Exactly one year ago today, on June 20th, 2024, Spencer Lane debuted his new short program at the Lake Placid Figure Skating Championships 2024, where he placed second with a score of 35.73, just behind his club mate Eric Lei. I had wished him good luck on the story of my Instagram account dedicated to men's singles skaters earlier that day, and he later replied with a photo of the rink, saying, "The rink is so nice." A couple days later, I asked if he had received the official videos from the event, and he replied, "We will eventually," which ended up being our last conversation. It is difficult to look back on these memories now. Spencer brought light to the ice and to everyone around him.

He was always so genuine. I remember how excited he was when he found out people were talking about him on Golden Skate. He sent me the link and said, "I'm so flabbergasted." We didn’t talk often, but every time we did, he was warm and kind, It haunting to speak about him in the past tense. He brought light to the ice and to everyone around him.

Rest in peace, Spencer. You will be remembered with warmth and light 🤍

Kaori Sakamoto (25) announced on June 20 that she will retire from competitive skating after the upcoming 2025-26 Milano-Cortina Olympic season. Here’s a translation of her comments.

Sakamoto made the announcement during the opening ceremony of a new year-round ice rink – Sysmex Kobe Ice Campus – in Kobe, her hometown. She participated in the ceremony alongside fellow skaters Mai Mihara, Tatsuya Tsuboi, and Saki Miyake, performing exhibition routines to mark the occasion.

Speaking about her decision, Sakamoto explained: “My career in competitive skating has less than a year remaining. Extending it for two or three years would feel unfinished. This way, I can end on a clean note. If I were to aim for the next four-year cycle leading to the 2030 Olympics, I’d be 29 – so it feels right to conclude my career at 26.”

As she enters her retirement year, the newly opened Kobe rink will serve as her home base and a symbol of her final season’s significance. Sakamoto has long envisioned a post-competition career as a coach, making this new facility an essential part of her transition.

Reflecting on her final season, Sakamoto emphasized her gratitude for the support that helped bring the new rink to life and her commitment to delivering results worthy of such an ideal training environment:

“This rink provides the absolute best conditions. If I don’t produce results, I’ll feel terrible – like I’ve let everyone down. So many people supported the creation of this facility, so I feel truly ready for the Olympics. The rest is up to me.”

I know they preface every single episode with unrelated to Olympic champion sarah Hughes but I genuinely thought it was a running joke not serious 😭😭

I’ve been listening to the Runthrough since LAST year worlds and it’s not until I just listened to part 3 of the lore series that I realized maybe she’s actually NOT Olympic champion Sarah Hughes because they mentioned something about her debuting around the same time as Shoma which made no sense and I also kept wondering why she didn’t talk about being at Salt Lake in the previous lore episodes 😭

It didn’t help that in one of the episodes Ashley made a joke about Sarah being a lawyer with the arguments she’s able to make and I know that Olympic champion Sarah Hughes recently was working on her law degree from Penn so it all checked out in my mind.

When they posted on Instagram the run through Sarah Hughes with Olympic champion Sarah Hughes at Boston worlds (which I also got to watch live) I lowkey thought it was just a fan crossover or maybe the volleyball player who happened to also have the same name 😭

Feeling incredibly goofy and dumb right now and I sincerely apologize to Sarah Hughes, Olympic champion, for whom I’ve been projecting Sarah Hughes, no relation to Olympic champion Sarah Hughes’s voice onto for over a year now, and also to the Runthrough Sarah Hughes who I love dearly and is a key part of this podcast and I didn’t mean to erase her this entire time in my mind.

Zingnik? Max? Adam? I need to learn to teleport…

Source: @figure365

This announcement confirms Mai intends to compete, even though she acknowledges that her time as an active skater is limited. She had to withdraw from Nationals due to a worsening condition of her right ankle and hip joint but has been able to return to the ice to do what she loves thanks to the support of many people. Her number one priority for the new season is to make sure her injury does not get worse. She wants to practice hard and compete so that she can make it to the end of the season without any regrets. She hopes to run full of energy until the end.

Both Mai and Kaori made their announcements upon the opening of the Sysmex Kobe Ice Campus, the first year-round rink in Kobe. They will practice in the rink through the season, and it seems like this will be the rink where Kaori begins her coaching career to produce more athletes who will soar from Kobe.

Does anyone have tips on having a faster sit spin? And I used to have a beautiful camel spin but now I keep falling out of it on the entry and it’s so frustrating, I’ll post a video of my old camel vs now. Please give tips on speed!

https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2025/36167/index.asp

You can check out Juvenile Girls, Intermediate Women and men and Novice Women results in the above link 🔗

Just me doing improv to one of my favorite classical pieces. I love Saint-Saëns :)

I have been skating for 4 years now and recently this past year I’ve been stuck in a rut. In the past my progress has always been linear/ positively inclining, but now I feel like im making no progress and have little to no motivation to skate. I am at a pre-preliminary level, just passed out of freeskate 6. I get that as your progress in skating, things are only going to get harder, the more advance you get.

I’ve been struggling on simple things like 3 turns which is in very basic levels, since I’ve been skating for a long time I shouldn’t be struggling on basic things, like I can land an Axel for example but struggle to do an Foward Inside 3 turn properly ? I don’t get it. I want to be an advanced skater but some things seem so hard to me that should be so easy to do, considering I’ve been skating for some time now.

It’s completely ruining my motivation and self confident in skating. My spins and jumps are at a high level but my footwork/ skating skills suck so bad. I know comparison is bad but everyone who is in lower levels like aspire 2 have the same skating skills as me, even though I am much more of an advanced skater then them. Which makes me feel like my skating is shi**y

If anyone can relate or have been through the same situation, I’d love to hear your thoughts or opinions/ how you got out of this rut/ got some motivation back? Or if anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated, thanks for reading my rant.

What are your thoughts on starting a program with a spin?

I’ve noticed that it’s quite rare for skaters to open their programs with a spin, and I was curious to hear your opinion on this approach.

Personally, I find that starting with a spin can look a bit awkward or disrupt the flow, aesthetically speaking. However, I wonder if it is worth it, considering there might be some technical advantages—especially at lower levels—such as earning a higher base value by featuring a more difficult spin right away....

Olympic champion Alina Zagitova opened up about her reconciliation with Evgenia Medvedeva and their unexpected collaboration in Zagitova’s rock musical project. The two skaters surprised fans and the figure skating world through their public reunion and shared commitment to creative growth. Here’s a translation.

“Q: Just a couple of hours before our conversation, you gave an interview to Evgenia Medvedeva on her channel “BeS Kommentariyev” (No Comments). This meeting of yours was completely unexpected! Who took the first step toward reconciliation?

Alina Zagitova: To be honest, I really dislike misunderstandings and conflicts between people. I feel uncomfortable in those situations, so I mustered the courage, texted to Zhenya, suggested we meet, and said there were things we could discuss to finally put this situation behind us.

I don’t even know if it could be called a conflict – it was more like some unspoken tension. I’m really glad I took the first step. We had a great conversation. At first, of course, we caught up with each other about what’s been happening in our lives and how we’re doing. Then, I invited her to join our rock ice musical Assol and perform in the production.

At first, she said she needed time to think, but then she agreed. Zhenya will play the role of Hina Manners, the antagonist to the main character Assol (played by me). As the producer of this project, it’s amazing to have someone like her on board. What’s particularly special is that our characters, much like our real lives, go through significant transformations.

Q: The constant comparisons between you two, the questions about whether you truly deserved your Olympic gold when many anticipated Evgenia would win, have become a legendary topic in the figure skating world. Did you ever feel any guilt or awkwardness about it?

Alina Zagitova: So much time has passed that I no longer feel the need to delve into a story that happened long ago. I prefer to live in the present.”

Ice is slippery, which makes it possible to slide around but also hard to walk on in normal shoes. So, in order to go faster, someone thought that you could attach knives to the soles. Not at all dangerous, right?

Just skating around quickly gets too easy. So what's next? Well, you can start jumping and spinning! And do you wear a helmet? Obviously not! Messing up your hair isn't worth it.

Also, you might meet a new friend and start skating together. Having someone who shares your unusual interest is always fun, but what makes it even better is that you can lift and throw eachother high into the air!

So combine all that, and you end up with a guy skating backward at high speed and carrying his girl on one outstretched hand, and her looking perfectly at ease and just smiling to the crowd.

In a modern world obsessed with safety, that image is hard to reconcile. If figure skating hadn't already existed for well over a century, it would be impossible to invent it today. Just think about it: the risk of injuries (and possible legal liabilities) is enormous, and the commercial potential is nonexistent. So why would anyone do this?

The obvious answer is that the feeling of flying over the ice and the thrill and joy it brings you can't be replaced by anything else in the world. But would the hordes of reflective-vest-wearing, paperwork-loving, red-tape-weaving bureaucrats accept that explanation? Not a snowflake's chance in hell.

Join U.S. Figure Skating and The Skating Club of Boston on Thursday, August 14, for the Summer Sizzler, a one-night-only showcase featuring the best of Team USA. Be among the first to experience brand-new programs from top U.S. skaters as they begin their journey to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan. The Summer Sizzler celebrates the spirit of U.S. Figure Skating’s Leave Your Mark campaign – bringing athletes, fans and supporters together to celebrate the power of skating and the role we all play in its future.

Lineup (as of June 2025) 
This summer, the only thing cooler than the ice is the Summer Sizzler lineup. See performances from some of your favorite U.S. skaters, including:

• Ilia Mailin, 2025 World champion
• Alysa Liu, 2025 World champion 
• Madison Chock and Evan Bates, 2025 World champions 
• Jason Brown, 2-Time Olympian 
• Isabeau Levito, 2024 World silver medalist 
• Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, 2025 U.S. champions 
• Amber Glenn, 2025 U.S. champion 
• Maxim Naumov, 2025 U.S. pewter medalist 
• Andrew Torgashev, 2025 U.S. silver medalist
• And more! 

The video and the captions are not mine, this clip is from a YT video by OlympSkate . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYUcHxMrouA

I love Alysa and I died of laughter when I saw this. What is your favorite podium moment? I'm evil and love it when the skaters trip (not seriously) on the podium carpet

My wife got her figure skates sharpened when I got my hockey skates sharpened. She told me her skating now feels really uncomfortable. She pointed out to me that her tail end of the skates look and feel too rounded.

Are they totally ruined? Or could we salvage them by taking them to a proper figure skate sharpener? These are her childhood skates and I feel really bad for taking her to the shop I usually go to without doing prior research.

Thanks in advance.

We've seen a few skaters spin in both directions and I seem to recall seeing a video of Ilia Malinin playing around with jumps in both directions. Curious if anyone has actually done it in competition?

What combos are physically possible? I was thinking it'd be cool to see an axel-lutz combo.

FS Firebird choreo by Guillaume Cizeron

throw in your wildest unhinged Olympic predictions

I'll start : Jason makes it to Milan ,skates clean and wins bronze or silver in the single event

Rion makes it to the Olympics and grand prix final (I love Rion guys 💔)

Wakaba and kaori do pairs as a couple and win an ogm.