Scoreography
The Olympics are upon us, and we're here to help you get ready to watch Ice Dance! We walk you through the top 5 teams battling for the podium, and explain why there's one fight for Gold and another for Bronze. We thoroughly break down the competition between podium hopefuls Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA), Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron (France), Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (Canada), Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (Italy), and Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (Great Britain). But there are plenty of other excellent teams in the hunt for a top 10 finish, so we...
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We dive into the last major competition before the 2026 Olympics, Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China. We celebrate the surprise but oh-so-satisfying victory from Japan's Yuna Aoki. An Ice Dance gold medal should give an extra boost to USA's Zingas & Kolesnik as they prepare for Milano Cortina. The same could be said for Olympics-bound Kao Muira, who will represent Japan at the Games as well. And America's Efimova & Mitrofanov score an unexpected win over the legendary Sui & Han in the Pairs event. But there were thrilling skates all down the rankings, too, as well as...
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We react to the 2026 European Figure Skating Championships event in England, featuring a historic repeat win from Estonia's Niina Petrokina, two Georgian golds in Pairs and Men's, and a slightly surprising outcome in Ice Dance. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:45 Ice Dance 00:20:55 Women's Competition 00:32:10 Pairs Competition 00:41:09 Men's Competition 00:56:00 Canadian Nationals 01:03:42 Four Continents Preview 01:07:29 Gold in our Hearts 01:08:26 Wrap-Up
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The much anticipated 2026 US National Figure Skating Championships were everything they promised to be: thrilling, tense, bittersweet, and revelatory! The week-long event happened in our hometown of St. Louis, and we were on-site throughout the event to witness historic skates and the selection of the Olympic team. The Women's and Ice Dance events delivered powerhouse performances that will go down as some of the best Nationals competitions of all times. The Men's event featured shocking twists, tear-jerking surprises, and a dominant win from Ilia Malinin. And the Pairs ended with two...
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It's our first episode of 2026, and we're preparing for US Nationals — which will be held in our home city of St. Louis! We preview the upcoming competition with a laser focus on the biggest stakes: who will represent the USA at the Olympics. From virtually guaranteed locks like Ilia Malinin, Chock & Bates, and Alysa Liu, to the uncertainty around the pairs and additional dance spots, there's so much to be excited—and anxious—about. We also cover the results of this past weekend's Korean Nationals, including Olympics selections for Junhwan Cha, Haein Lee, and Jia Shin. ...
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As 2025 comes to a close, we catch up on a bunch of last minute figure skating news: citizenships, announcements, Olympic teams, a combined ISU Worlds event (?), and much more. We also recap our top Gold in Our Hearts moments for the year. And we share our appreciation for our listeners and community, including a particularly touching Christmas Eve message from an audience member. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:49 We'll be at US Nationals! 00:04:37 Skating News 00:20:50 ISU Combined Worlds Events 00:32:01 Four Continents announcements 00:43:30 Listener support and Poetry! 00:48:22 2025 Gold in...
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All-Japan Championships 2025 gave us an Olympics-worthy collection of amazing performances — including final competitive skates from several of our favorite athletes. Kaori Sakamoto and Yuma Kagiyama clinched their Olympic spots, and Yuna Aoki gave two of the finest programs of any skater this season. We also talk about the results of the French and Italian nationals events, including their locks for Olympic teams. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:10 Women's Event 00:33:07 Men's Compeititon 00:44:32 Pairs Compeition 00:47:14 Ice Dance Competition 00:52:09 French Nationals 00:58:44...
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We preview the All-Japan Figure Skating Championships (Japanese Nationals) and its hotly contested Olympic team outcomes. We also look back at the Junior Grand Prix Final, particularly the very exciting junior women’s event. Golden Spin 2025 receives a recap as well, along with a number of other smaller federation national championships. As mentioned in the episode, here is Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:06 J-Nats Women’s Competition 00:11:59 J-Nats Men's Competition 00:16:16 J-Nats Pairs Competition 00:17:34 J-Nats Ice Dance Competition 00:20:19 French Nationals 00:24:21 Italian Nationals...
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The Grand Prix Final in Japan took us on a rollercoaster of emotions. Ilia Malinin shattered his own world record. Alysa Liu is golden once again. The pairs competition was outstanding. And ice dance somehow managed to generate even more controversy, outcry, and shocking twists. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 03:34 — Pairs Competition 04:22 — Miura and Kihara 08:17 — Conti and Macii 12:41 — Hase and Volodin 15:32 — Metelkina and Berulava 18:50 — Pavlova and Svietchenko 20:10 — Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps 23:45 — Women's Competition 24:36 — Alysa Liu 29:24 — Ami Nakai 33:41 —...
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We get ready for the 2025 Grand Prix Final with a rundown of all the competitors across the 4 disciplines, comparing their scores and performances so far this season, and making our (highly dubious) podium predictions. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:58 — Men's Competition 19:09 — Men's Podium Predictions 20:47 — Pairs Competition 34:09 — Pairs Podium Predictions 35:39 — Women's Competition 52:57 — Women's Podium Predictions 56:16 — Ice Dance Competition 1:21:20 — Ice Dance Podium Predictions 1:22:59 — Other Skating News 1:24:23 — Talinn Trophy 1:28:00 — South Korean Ranking...
info_outlineWe check out the French Masters event, featuring the debut of ice dance team Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron, and a fantastic performance from Kevin Aymoz. We also look at the Junior Grand Prix, including a controversy in Pairs, and a breakout gold in women’s.
French Masters 2025 — Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron Debut, Aymoz Dazzles
In this week’s episode of Scoreography, we dig into the French Masters competition where Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron made their much-awaited competitive debut. With two very refined programs — including an especially memorable free dance — they came out on top over country-mates Lopareva & Brissaud and Demougeot & LeMercier. This sets up what will be an interesting few months leading to the Olympic team selections.
In the men’s event, Kevin Aymoz reminded us why his Bolero is so iconic, winning the event in style. Adam Siao Him Fa had some unfortunate skates to start his season, but no one outside the arena will ever see them since he requested they not be streamed.
Junior Grand Prix — Quad Twist Controversy and Breakout Performances
Also, after quite a few requests from listeners to cover more Juniors, we take advantage of less happening on the senior circuit to look at a bit of what’s happened at the first two junior Grand Prix events.
Of particular note, the new-to-juniors pairs team from China, Guo & Zheng, threw a rarely-seen quad twist — the first since Sui & Han did one in Beijing in 2022! Unfortunately, the judges mis-called it and only a triple was counted. While this was disappointing, there was a lot to be excited about for them as well as the Canadian team Kemp & Elizarov, who earned gold.
We were also impressed with the evolution of both Minkyu Seo and Rio Nakata — who are already setting up the men’s events this season to be strong and exciting. Both scored new personal bests in their respective wins in the Grand Prix of Riga (Nakata) and Grand Prix Ankara (Seo.)
The Junior international debut of Japan’s Mayuko Oka delighted us, as did Yujae Kim’s strongest performance to date and an emotional short program from Sophie Joline Von Felten.
Upcoming Event Previews
Last but not least, we begin previewing what feels like the “real” start to the Olympic season with 2 events — the John Nick’s Pairs Challenge and the Kinoshita Cup — happening the first week of September.
Chapters
0:00 — Intro
0:40 — French Masters Ice Dance
17:39 — French Masters Men’s Competition
23:13 — French Masters Women and Pairs
24:25 — JGP Quad Twist Controversy
29:36 — Kemp and Elizarov pairs victory
31:28 — JGP Men: Nakata vs Seo
34:57 — JGP Women: Oka, Kim, and Von Felton
44:18 — Williams and Lewer JGP Medal
45:36 — John Nicks Pairs Challenge Preview
48:40 — Kinoshita Cup preview
57:18 — Look ahead to Lombardia and Olympic Qualifiers
59:16 — Wrap-Up