedge]

When Virtue/Moir returned to competing in Canada, there were several junior and senior teams who retired because they didn't think it was feasible to continue competing with one of the Olympic spots basically already filled. I'm wondering if the same will happen in the US with the Shibs' return.

 

[manhn]

And Canada got two gold medals out of it. Putting aside their allegations, although there was no absolute gold standard like V&M, the dance discipline for Canada between 2018-2022 was still pretty good with Paul and Piper, the Danadians and an up and coming L&L who did not retire due to V&M’s return.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Lajoie/Lagha didn't even compete seniors at Can Nats in 2018, and their Jr. title winning program scored 154.1, or 36.69 off W/P's score and ~25 points behind Soucisse/Firus's 4th place score. At the time, L/L were killing it in Juniors, but they weren't in contention for an Olympic spot for seniors. Virtue/Moir at similar ages having skated internationally as Juniors until that point, came within a few points of an Olympic spot in 2006 under Wing/Lowe. While I love L/L, and would rather watch them anytime, they were not in a place where V/M's return made any difference to their future. ETA: Actually it cleared out some teams that were ahead of them, who might have had the advantage of a later starting order.

 

[Jarrett]

No one? Please speak for yourself. As a fan, I am THRILLED! Can't wait for the Olympic season to begin! First Alysa, now the Shibs!

Eta: What the heck! I'm doing cartwheels!

I’m happy for you and us if they are up to snuff but I really don’t think ANYONE was asking for a shibs comeback. This is just out of left field at least to me. Michelle Kwan I’m waiting for your announcement!!!

 

[Willin]

The scoring will be interesting to see for a number of reasons.

We've seen teams take 1-2 years off, but 7 years is a long time and the ice dance judges may have moved on - especially given those judges are often somewhat friendly with the skaters and coaches and Alex/Maia don't seem to be that connected with the current ice dance social circles. So will their reputation hold up?

The power dynamic in politics has shifted from Michigan to IAM, and it sounds like now they're in California - which has 0 ice dance power. Marina may not even have the sway to help.

Their strengths are their technical skating - and their twizzles will still be a strength - but with the ISU trying to modernize ice dance they've taken away a lot of the technical stuff (full patterns, some leveled elements) in favor of creative elements and character steps. Not to say the Shibs aren't great performers - but the character step and creative GOEs often seem less about performance and more about politics.

 

[overedge]

And Canada got two gold medals out of it. Putting aside their allegations, although there was no absolute gold standard like V&M, the dance discipline for Canada between 2018-2022 was still pretty good with Paul and Piper, the Danadians and an up and coming L&L who did not retire due to V&M’s return.

It had an impact on other teams that were high-placing juniors or lower-placed seniors, at the time. Piper and Paul were already in the mix, as were the Danadians. I think the ones who decided to stay around were the ones that were already on the ladder, so to speak. Other teams decided to retire because they couldn't afford the resources or time to continue until things opened up more. I'm interested to see whether the same impact on future development happens in the US.