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Get ready for the thrill of the ice as we dive into the practice sessions for the 2026 Skate Canada International pair event! This competition is shaping up to be an electrifying battle for the podium.
The pair skating landscape is wide open this year, with strong contenders vying for the gold. We're seeing a mix of established powerhouses and exciting new partnerships making their mark. Expect to witness incredible athleticism, intricate lifts, and breathtaking throws.
Canada's Minyu Inoki and Tristan Taylor are a team to watch, showcasing their growth and potential to challenge the top ranks. World bronze medalists Trent Michaud and Leopold are back, ready to impress with their artistry and powerful skating. Don't miss emerging Canadian talent Kemp and Elizorov, who are proving their consistency and readiness for senior international competition.
The resilience of Ukrainian skaters is also a powerful story, with athletes continuing their journeys despite immense challenges. Their determination on the ice is truly inspiring.
#SkateCanada Pairs #FigureSkating #PairSkating
The pair skating landscape is wide open this year, with strong contenders vying for the gold. We're seeing a mix of established powerhouses and exciting new partnerships making their mark. Expect to witness incredible athleticism, intricate lifts, and breathtaking throws.
Canada's Minyu Inoki and Tristan Taylor are a team to watch, showcasing their growth and potential to challenge the top ranks. World bronze medalists Trent Michaud and Leopold are back, ready to impress with their artistry and powerful skating. Don't miss emerging Canadian talent Kemp and Elizorov, who are proving their consistency and readiness for senior international competition.
The resilience of Ukrainian skaters is also a powerful story, with athletes continuing their journeys despite immense challenges. Their determination on the ice is truly inspiring.
#SkateCanada Pairs #FigureSkating #PairSkating
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Joni McPhail covering the practice sessions.
00:00:03We've just watched the women.
00:00:05That was fantastic.
00:00:06Jackie, set us up with your impressions, your thoughts on this pair event.
00:00:10It's a very interestingly open pair event.
00:00:14I think there's going to be two pairs who are fighting for gold
00:00:18and then maybe two pairs fighting for bronze.
00:00:21And then everybody else here, like, they could be really good as well.
00:00:25Like, you just, you don't know with pairs because the range of consistency is so high.
00:00:33But this group already, we're getting two of the medal favorites here.
00:00:37Yeah, we have a couple of new teams.
00:00:39Well, not new teams, but, you know, inexperienced teams.
00:00:41Minyu Inoki and Tristan Taylor from Canada.
00:00:45They're a relatively new team.
00:00:46And this is, like, really, I don't think they've been international at the John Nicks, I believe.
00:00:51And that's it.
00:00:52That was our first one.
00:00:52But they've been together for three years.
00:00:54Yeah, they started competing in Japan?
00:00:56Yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:00:57Yeah, so they are experienced in a different kind of way.
00:01:02Yeah, yeah.
00:01:02But they're not experienced in competition quite yet.
00:01:05Yeah, and not a lot of exposure.
00:01:06Yeah, exactly.
00:01:07Like, a lot of people wouldn't know them.
00:01:08Yeah.
00:01:09Excited to see them because they had a pretty good John Nicks event,
00:01:13which was a month and a half ago now.
00:01:15Mm-hmm.
00:01:16And they ended up, they could have scored a lot higher,
00:01:22but their choreographic pair lift in that free skate got invalidated.
00:01:27So I think they've got a shot here at top five.
00:01:31And there we see Trent Michaud and Leopold.
00:01:35World bronze medalists.
00:01:37Yeah, they, that was, I remember in the kiss and cry at the World Championships,
00:01:41the reaction was just...
00:01:44Amazing.
00:01:45Yeah.
00:01:45But go back to nationals.
00:01:46Oh, yeah.
00:01:47Because they actually won nationals.
00:01:48Yes.
00:01:49And I think, you know, it was a prize for many, but...
00:01:53I mean, I think it's interesting with them that the last year has been this sort of, like,
00:02:01they weren't maybe expecting to be the top pair because Deanna and Max were the top pair
00:02:07for a number of seasons.
00:02:09And then all of a sudden they were thrust into top pair at Canadians and then at the Olympics
00:02:16because Deanna had the injury, they had to do both segments of the team event.
00:02:23So they all of a sudden went from, okay, we're second fighting for first to actually being first.
00:02:29And then they won the bronze medal.
00:02:31I mean, the way that they stepped up last season was amazing.
00:02:35Well, their rise has been, I don't think, unexpected, but maybe quicker than the timeline because of that.
00:02:43And I did, like, talking to them, too, because they're, you know, relatively new.
00:02:48But when we were at national camp, they're now kind of the veterans.
00:02:52Yeah, absolutely.
00:02:53And their leadership had to kick in because now they're both leaders.
00:02:57Especially with the Canadian pairs shake up, right?
00:03:00Like, they are by far and away the best team out there.
00:03:05And now you've got Kemp and Elizorov, who we're seeing right now, who are now, you know,
00:03:12very much squarely the second best team because of the breakups and the retirements and all of those things.
00:03:18New partnerships.
00:03:20And it'll be interesting to see some of these new partnerships
00:03:23and what they look like and how they come along.
00:03:27We've got some junior teams that have moved up.
00:03:29But it's, there's opportunities out there.
00:03:33Yeah.
00:03:35It's always tough to go from junior to senior in pairs
00:03:39because you oftentimes start when you're younger.
00:03:44Well, you have to start when you're younger because you're a junior.
00:03:46But the two partners often mature in different ways, right?
00:03:52And one partner might maintain their jumps and the other partner doesn't.
00:03:56Or, you know, it's very difficult to see or very rare to see juniors really go
00:04:03from being successful juniors to successful seniors.
00:04:06And Kemp and Elizorov, I think, could be a test case for that one
00:04:11because they've started their senior season very strongly.
00:04:16They have.
00:04:17They were, I mean, they've competed senior nationally for a couple of seasons now.
00:04:23But senior international, and they're ready for it.
00:04:26Yeah.
00:04:27They're strong.
00:04:28And one thing about them is their consistency.
00:04:31They have always been so consistent.
00:04:34And she's a fighter.
00:04:35Wow.
00:04:36I was just speaking with the team leader from Ukraine.
00:04:38Oh.
00:04:39And the coach of Sofia Holichenko and Artem Dorensky will not be here.
00:04:46So she will be here because their rink was bombed.
00:04:51And no one got hurt.
00:04:52But it was...
00:04:54One second.
00:04:55I'm just going to go off here.
00:04:56Can you go?
00:05:01That's rough.
00:05:04Oh, yes.
00:05:05Yeah.
00:05:06So we've seen some of that from the Ukrainian skaters that the rinks that they trained in
00:05:14have been bombed.
00:05:15Yeah.
00:05:15And it's been really tough.
00:05:17Yeah.
00:05:17It's been really tough.
00:05:18And one of the junior skaters was in Batumi.
00:05:22And he was telling me, you know, how are you going back home?
00:05:24So he had to go...
00:05:25I can't remember.
00:05:26He was in Georgia.
00:05:28Then he had to go to another country and drive in.
00:05:31But they had to stop and check that it was safe to get into the city.
00:05:36So the point is that we know that's happening around the world.
00:05:39And so these Ukrainian skaters have very difficult challenges.
00:05:42But they continue on to represent their country and to continue in their journey in life.
00:05:47So anyways, I just wanted to update you.
00:05:49We will not see the coach here.
00:05:50That's unfortunate.
00:05:51Several years ago, when Junior Worlds were in Calgary, there was a Ukrainian pair team
00:05:56that had nowhere to skate or train.
00:05:57And they actually came to Oakville and trained with us there.
00:06:00And then went on to compete at Junior Worlds.
00:06:03But the entire community put them in.
00:06:05They housed them.
00:06:06They fed them.
00:06:07They got them to the rink.
00:06:08We gave them ice.
00:06:09And everybody just stepped up to do what you have to do.
00:06:13Well, last year's world junior champions of a camp,
00:06:15Yonatan Eliezerov.
00:06:18First escape, we're not sure how much we'll see.
00:06:22Yeah, I didn't see him roam up too much.
00:06:24There'll be a lot of marking on this one.
00:06:31I was a little bit concerned in their very first competition, which was a domestic event in Canada.
00:06:40And they were not, to your point about consistency, they were not consistent there.
00:06:44And I was like, oh no, is this the junior to senior thing?
00:06:48And then the next two competitions, they were back.
00:06:51Yeah.
00:06:52They're going through sort of a transformation with their choreography and their emotion and their performance.
00:06:58Sandra Bezik is working with them, among others.
00:07:02And so I think they were just technical skaters before and now trying to grow into the maturity and whatnot.
00:07:08And of course, that's going to change perhaps, oops, you know, some of the other aspects because they've got more
00:07:15to think about and more to do in their program now.
00:07:19I thought their free skate last season, that was a Sandra Bezik free skate, was really nice, really strong.
00:07:25Yeah, I agree.
00:07:27Definitely not a junior program.
00:07:35One of the things I love about covering the juniors, and in this case, this team here in Canada over
00:07:41the years, is seeing their growth.
00:07:42And, you know, for most people who may be watching, they wouldn't know what they have, what this team has
00:07:47done before, or how rough they were when they first started.
00:07:50And to see that growth, that's what I love covering juniors, is because you see changes.
00:07:55You know, the seniors, the good seniors, you see small changes, but not the big changes you see from junior
00:08:01to senior.
00:08:02Yeah.
00:08:15Marking that Lutz.
00:08:30I miss mirror skating.
00:08:32We don't have enough of it.
00:08:33Hmm.
00:08:43A lot of traffic here.
00:08:45Yeah.
00:08:45There's all this ice.
00:08:46Yeah, I know.
00:08:47And they're all like three teams in one corner.
00:08:48Gosh, this looked like an ice dance former.
00:08:52Oh.
00:08:53Yeah.
00:08:54Yeah.
00:09:04What was your famous, what was your most, um, enjoyable or exciting pair program ever?
00:09:14Oh, oh, I mean, this is very, very much recency bias, but Miura Kihara's free skate at the Olympics is
00:09:21going to be emblazoned in my brain.
00:09:23That one, and then Savchenko and Masseau's free skate from the 2018 Olympics.
00:09:29Okay.
00:09:30Well, that was pretty clear.
00:09:30He didn't have to think about that too much.
00:09:32He has a, I got the answers.
00:09:34Here we go.
00:09:34Well, you're used to game shows, so he's got the answer on the top of your head, right?
00:09:38Yeah.
00:09:39Leah Pereira, Tret, Michaud, world bronze medalist, Canadian champions last year.
00:09:44And you have to wonder, Joni, whether that great excitement and success they've had last season, how that impacts them?
00:09:51Is it drives them forward?
00:09:52Does it pull them back?
00:09:53We'll see what happens throughout the season.
00:09:56I'm pretty sure it's driving them forward.
00:09:58Absolutely.
00:10:00Absolutely.
00:10:13We're going with the free skate first.
00:10:16Mm-hmm.
00:10:16Mm-hmm.
00:10:26We're going with the free skate first.
00:10:35That's very close on those side-by-sides.
00:10:38Whoa.
00:10:40Wow.
00:10:41Good patience.
00:10:42I think that's a thing that they've worked on.
00:10:44Like, you often see these side-by-side jumps be incredibly far away from each other.
00:10:50And to have them be close like that is certainly quality improvements.
00:10:58Well, I think they know very well what they have to do to stay on the podium or take a
00:11:03step up.
00:11:09They're both good individual solo skaters.
00:11:29Joni, you were talking about them earlier in their, well, last year being this sort of unexpected increase in what
00:11:39their world standing was.
00:11:40I mean, you have to remember, they started their first season together.
00:11:45They were six-step worlds.
00:11:47Yeah.
00:11:47Their very first season.
00:11:49Yeah, true, true.
00:11:49And it was a very high bar to then meet for the next few seasons because that first 2022-2023
00:11:59season for them, the pairs were kind of in shambles across the world.
00:12:04Like, the pair discipline itself, right?
00:12:07And then the next four years as the Olympics came about, it started building and building.
00:12:12And they were feeling a little bit stagnant.
00:12:15That's right.
00:12:15You're right.
00:12:16Well, I think when you have, you reach that so quickly.
00:12:20Yeah.
00:12:20It's, you haven't given yourself time to kind of develop and go, and then there's expectations from yourself and everyone
00:12:26else.
00:12:26It's nice to have the success on the day, but then wonder, did I deserve it?
00:12:30Yes.
00:12:31Okay, is this really me?
00:12:32Yeah.
00:12:32Yeah.
00:12:33And you don't want to be a one and done.
00:12:35Yeah.
00:12:35It's like six months, all of a sudden you're six in the world as a pair?
00:12:39Wow.
00:12:43I think both of the programs for them this season are another step up in maturity.
00:12:48And I think they very much were like, we're obviously not going to rest on our laurels.
00:12:55We're going to keep pushing and keep improving because they've got bigger goals than just a world broads.
00:13:00Yeah.
00:13:10He's always been such a good lifter.
00:13:13Oh, yeah, totally.
00:13:14Great turns, always, you know.
00:13:16Secure.
00:13:17Yeah, secure.
00:13:18And he doesn't let, he doesn't let her kind of her momentum go and push the lift.
00:13:27He makes sure that he's the one who is securely getting these lifts up and for her to be in
00:13:35the right spots.
00:13:38And that's why you see stuff like this.
00:13:39It's just like, you don't think about it.
00:14:00You know, the thing I love about the choreographic spins and movements or the choreography that's happening pretty much in
00:14:06any spin is the different use of space around them, right?
00:14:10The different angles that you're getting now that you didn't get before.
00:14:14Yeah.
00:14:17There's a creativity.
00:14:19Yeah.
00:14:19Now to it.
00:14:20I'm not a cookie cutter.
00:14:21These are the only positions you can do.
00:14:23It helps to have been skating for four years together, you know.
00:14:26Yeah.
00:14:26The understanding of pairing becomes very different.
00:14:35You know, Keen Taylor.
00:14:37They compete at Japan Nationals.
00:14:39Then they compete at Canadians.
00:14:43And now they're Canadian.
00:14:52Just sent from Saskatchewan.
00:14:57Middle of Canada.
00:15:01Where we were last year at this time.
00:15:03Yeah.
00:15:04Yes, Saskatoon.
00:15:07Are you in Regina or Saskatoon?
00:15:09Saskatoon.
00:15:09Saskatoon.
00:15:09Saskatoon.
00:15:12I don't want to say I miss hearing Phantom of the Opera a lot.
00:15:17But I was kind of happy this came on.
00:15:22Okay.
00:15:23Was that an endorsement?
00:15:24I don't know.
00:15:24I'm not really sure.
00:15:26I mean, we're having Rosalia, you know, overload this season.
00:15:32So, you know.
00:15:40Tristan's improved a lot.
00:15:45Has he always been a pair skater?
00:15:48I don't know his history.
00:15:49That's a good question.
00:15:49I mean, they all start in singles.
00:15:51I'm not sure to what degree.
00:15:52I think he's been a single skater in the past.
00:15:54But he had another pair partner.
00:15:56Okay.
00:15:57And she did also in Japan.
00:15:59Yeah.
00:16:00So they both come in with pair's experience.
00:16:03Yes.
00:16:14But what I noticed with Tristan now, he has better posture.
00:16:17Like they've really worked on that core of his body and his neckline and whatnot.
00:16:22It gives him a little bit more power and elegance and control.
00:16:36With the new rules this season, the pair's free skate is probably the one that is the most jarring in
00:16:45terms of changes.
00:16:46Because they've taken a leveled lift out and replaced it with a choreographic lift.
00:16:51They've taken the leveled hair spin out and put in a choreographic hair spin.
00:16:58They've taken out the choreographic sequence.
00:17:03And they're the second, or the combo jump can only have two.
00:17:08Yeah.
00:17:08But I would argue the one discipline, the top discipline that needed that was this discipline.
00:17:13Because there was no time to have the storytelling, to have the emotion, to, you know, the characters or whatever,
00:17:19or the skating skills.
00:17:20It was up and down the ice on big elements.
00:17:22And those elements all took a long time.
00:17:24So I'm not sure it's, we'll find out over the next couple of years, but.
00:17:30There's a choreographic lift for you.
00:17:33And difficult, even though it's not recognized in the levels.
00:17:38Well, the elements just take longer.
00:17:40Yeah.
00:17:40The setup takes longer.
00:17:41The elements take longer.
00:17:44I think I'm wrong.
00:17:45I think that might have been a group three lift.
00:17:47Yeah.
00:17:51But yeah, I mean, the old pair programs, you used to see a lot of stroking around the end of
00:17:57the rink in order to get yourself onto a lift.
00:18:00Yeah.
00:18:01And those lifts take a long time.
00:18:02Yeah, totally.
00:18:04And when you have the pair spin, I mean, that would take a good 20 seconds.
00:18:07And you're doing your body contortions or whatever.
00:18:09And everybody was doing the same thing.
00:18:11And, you know, it wasn't a defining factor in the program, right?
00:18:15Yeah.
00:18:16So.
00:18:20In a lot of ways, the advent of the choreo elements is a little bit of trusting the skaters and
00:18:32the judges to understand difficulty again.
00:18:35Yeah, true, true, true.
00:18:36Right, because when the I.J.S. first started, it was all about, like, how do you mark difficulty?
00:18:42And now it's like, okay, well, we know, kind of.
00:18:45But with what they're doing with judging in the ISU, I believe that will happen even more.
00:18:49That will be better.
00:18:50Maybe not at the moment, but it will be better.
00:18:52Sorry.
00:18:59No, I don't know much about this team.
00:19:01Have you seen this team before, Jackie?
00:19:02So, speaking of pairs, splits and those things, Italy has had a history of three or four top pairs.
00:19:14And now they have one.
00:19:16Rebecca was talking to me about that on the Junior Grand Prix.
00:19:18And Caldar and Malio are the Italian pair right now.
00:19:25There are others who are training, but this is the first, this is the only Italian senior pair that's competing.
00:19:31That's ready.
00:19:32That's, yeah.
00:19:33They were at Worlds last year.
00:19:34Is that because there were so many at the top that it was holding teams down?
00:19:38No.
00:19:38Or there was just no teams?
00:19:40They are used to having, the Italian pairs program is used to having about two to three teams, and they
00:19:47were all very good.
00:19:49Like, there weren't that many that were, like, up and coming, and there wasn't a pipeline.
00:19:54So, Juniors, they didn't have many Juniors?
00:19:56No, there are now.
00:19:57Yeah.
00:19:57There are now.
00:19:59They're rebuilding, I think.
00:20:00Yeah.
00:20:04But, you know, it'll be interesting because Rebecca Ghilardi retired.
00:20:08So, her and Filippo Ambrosini are out.
00:20:13But Filippo Ambrosini has a new pair partner, but they haven't competed yet.
00:20:17Right.
00:20:20And, um, Sarah Conti and Nicomachi split because Nicomachi retired, right?
00:20:27And so, now, two of the top pairs.
00:20:30And Sarah's looking for a partner?
00:20:31Uh, she has not, she has not said she's retiring yet, so.
00:20:35Okay, yeah.
00:20:40And then, uh, Rebecca, not Rebecca, uh,
00:20:48Bakari and Guarise, who were the European champions a few seasons ago, she's been injured for such a long time,
00:20:55and now they've split.
00:20:56So, you know, we went from an Italian pairs program with, with a bunch of top teams to literally one.
00:21:03Yeah.
00:21:04Well, hopefully they've got some Juniors coming up that they can build a foundation that if they lose one here
00:21:09or there, they've still got bench strength.
00:21:19They've improved since the last time I saw them at, um, at, um, at Worlds.
00:21:23It's a better flow overall.
00:21:38Oh, my baby's disabled, don't let it slip in your heart, let it slip in your heart, let it slip
00:21:49in your heart, let it slip.
00:21:57That's so interesting that he came up on that death spiral just, like, a quarter turn before he got into
00:22:05the third revolution.
00:22:06Mm-hmm.
00:22:07Because that, that's the difference between getting a level four death spiral and getting a level three, like, you need
00:22:13three revolutions on, on the pivot.
00:22:18And, you know, when you're in it and you're all, you can only measure it by the feel.
00:22:22Yeah.
00:22:23And sometimes the music, if you're behind, it forces you to do something you don't want to do, but you
00:22:28have to make a call on it.
00:22:30You want to stay with the music or do you want to get around all the way?
00:22:32Well, and also with pairs, all of these, the, all of the exits of everything is so prescribed because if
00:22:40you, if the two of you aren't facing the right direction for your choreography, then you need to completely change
00:22:46everything around.
00:22:47Like, we've seen pairs and ice dance teams come out of a spin or something facing the wrong way, and
00:22:53then they end up having to do the entire program completely in the wrong direction.
00:22:58Which is one thing when you're doing it by yourself.
00:23:00Yes, exactly.
00:23:01It's another thing when you're counting on someone else to do what you're doing.
00:23:04Yeah.
00:23:04I don't know if you saw that lift.
00:23:05That was really interesting because he lifted her by legs, not by hands, until he got her above the head,
00:23:10above his head.
00:23:11Then he grabbed the hips, right?
00:23:13That was like a leg arm lift.
00:23:15Yeah.
00:23:19It's a nice little slide move.
00:23:21Very, a little ice dance-y there.
00:23:22You know, the slide is interesting because I like the sliding movement, but I know they're also risky because we
00:23:27saw a lot of them.
00:23:27We've got a lot of stakes on juniors this year with the slides.
00:23:30Yeah.
00:23:31And depending on the ice, it's rough.
00:23:33They are so hard on the knees.
00:23:34Yeah, really hard.
00:23:35See, so many times they were sitting in the kissing car with the bleeding.
00:23:38And the boots as well because you're getting them wet.
00:23:41You're getting the soles wet.
00:23:42You're getting the boots wet.
00:23:46There are probably 16 minutes.
00:23:49Wow, 16 minutes.
00:23:49Yeah, so this is always the hilarious thing about pairs practices is you always, you have a maximum of four
00:23:54pairs.
00:23:55Yeah.
00:23:55And the practice sessions are like 35 to 40 minutes.
00:24:00Yeah.
00:24:00So you finish all the run-throughs and then you got basically still a half hour or half of the
00:24:05pair sessions still left to go.
00:24:08Okay, we're getting back to your skin career.
00:24:10No, no, no, no.
00:24:11We're not talking technical.
00:24:13Okay.
00:24:13Now we're talking, you know, program and music.
00:24:16Were you a musical type of guy?
00:24:17Did you play an instrument when you were?
00:24:18I did.
00:24:19I played piano.
00:24:20Okay.
00:24:22Not, again, not very well.
00:24:24I do a lot of things not very well.
00:24:26Well, I think you're doing pretty well with what you're doing right now, so it's all good.
00:24:31But yeah, I was a kid who liked to jump.
00:24:36Like that was program, musicality, that was not my thing.
00:24:40Okay, so it wasn't something, you did it because music played, but you weren't connected to it.
00:24:44Until later on.
00:24:45Okay.
00:24:46I got a much more of an appreciation of music and program and basic skating when I was kind of
00:24:53in my second or third time coming back to skating.
00:24:56Okay, now, Joni, because I know you're skating, because I remember you're skating in BC, how would you describe your
00:25:02skating?
00:25:05I would say I was probably also more technical in a jumper.
00:25:11Yeah, but those days they didn't really have, I mean, sorry, those days.
00:25:14Those days.
00:25:15In the caveman days, that's why.
00:25:16In those days we were wearing bone skates.
00:25:18Yeah, exactly, exactly.
00:25:19Bone lights.
00:25:19There wasn't a lot of music, you know.
00:25:21Well, it was different then.
00:25:24Yeah, it was different.
00:25:25You're right, it was all about, you know, up and down the ice.
00:25:28Yeah, and jumping.
00:25:29And you were a really good technical skater.
00:25:31And we were just getting into kind of technical short programs and requirements and spins.
00:25:36You know, that was kind of all you.
00:25:39I still did compulsory figures, but I missed those.
00:25:43I loved those.
00:25:44I thought they taught so much body awareness.
00:25:47Okay, and we talk about compulsory figures.
00:25:49Yes.
00:25:49Because I think that's something that viewers are certainly interested in.
00:25:53So I was never in the figures era.
00:25:56Oh, yeah, he's bragging about how young he is, for God's sake.
00:25:59Oh, my gosh.
00:25:59Go ahead.
00:25:59I was in the, like, no man's land of right after figures, but before IJS.
00:26:07And so, like, the expectations of what types of turns and steps you do was so different, right?
00:26:17Totally.
00:26:17Nobody was doing paragraph loops.
00:26:19Nobody was doing twizzles in step sequences when I was skating.
00:26:24And then, you know, there was a difference, right, between what steps in the 90s looked like versus what steps
00:26:34looked like after the IJS came on.
00:26:38My take on figures is always that it's about core control.
00:26:45It's about understanding how to check.
00:26:47It's about all that kind of stuff.
00:26:48A lot of people think about figures as, like, oh, if we had figures, people would be on deeper edges.
00:26:54I don't think that would be true because when you're on figures, you are moving at a glacial pace most
00:26:59of the time,
00:27:00and you're trying to make sure that you're getting those lobes and the turns in the right places.
00:27:05You're not looking for, like, a deep outside edge to a deep inside edge or whatever it is.
00:27:10I'm curious to hear folks who are in figures.
00:27:13Okay.
00:27:15You're ready to go, Jodi.
00:27:16Go.
00:27:17Well, I was going to say, I think.
00:27:18I'll stand by.
00:27:18Yeah, no, you can, but I think it taught you body awareness and control of the positions, checking the positions,
00:27:25the turns,
00:27:26where things had to line up, and it gave you the mechanics for those things so that you could perform
00:27:31them with speed or on deeper edges
00:27:32when you learned the mechanics of how those things worked and tied together.
00:27:37And I think those are the things that figures brought to it and the consistency of doing the same thing
00:27:43over and over
00:27:45so you understood those mechanics.
00:27:47Well, first of all, you understood what a rocker and a counter and a three-turner, you understood what those
00:27:51were,
00:27:51which maybe some young ones don't understand because they're not, you know, it's not.
00:27:55You're not drilling those.
00:27:56Exactly.
00:27:57That's one.
00:27:58Two, it made your ankles aware because it wasn't only the body position.
00:28:02It was like the, you know, the Lutzes.
00:28:04You didn't see as many inside edge takeoffs.
00:28:07Okay, they were only doubles.
00:28:08I get it.
00:28:09Right?
00:28:09But the point is you saw a good, strong outside edge because people understood what the outside edge was.
00:28:14Right?
00:28:14So I do think that it had, now it's interesting because Mia Hamada, I had a long conversation with her.
00:28:19We were on a bus trip somewhere on the juniors and she was telling me she does like an hour
00:28:22of figures.
00:28:24Yeah, they do it.
00:28:24So to teach the kids about those turns and about the awareness of their body parts.
00:28:29So I think it's an important, so it's like in piano, how many scales you learn, how much do the
00:28:35scales teach you, you know,
00:28:37versus just if you've got a perfect ear and you just know how to play.
00:28:40Right?
00:28:41So I think it was an argument, not an argument, it's not the right way, but an analysis in a
00:28:46variety of different ways.
00:28:46Yeah.
00:28:46Yeah, I think the thing with figures that is great, to your point, is I do think when you are
00:28:55doing figures and you're learning turns,
00:28:58you often turn with your upper body and figures because you have to be incredibly slow and precise going in
00:29:07to your turns,
00:29:09you can't turn with your upper body because it has to all come from your lower body.
00:29:13Yeah.
00:29:14That's a difference, for sure.
00:29:16Yeah.
00:29:17But I think those coaches that have adapted to, we need to teach these turns, positions and depth of edge
00:29:25or whatever,
00:29:26we need to teach those things.
00:29:27So we had figures, so that's how we taught them.
00:29:30When we don't have figures now, how do you teach them?
00:29:32The best, I don't want to say the best coaches or the countries that are the most successful in skating
00:29:38skills
00:29:38have some sort of process to teach those young skaters turns so they're comfortable as they get stronger with more
00:29:45speed to flow.
00:29:46Well, and the other thing that happened and you lose is, much like the generation who was in that gap
00:29:52of doing this and learning this,
00:29:54but the coaches that came through that, who never had the figures and had the gap of doing this.
00:29:59And so it wasn't just the skaters.
00:30:01There was a whole gap of coaches who understood what had to be taught and how to teach it.
00:30:06That's very true.
00:30:06That's very true.
00:30:07Which is also interesting to see these days with a lot more ice dancers having influence on freestyle skating.
00:30:18Yeah.
00:30:18And that has brought a different level of edge quality awareness to single skating and pair skating that we didn't
00:30:27have years ago.
00:30:29And, you know, the other thing that's really interesting is, this is not about figure skating, it's really about hockey.
00:30:33Because we have a lot of figure skaters who are teaching NHL teams now because, you know, NHL players or
00:30:39hockey players skate primarily straight up and straight back, right?
00:30:43So they don't use their edges.
00:30:45They don't know how to use their edges.
00:30:46Unless they're about to hit the boards.
00:30:48Yeah.
00:30:49Then they use the edges to get the hell out of them.
00:30:50Maybe.
00:30:50Right?
00:30:51Maybe.
00:30:51Yeah, maybe.
00:30:52Or they just slam into the board.
00:30:53Yeah, exactly.
00:30:54So, you know, it's interesting because now they have a different blade and the radius is a lot shorter.
00:30:59So, but, you know, you know, the figure skaters have a particular, the ice dancers or, you know, the power
00:31:05of the pair of skaters or whatnot, you know, have had a great influence on, on, on hockey.
00:31:11And we know that David Pelletier is a, even named as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars, which is
00:31:17really, you know, you haven't ever seen a hockey coach go into figure skating coaching.
00:31:22And we have now seen figure skaters go into hockey coaching.
00:31:26Pretty cool.
00:31:27Okay.
00:31:28Well, I just fill in time here.
00:31:29I'm just coming up with anything, Jeff.
00:31:30We were not.
00:31:30Let's go.
00:31:31Well, I was going to say we were just, as we were talking, I was watching Taylor, Unoki and Taylor
00:31:41doing their lift.
00:31:44And I was very impressed with his flow.
00:31:46Um, like just went down the ice really, really well, uh, and, and, and had a really just confident and
00:31:57solid technique in how he turned.
00:31:59Okay.
00:32:00So I want to, I'm going to have you a question now.
00:32:02We're jumping to Paris, but they're not here, but Barilova and his turns in the lift.
00:32:06So this is a controversial thing.
00:32:07So he, you know, the interesting thing is I really, I should have, because I know that we should have
00:32:11asked the coach, but why he picks that foot up?
00:32:13Because is it to keep away from the toe pick because it's so awkward if he says, Hey, listen, I
00:32:18don't want to trip.
00:32:18I understand the rationale.
00:32:20Don't like it, but I understand it.
00:32:21Yeah.
00:32:22But it's awkward.
00:32:23I wish I knew.
00:32:24Uh, we're talking about Mattel Keenup Barilova, uh, who has everything under the sun except for his lift footwork.
00:32:31Yeah.
00:32:32Um, which gets a little bit scary.
00:32:34Yeah.
00:32:34Uh, he does it, but the, the thing, one thing that I will say about the IJS and how, what
00:32:43skaters are incentivized to do is for him, because he doesn't necessarily have the best basic footwork.
00:32:52What he tries to compensate with is speed and as scary as that footwork is, he does cover a lot
00:33:01of ice on his, on his lift.
00:33:03And so when you're a judge looking at that lift, okay, the footwork's bad, but like the position's great.
00:33:10The, the speed is great.
00:33:11The, the ice coverage is great.
00:33:13So you have to get, give him a point, give them a point.
00:33:16And I draw an analogy to a wrap in a jump.
00:33:20So nowhere does it, I don't know if it says any anymore, but if there was a period of time,
00:33:24a wrap, it didn't matter.
00:33:25If you could do a triple axel, like Medellar Edo with a wrap or whatever the case may be, it
00:33:29didn't matter.
00:33:30You got the triple axel, you got the value to it.
00:33:31Right.
00:33:32So, so how, with that foot coming up, yes, awkward and it's distracting, but where in the rules does it
00:33:37say we need to deduct for that?
00:33:39I, I think it's less about the foot coming up and it's more about the, the, the, the cleanliness of
00:33:45his turns, which when his foot comes up, it tends to get a little spray and icy.
00:33:51Define cleanliness for me.
00:33:52Uh, like, like how, how smooth the, your edges are on your turns.
00:33:58Well, I think, I, I don't think they're unsmooth except for when that leg comes up, your eyes go to
00:34:04that.
00:34:04So if you look at the leg that's on the ice, it's not, I don't see any snow coming up.
00:34:08Oh, no, I, I, I feel like I see a lot of that with him.
00:34:11I don't know.
00:34:12Yeah.
00:34:12He carries his speed though.
00:34:13He does, he does carry his speed.
00:34:14You can't carry that speed through if you're just scratching and skidding.
00:34:17But that's the thing, he.
00:34:19No, American Canadian debate.
00:34:21Hey, Jackie, one minute, go.
00:34:23Yeah, okay.
00:34:24There are some skaters who, they will let the turns be carrying the speed for them or maintaining the speed
00:34:31for him.
00:34:31He pushes.
00:34:33That's part of why he.
00:34:34Okay, good point.
00:34:35Right?
00:34:35Like, and, and when you got the snow off the ice and you're slowing down in the middle of your,
00:34:42of, of, of the lift,
00:34:44he then pushes in order to get the speed back.
00:34:47And so that's why you sort of see some of that, like, back and forth and back and forth on
00:34:51his position.
00:34:53And that's why it gets.
00:34:53So he's accelerating every time as opposed to flowing.
00:34:57Exactly.
00:34:57That's your point.
00:34:58Yeah, exactly.
00:34:58Okay.
00:34:58Well, either way, it's distracting.
00:35:00Which would be somebody on a step sequence too who has to keep kind of pushing and interrupting the flow
00:35:05of the sequence.
00:35:06Versus those, yeah.
00:35:07Because they, they can't move from turn to turn to turn and acquire that speed.
00:35:12Right.
00:35:12Okay.
00:35:12You guys are doing a great, you're going, you guys are doing a great, great job because you're into the
00:35:17Mark Hanready, uh, school of filling air, filling time.
00:35:21Right?
00:35:23Let's call Mark.
00:35:24Yeah, that's good.
00:35:24I hope he's listening.
00:35:25I'm not sure.
00:35:26Whatever school Mark Hanready is teaching, I'm, I'm there.
00:35:29Yeah.
00:35:29Yeah.
00:35:30He's great.
00:35:30He's so much fun to work with.
00:35:33So oftentimes also at the end of pair sessions, you don't see them, like, it's not like singles where they're
00:35:40just drilling jumps and drilling jumps and drilling jumps.
00:35:42There's a lot of pairing work that happens in practices.
00:35:45So you just saw, uh, just saw Kepin Elizorov doing basically pair stroking around the rink.
00:35:54It's not only to say, hey, we're practicing this, but also there are, I don't see any judges here right
00:36:01now, but there are usually judges at practice sessions watching.
00:36:04I think in the back up and down.
00:36:06Yeah, yeah.
00:36:07And so, so they, so they, they are looking at this and being like, yeah.
00:36:10Um, okay.
00:36:11I'm going to go way back.
00:36:12Okay.
00:36:13Yeah.
00:36:13Because there was a time, I won't say the year.
00:36:16Um.
00:36:17Was I alive?
00:36:18Yes.
00:36:18You were alive.
00:36:19We were, we were.
00:36:19Um, but when they would, uh, go watch the Russian pairs just stroke.
00:36:25Yes.
00:36:25At a competition.
00:36:26And it would be good to go watch the practices and just watch them full speed and just stroke.
00:36:32Yeah.
00:36:33Yeah.
00:36:33It's true.
00:36:34And marvel at it.
00:36:35And yes, because it was spectacular.
00:36:39Yeah, it was.
00:36:39And it was just.
00:36:40And risky.
00:36:41It looked risky.
00:36:42It looked dangerous because it was so fast.
00:36:44So fast.
00:36:45Yeah.
00:36:46Yeah, we're, we're seeing, you know, Key and Taylor doing their stroking exercises here.
00:37:03Everybody's, everybody's doing their stroking exercise now.
00:37:07Doing their ice dance presentations.
00:37:09Exactly.
00:37:10It'll get to those ice dance practices.
00:37:12Those are the most, one of the most exciting things in skating, I think, is an ice dance
00:37:17practice or warm up.
00:37:18And scary.
00:37:19Yep.
00:37:20I think that's what she meant.
00:37:28Which will be coming up next.
00:37:57That's a good wide shot of this arena.
00:37:59You know, you can see that there are, you know, suites, if you will, or lodges, they're called
00:38:04here in Canada as well, above.
00:38:06So there's just one layer, one bowl layer of seats.
00:38:10I'm not sure what the capacity is here.
00:38:12It's probably around four or five thousand.
00:38:13Four or five.
00:38:14Four or five thousand, I would say.
00:38:15Seems like it.
00:38:15Yeah.
00:38:16And it should be pretty full for the weekend.
00:38:20A little bit sparse tomorrow, I believe.
00:38:23But it's a good building.
00:38:25Limited space underneath this building.
00:38:27Very limited space underneath.
00:38:28You really couldn't have an event any bigger than this here for skating.
00:38:38Now, what other events are you going to, Jackie?
00:38:41Skate America in two weeks.
00:38:42Yep.
00:38:43That's it for now.
00:38:43So wait a minute.
00:38:44You're going back to New York.
00:38:45And you're going to Skate America.
00:38:46Okay.
00:38:47On Delta.
00:38:48On Delta.
00:38:49And they get a plug.
00:38:51Hi, Delta.
00:38:52Please sponsor me.
00:38:53Yeah.
00:38:56Hopefully you don't have four or five stops.
00:38:58The milk run from New York to Seattle.
00:39:05Did you do pairs at all, Joni?
00:39:07No.
00:39:08We did off-ice pair lifts when we weren't supposed to.
00:39:12Summer training and when we all got together.
00:39:15But not.
00:39:17I did pairs.
00:39:18You remember Mary and Mary in Glenmore?
00:39:19Yes.
00:39:20So when Glenmore retired, Mary and Mary was, they were looking for a partner.
00:39:25And they looked at me as a skater.
00:39:26I was, like, ranked number four in Canada in singles.
00:39:29And so they said, this guy's never going to make the podium.
00:39:32So let's put him in pairs.
00:39:33So I get the phone call.
00:39:34Hey, you know, we'd like to send you down to Jon Nix and skate with Mary and Mary.
00:39:38And I'm going, hmm, okay.
00:39:42I'll give it a try.
00:39:43So we went down to L.A.
00:39:44And we're taking Jon Nix, who always taught in shoes.
00:39:48So we've been on public sessions learning pairs while he's chasing us in shoes.
00:39:52And, uh, but I was never a physically upper body strong guy.
00:39:57I mean, I was strong with my legs and I could jump.
00:39:59Well, kind of.
00:40:00But, um, you know, so it was kind of awkward.
00:40:03And I felt bad for Mary and Mary.
00:40:05Well, I'm, okay, not going to lie.
00:40:07I'm surprised you did pairs or tried pairs because I remember you as a skater.
00:40:11And I would never see you being.
00:40:13You would never allow me to do pairs.
00:40:15No.
00:40:16Well, I would never do pairs with you.
00:40:18Yes, I know that.
00:40:19But it's.
00:40:19You're hardly broadcasting.
00:40:20You seem like a very individualistic skater.
00:40:27No.
00:40:28Is that a word?
00:40:28Yeah.
00:40:29Yeah, you just made it up.
00:40:30I just made it up.
00:40:30Very individualistic.
00:40:31I didn't know what other word I could use, but I think you know what I mean.
00:40:33Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:40:33I didn't see you.
00:40:35I took instruction really well because I was nervous.
00:40:37So I would just do what they told me to do.
00:40:39Not well, though.
00:40:41I didn't do it well.
00:40:42And then we had the derays.
00:40:44They were the big ballet people that taught.
00:40:48That was terrible.
00:40:49Okay, let's take a look.
00:40:51We're only in the second discipline here.
00:40:54And this is already devolving.
00:40:56Yeah.
00:40:59All right.
00:40:59Second group pairs.
00:41:01Well, let's see.
00:41:02And Vidar from Czechia.
00:41:05And Vidar from Switzerland.
00:41:08Olachenko, Duransky, we talked about this team, of course, the difficulties that they had
00:41:13even getting here, and their coach won't be here.
00:41:15Their rink, unfortunately, has just been destroyed, or partially destroyed.
00:41:21If I'm over, if I fan off, I've heard about this team a lot.
00:41:25I think I may have seen them once.
00:41:27Tell us a little bit about it.
00:41:27Alisa and Misha.
00:41:28Yeah, they are, what, the two-time U.S. champions now?
00:41:33And she was from Finland, right?
00:41:34She's from Finland.
00:41:35She has multiple passports.
00:41:37Wow.
00:41:37Finland, and I think Russia as well.
00:41:40She skated for Russia for a hot second.
00:41:43And then teamed up with Misha three seasons ago now, and has been squarely one of the top
00:41:53U.S. teams for a while.
00:41:55And, you know, they couldn't go to the Olympics last year because she does not have her U.S.
00:42:00passport yet.
00:42:01What are the chances for that?
00:42:02Well, they're married, and so I think the chances of her getting it in the next four
00:42:08years is fairly high.
00:42:10I don't know all of the details, but there was a whole, like, campaign leading up toward
00:42:18nationals last year where they were hoping a miracle could happen, although I don't think
00:42:26anybody was expecting that to be a high probability, so we'll see where it goes.
00:42:33Misha has had a nagging injury over the last few months, and so they haven't skated yet
00:42:39this season.
00:42:39Oh, okay.
00:42:40Oh, okay.
00:42:40So this could be, you know, well, it is their first time out, so it could be a little rough.
00:42:46The same questions that we had with Isabeau, like, where are they right now?
00:42:52But they are the four continents champions.
00:42:55Oh, look at that.
00:43:10You know, it's really unfortunate that these skaters, not just here at this level in singles
00:43:17pairs and dance, make the sport look so easy that it's so incredibly difficult.
00:43:21Oh, my God.
00:43:22Because it's really hard for people who don't know the sport to appreciate it.
00:43:25Well, it's really pretty, and I really like the music, and, yeah, they must be really
00:43:28good, but they don't understand the difficulty of that.
00:43:32They made it look too nice.
00:43:34Yep.
00:43:37Yeah, there's some big elements that you're going to see in this group.
00:43:41Mm-hmm.
00:43:49Did you ever dance or do pairs or anything?
00:43:51Oh, no.
00:43:53That was quick?
00:43:54No, no.
00:43:55No, I would be afraid for my partner if I ever had one.
00:44:00Yeah.
00:44:00I did solo dance.
00:44:02Oh, did you?
00:44:03Yeah.
00:44:03When you're, so, I, what I...
00:44:05But you didn't, you like to jump, though.
00:44:07Why did you do solo dance?
00:44:08That was when I was trying to, like, learn how to skate.
00:44:11Oh.
00:44:11Okay, fair enough.
00:44:12That's fair enough.
00:44:13Like, it helped.
00:44:14Helped a lot.
00:44:15Yeah.
00:44:23So you see Afimov Mitrofanov here.
00:44:25They are very much a pair that you see do a lot of drills at the beginning of their practice
00:44:31sessions, just pairing, footwork, that sort of stuff.
00:44:39I think they skate last in this group, so they've got time to warm up everything else,
00:44:44too.
00:44:46I did read an article that when they became partners off the ice, that this, I can't remember
00:44:54how it was put, it enriched their life so much that for the feeling that they had off
00:44:59the ice that they thought, you know, people might think that would be difficult on the
00:45:03ice, and yet it was way better on the ice.
00:45:08It was an interesting article, and of course, you know, you gave the background for her
00:45:13being a Finnish skater, so who would have guessed that that team would come together?
00:45:18You never know your path in life.
00:45:24Well, the sort of crazy thing about her, Alisa Afimov, is that her mom was at the Olympics
00:45:31last year as a coach.
00:45:32Oh, wow.
00:45:33Yeah, so that was, it's been a little bit of cognitive dissonance for her to be like,
00:45:40oh, well, my mom's at the Olympics.
00:45:41And who would the challengers be?
00:45:44For the U.S.?
00:45:45Yeah, for the U.S.
00:45:46So, as with basically everywhere else, there was a huge pairs shakeup in the U.S., and Afimov
00:45:55and Mitrofanov are squarely the veterans who are going to be the favorites for the title
00:46:02again.
00:46:03But the thing is, Audrey Shin and Spencer Howe have paired up, and they look better with each
00:46:11other than they did with their previous partners already in their first season.
00:46:16So they're going to be somewhere up there.
00:46:19And then Katie McBeath and Balazs Nagy, who, again, also were the product of two breakups, could
00:46:29be up there as well.
00:46:30It's a little Wild Wild West.
00:46:31Well, it's like the dance world we just saw.
00:46:33Yeah.
00:46:34Right?
00:46:34You know, so many new teams which will be fastened.
00:46:37Yeah, exactly.
00:46:39Hannah Valassi and Martin Bedard, representing Czechia.
00:46:44They, I love their skating.
00:46:46They are incredibly inconsistent with their throws and their side-by-sides, and it's really
00:46:50been a thing that has kept them from moving up.
00:46:54But their basics are so good.
00:46:56He's such a strong pair.
00:46:57Yes.
00:46:58Very strong pair guy.
00:47:01And skating to one of the warhorses of the season, Dans Macabre.
00:47:05Yeah.
00:47:07Yeah, it's funny, this season, we've heard numerous times on the juniors, let alone the
00:47:14seniors.
00:47:15It's good.
00:47:16It's a great piece of music.
00:47:17Yes.
00:47:19Wow.
00:47:20That is, that was weaving.
00:47:24Just skate around them.
00:47:42We're going to see marked everything here.
00:47:44Yeah.
00:47:45Probably without the lifts.
00:47:53Just watch them move across the ice.
00:47:58It's really, like, their pairing is very good.
00:48:01Yeah, really.
00:48:06And not that there is, doesn't matter so much from a technical perspective, except for execution,
00:48:13is the size difference is really, really good with this team.
00:48:16There is enough to make it look beautiful aesthetically, and also for enough control and lifts and throws
00:48:23and whatnot, but not huge range.
00:48:26Yeah, sometimes they're a little too large of a difference.
00:48:28Yeah, you're going, wow, that's a big range.
00:48:30Not with this team.
00:48:31Yeah, you're going, wow, that's a big range.
00:49:01Nice.
00:49:09Like, for them, if they skate clean, they're, like, upper 60s in a short program kind of
00:49:14a pair.
00:49:15Yeah.
00:49:16It's just the if.
00:49:19It's the if.
00:49:20Yeah.
00:49:20It looks like they've, they used to do side-by-side sows in their short.
00:49:27Sour toe, one of those.
00:49:29But they've changed it to an axle.
00:49:32So hopefully that helps.
00:49:33Oh, really?
00:49:34A double axle.
00:49:34So hopefully that helps with their consistency there.
00:49:38Hopefully.
00:49:39But I hate when they do that.
00:49:40I know.
00:49:41And then mentally, because in your head you've made it easier, you don't, you still don't
00:49:45execute.
00:49:46Yeah, right.
00:49:46Yep.
00:49:51Tom from Switzerland.
00:49:53Okay, I hope they're going to do their twist here because it's one of the biggest twists
00:49:57in this entire event.
00:49:59Speaking of size difference.
00:50:00Yes.
00:50:00Okay, there we go.
00:50:01I knew they were coming up next.
00:50:02So.
00:50:31Nope.
00:50:32Mark the twist.
00:50:34Hmm.
00:50:40I mean, they had such a good season last year.
00:50:43Fifth at Europeans, tenth at Worlds.
00:50:53Are they, would they be considered sort of a dark horse for the podium, but the lights
00:50:57are starting to turn on?
00:50:59I would say so.
00:51:00Yeah.
00:51:00I would say so.
00:51:01Uh, it's, I think it's them and Kemp and Eliza are off for the, for the bronze.
00:51:06Mm-hmm.
00:51:07All else equal.
00:51:11All else equal.
00:51:28It's interesting.
00:51:29I mean, Swiss skating has, you know, as a country has improved so much.
00:51:33Yeah.
00:51:34Um, and they've got some really good coaches and they've got some, um, really good programs
00:51:38that are going on and momentum.
00:51:40Yeah.
00:51:40In a big way.
00:51:41Yeah.
00:51:41And they're hosting the European championships in Lausanne.
00:51:44That'll be an interesting, wonderful competition to watch.
00:51:47I mean, it's like, watch out for the team event at the Olympics in four years.
00:51:52Yeah.
00:51:52Like, they could, they could feel themselves a good team for.
00:51:56The, the team event now brings authenticity to it.
00:52:00You know, it took a couple of years or a couple, um, uh, a couple of decades, if you will.
00:52:04Not, not decades, but.
00:52:05A decade.
00:52:06Yeah.
00:52:07To really get comfortable.
00:52:08Is this real?
00:52:09Is it not real?
00:52:09Right.
00:52:09Now you have way more countries, many, many more countries now that are, can be competitive
00:52:13and some will be good and not even be in the event.
00:52:17Right.
00:52:17Right.
00:52:17So.
00:52:19I mean, it, it was so crazy when it, when the Olympics team events first started in 2014
00:52:24and people were just kind of, what is this, what is this thing?
00:52:28Yeah.
00:52:28Yeah.
00:52:29It's like, well, it's another way for you to earn a lot at the Olympics.
00:52:32Now we've got Sukunine going in.
00:52:33We'll talk about that a little bit later too.
00:52:35Yeah.
00:52:35Yes.
00:52:41Got some traffic going on again.
00:52:43Yeah.
00:52:44You know, this is, you know, it's beautiful music.
00:52:47It's a difficult piece in my mind anyways, to, because you've got these technical elements
00:52:53of what you have to do, obviously, and it's emotional, it's powerful, but it's hard to
00:53:01have that in your performance when you have so many technical elements that demand so much
00:53:05from you.
00:53:08And that brings me to my question for you, Jackie.
00:53:11What was the most, not technical, what was the most impactful pair program or story or
00:53:18emotion that you have seen in the discipline of pairs?
00:53:21Oh, this one's tough.
00:53:24Oh, this one's tough.
00:53:25Finally, we stumped him.
00:53:26Uh, Sui and Han.
00:53:28Yeah.
00:53:31In 2017, when they did Bridge Over Troubled Water.
00:53:36Okay.
00:53:36One of the most emotional things that I've seen, part of, part of it was the story of her
00:53:45being, having had all kinds of injuries and having to come back and not knowing if she
00:53:51could walk again.
00:53:52Yeah.
00:53:52Knowing the story.
00:53:53All of that, right?
00:53:54And for him to be like, I'm, it's me, like, lifting her up, and I'm, you know, it's just
00:54:00like, you listen to him talk about it, and you're just, like, in tears.
00:54:04I'm going to ask you in a second, joining my mind with Xiao and Jen in Washington World
00:54:08in 2003, I think.
00:54:10How was it, right?
00:54:112003.
00:54:122003.
00:54:13That was an incredible moment.
00:54:14No, I, I, I have to, I have to think.
00:54:17That's why coming to you last.
00:54:19I didn't know we were having a test.
00:54:22Well, we got Quiz Guy.
00:54:23I'm not a game show.
00:54:23We have Quiz Man over here, so.
00:54:25We've got Quiz Master here.
00:54:25Yeah, Quiz Master.
00:54:27Oh.
00:54:27That is from Ukraine.
00:54:30I'll come up with one.
00:54:31I just have to think.
00:54:32All of us, Alyssa, and we shall meet you to a follow.
00:55:02And, you know, maybe their, their mindset is not always, like, hey, I'm in a competition.
00:55:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:55:07Like, my country's being bombed.
00:55:11So it's, it's tough.
00:55:26This, this twist is, it's not the biggest thing in the world, but it's, it's got, it's got an
00:55:31assertion to it.
00:55:32Yeah.
00:55:32That I really like.
00:55:33Yeah, that's aggressive.
00:55:39They're not crawling into anything.
00:55:41Yeah.
00:55:42Yeah.
00:55:43Well, and that's a busy setup going into that, too.
00:56:02Seem to be the only team wearing what appears to be their competitive outfit.
00:56:07Yes.
00:56:15It's rare.
00:56:16It's not, it's not ice dance where everybody's, everybody's decked up.
00:56:20Yeah, exactly.
00:56:21And you think it's their competition outfits, but it's not.
00:56:24I know, it's like something else.
00:56:31But you see the aggressiveness of just their, their basics is, I've always loved that about
00:56:37them.
00:56:38Yeah.
00:56:38Acceleration all the time.
00:56:39Yeah.
00:56:57That's nice.
00:56:59Nice little transition move.
00:57:01Hmm.
00:57:15There you go.
00:57:16That was solid.
00:57:17Go south.
00:57:22Go south.
00:57:33That was just at the beginning.
00:57:36Yeah.
00:57:37You don't often see back crossovers.
00:57:41No.
00:57:41You see forward, but not often backwards.
00:57:43I'm like, wow.
00:57:44That's, that's, gives me a little bit of chills.
00:57:48Anxiety.
00:57:49Anxiety watching that.
00:57:50Yeah, going, who's looking behind you?
00:57:52Right.
00:57:53Which she probably was, but.
00:58:02They look solid here.
00:58:04I don't, I don't know what will happen with their jumps and throws, but that, that throw
00:58:07Sal was good.
00:58:09They've, they've looked good in this practice.
00:58:11You know, and again, as Joni, you said early on in the season, we don't know the conditioning
00:58:16level, you know, past the, you know, two and a half minute mark in the free program, how
00:58:22that will impact the skaters.
00:58:24You know, when they get to Worlds, no, but now, yeah, probably.
00:58:28I don't, I feel like when I'm watching them, there's an aggressiveness and power to their
00:58:31skating, but when there's going to be a miss, it's going to be a miss.
00:58:34It's not going to be a little, right?
00:58:36No.
00:58:36Like, it's like a spectacular fall kind of thing.
00:58:39Yeah.
00:58:39Yeah.
00:58:40Then that's, that's what they, that's what they're sort of known for.
00:58:44It's like they hit and it's really impactful.
00:58:47If they miss and it's a big miss.
00:58:50Really impactful.
00:58:55Well, that'll be fun to watch.
00:58:57That's for sure.
00:58:58They're not going to hold back.
00:58:59They're an aggressive team.
00:59:05There's Alyssa and Misha from the United States.
00:59:13Oh, free program.
00:59:14I have not seen this yet.
00:59:16Well, we'll see now.
00:59:17I saw their short and they're doing Donna Summer for their short.
00:59:22Their free is very different.
01:00:12Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
01:00:20Now with them, their issues always come in the side-by-sides.
01:00:24Not surprisingly with pairs.
01:00:27She has a way of, it's either she rotates it and she lands it or she just doesn't at all.
01:00:35Are they clean all the way?
01:00:37They're clean.
01:00:38Yeah, it's certainly an eeked out kind of clean, but it's clean.
01:00:57Oh, yes.
01:00:58It's more Rosalia.
01:00:58That's why.
01:01:02I was like, what is this so familiar?
01:01:23But this is something that they've always had, even when they were earlier as a team.
01:01:29They understand each other's flow and they skate with each other's flow very well.
01:01:37So Rene Roca did the choreography.
01:01:39Yeah, lovely.
01:01:57So, Jackie, which is often not attractive, but this one's a beautiful position.
01:02:04Yes, it is.
01:02:04Yeah, they have mastered the forward-outside death spiral a lot better than most.
01:02:10What sets this team aside from the rest of the American teams?
01:02:15Speed and power and flow.
01:02:18I think that's been the big thing that if you put them side by side with all the others,
01:02:27that's been what set them apart.
01:02:30Although Shin and Hao have that as well now.
01:02:36But for a few seasons, it was really, it was them and it was Ellie, Cam, and Danny O'Shea
01:02:41kind of as your top two American teams.
01:02:51That's nice.
01:02:52Wow.
01:02:52So smooth on the ending.
01:02:54Yeah.
01:02:54She has a great checkout.
01:02:56She knows exactly where it is.
01:02:56But you're right.
01:02:57Watching them, there's an awareness of where one another is without ever looking at, like,
01:03:00they just know.
01:03:01Yeah.
01:03:02The tracking's really good.
01:03:03That's the whole, you know, I hate the expression, but the whole two will skate as one kind of
01:03:09thing, right?
01:03:10Like, you know them as a pair.
01:03:13They don't feel like two individual skaters who are out there skating as a pair.
01:03:19No, that was nice.
01:03:21And the thing was, he wasn't always like that.
01:03:23He was a pair skater before with Audrey Liu, and it always felt like when they were skating
01:03:31that sometimes it was two single skaters skating together.
01:03:35And once he and Alisa paired up, he was a different skater.
01:03:40Aside from the technical elements, which they have, and sort of the other team, this team
01:03:43has, I don't know how to express it, but the drama, the emotion, they have something
01:03:48more that enriches your experience as you're watching them.
01:03:52And we'll add to the PC marks.
01:03:54Yeah, absolutely.
01:03:55The program components, for sure.
01:03:56Yeah.
01:03:57Wow.
01:03:59So based on that, and also based on what I saw from them off the program doing their solo
01:04:07jumps, they look prepared, too.
01:04:09Mm-hmm.
01:04:11So that fight for gold, I think, is going to be pretty intense.
01:04:14I think on Jackie's stamp of approval, this is going to be good.
01:04:18We should, I guess we're going to have to, we should put down our predictions.
01:04:21Oh, boy.
01:04:21And have a pool.
01:04:22Oh, it's so difficult to predict in skating, because you make one mistake, you know, you
01:04:26can, you can predict the best skaters, but then what's going to happen, right?
01:04:30But that's skating.
01:04:31That's skating.
01:04:31I know.
01:04:31I know.
01:04:32That's the fun of it.
01:04:35That's guessing.
01:04:36My daughter and I have a pool we do.
01:04:38Oh, do you?
01:04:38Through the season.
01:04:39Oh, wow.
01:04:39The Grand Prix pool.
01:04:40And who wins, you or your daughter?
01:04:42It depends.
01:04:43Like, every event is different.
01:04:45Totals at the end.
01:04:46I'm ahead.
01:04:48You're ahead.
01:04:48I'm ahead so far.
01:04:49Okay.
01:04:50One event, I'm ahead.
01:04:51What's the prize?
01:04:52Oh, all expenses paid bragging rights for the rest of the year.
01:04:57Yeah, I'm not sure I'd enter that event, but...
01:05:00Oh, bragging rights can go pretty far away in our family.
01:05:04Yeah, yeah, I think so, yeah.
01:05:20Jackie, what does a week of work look like for you?
01:05:24Or, you know, three, four weeks.
01:05:25So, now that you have told the audience, and some of them are maybe just joining us,
01:05:30that you've left your, okay, you're an architect, you're managing consultant, you've jumped
01:05:37into the world of, you know, skating, obviously, of, you know, blogger, you know, podcast, you
01:05:45name it.
01:05:45So, what does a week of work look like for you?
01:05:48What's hilarious is this used to be my night job for many years, and now it's my day job.
01:05:53So, my week looks like probably four to six hours of podcasting.
01:06:03A lot of just working on the back end of the website and improving things and adding features
01:06:12to, you know, enhance the fan experience.
01:06:15And then still, like, a lot of this, right?
01:06:17Just when it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it is a lot of figure skating.
01:06:22So, you have to fund yourself to go to these competitions, right?
01:06:26And so, and you're doing two Grand Prix events.
01:06:28Are you going to the final?
01:06:29I'm not going to the final.
01:06:30Okay.
01:06:31So, you have to pick where you're going to go and the work, but the work is always there.
01:06:35Yeah, the work is always there.
01:06:36Because the fans are going to come to your site to see your preparation and your podcast
01:06:40and all those things, right?
01:06:41Yeah.
01:06:41I mean, it's a great thing about live streaming is that you're, it's like, it's kind of like
01:06:46you're there.
01:06:46The only thing that I miss is the practices, and I love being at the practices.
01:06:51They're also incredibly exhausting.
01:06:54Now, here's a big question for you.
01:06:55I mean, this would be good in a game show.
01:06:58How often have you been at home listening to live streaming of the Junior Grand Prix and
01:07:02said, oh my God, Ted, how did you get that wrong?
01:07:04Yes.
01:07:06What do you mean, yes?
01:07:06I'm asked how many times?
01:07:08Yes.
01:07:09It's not that many times.
01:07:11I mean, the thing is, you and Mark, especially Mark, does a lot of the homework, right?
01:07:16And, and, and, and, and Ted, you.
01:07:19Let's call it the host.
01:07:20I'm the host, okay?
01:07:22You've been on, you've been on it for such a long time that, you know, like, you just
01:07:28know what you're talking about most of the time, right?
01:07:30I don't, most of the time.
01:07:31And if he doesn't, he says it in a way that you're convinced he does, even if it's not
01:07:36right at all.
01:07:37No, no, I don't.
01:07:38I don't do a good job of that at all.
01:07:39You know, when, when, when I'm wrong, I can't fake being right when I know why I'm wrong.
01:07:44I give up.
01:07:44I give, right?
01:07:46There's so much to know.
01:07:47There's so much to cover.
01:07:48It's just impossible.
01:07:49And you want to be perfect all the time.
01:07:50You want to pronounce the names right.
01:07:52You want to get everything right.
01:07:53You just don't, you know, and there's too many people to remember and, you know, all those
01:07:57types of things.
01:07:57And that's why I'm more of a host, if you will.
01:08:00And Mark's got to do the homework.
01:08:01And now you do too, right?
01:08:03Well, and, and I will say, Ted, your pronunciation has gotten better over the years.
01:08:08Well, it couldn't get worse.
01:08:10So it had to only get better, for God's sakes.
01:08:13Whose name gets you all the time?
01:08:15Like you'll practice and practice.
01:08:16I know you want to say it right.
01:08:17Zamanujoba.
01:08:18Huh?
01:08:19Zamanujoba.
01:08:19Oh, wow.
01:08:21Yeah.
01:08:21This, I, I stumbled over, I said, I would rehearse and I would rehearse and I would break it
01:08:26down phonetically and I would look at it and then when I would freeze and my mouth had
01:08:30to say something and it said, I'm going, what the hell did I just say?
01:08:33Well, I mean, pardon me, I shouldn't swear, but what did I just say?
01:08:36Right?
01:08:37Especially on the 10th hour or whatever, you, you just are not that sharp.
01:08:42It is, you know, of course, I'm not that sharp of the first hour either, but you know.
01:08:48Yeah.
01:08:50Zamanujoba is a tough, tough name to say.
01:08:54Yeah.
01:08:59But, you know, you have to have a sense of humor about yourself and, you know, we make
01:09:04an effort even on this broadcast to entertain, to educate, to have a good time ourselves.
01:09:09Same thing with, you know, Mark and I and, and, you know, so that people can enjoy it.
01:09:14I, you know, some people say, no, I'd rather have a more opinion one, you know, where I
01:09:19don't like a dress, I don't, you know, all those type of information, we're not that
01:09:23for sure.
01:09:24Um, and so you're not going to please everybody, but you, you, what you have to do is please
01:09:29the athletes and please the parents, the, you know, those people that are listening that
01:09:33matter to those athletes, at least in juniors.
01:09:35At least in juniors.
01:09:38Okay, do you want to have any questions?
01:09:39Come on, speak up.
01:09:41Oh, do I have any questions?
01:09:41Not of me, of Jackie.
01:09:43Oh, of Jackie.
01:09:44Oh my gosh.
01:09:44He's a star.
01:09:45Let's go.
01:09:49Um, how do you, so you're, the whole time we've been actually up here talking, we've been
01:09:54watching the skating live and on the screen and talking and the entire time you're typing.
01:10:01Okay, good question.
01:10:02It is true.
01:10:02Like, do you ever start, cause I know sometimes I'm typing and if I'm talking or listening
01:10:07to somebody, I start typing what they're saying and then I realize I'll say, check is open.
01:10:12I know, that's what I'm wondering, do you ever think, oh, wait a sec, what did I just
01:10:15put?
01:10:15It's so funny, you ask, I feel like it's just been years of me doing this.
01:10:20Like, you know, in the past when I'm doing practice sessions, I'm in the audience or I'm
01:10:27at the media seats doing my stuff, right?
01:10:29And then somebody would just come over and start talking to me.
01:10:32And then we just, we start talking about the skating and, and I think it's, it's practice,
01:10:37if you will, that like, um, the, the multitasking of it all.
01:10:41I feel like my, there, there are two brains that are working and somehow I'm able to have
01:10:49a coherent conversation and be able to capture all the things.
01:10:53It helps that I have a really good rote memorization.
01:10:57Like even if I'm not seeing it and typing it right away, I remember what happened.
01:11:02And then maybe five seconds later, I type it.
01:11:04I'm pretty sure you're really very, very much younger than both of us.
01:11:09So I remember having somewhat of a little bit of a skill like that, not at your level for
01:11:14sure.
01:11:14Uh, but I can promise you that when you get to this age or around that, that those skills
01:11:20will be a little bit dull.
01:11:21Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:11:22Yeah, no.
01:11:22But it's amazing what you do really.
01:11:24It is, it's fantastic.
01:11:26As you're right, Joni, you're watching him.
01:11:28I don't know what's going out.
01:11:30I don't know, I'm thinking we should be reading what's going out so we know what he's saying
01:11:33about us.
01:11:34But it's true.
01:11:35Maybe he's typing what we're saying.
01:11:36Anybody check that?
01:11:37It's not even his thoughts, it's us.
01:11:39And he's just, that was good.
01:11:39I'll put that down.
01:11:41Well, no, people say, well, who said that?
01:11:44Now, I can listen to multiple conversations at once.
01:11:48That's good.
01:11:50Couldn't type down what they were saying, but I can, I can listen to multiple conversations.
01:11:55Well, it's pretty amazing, Jackie, and, you know, really, I see in all seriousness as
01:12:02we watch his incredible lift.
01:12:04There's that hand, oh my goodness.
01:12:07Wow.
01:12:08That was a handstand on his arm.
01:12:11And right past the judges.
01:12:13Oof.
01:12:14That's, that's their choreographed lift.
01:12:16There have been a number of pair teams who that has been sort of their goal is to do
01:12:20the handstand on the arm.
01:12:22And it's been hard.
01:12:23I mean, obviously, not, not, not surprisingly, it's hard, but it's been, it's been hard for
01:12:27them to get it consistent and also to get it to look effortless.
01:12:31Because if you're doing the handstand and you're sort of like shaking, even if it's
01:12:36stable, it feels like there's effort in it.
01:12:38And primarily that wouldn't be the first part of the program.
01:12:41Right, exactly.
01:12:42Because they're going to get the big element, even though that's a difficult element.
01:12:45It's like three minutes in.
01:12:46Yeah, exactly.
01:12:51All right.
01:12:52Now you've had different guests on your podcast.
01:12:54Yes.
01:12:54Yeah.
01:12:55Who's been your favorite?
01:12:57Well, and I don't want, I don't want to put you in a spot where you have to pick somebody
01:13:00over another.
01:13:01Who was the, I was about to already tell you.
01:13:02Okay.
01:13:03Well then tell me who your favorite was.
01:13:04Kaori Sakamoto.
01:13:05Oh my gosh.
01:13:06Can't go wrong with that one.
01:13:08Yes.
01:13:09I mean, she was just fun to talk to.
01:13:11Yes.
01:13:11Well, she's got such a fun personality.
01:13:15Like when you see her off the ice, she's like a little kid.
01:13:17Yeah.
01:13:18Yeah.
01:13:18She's hilarious.
01:13:19She can have her own talk show, really.
01:13:21Absolutely.
01:13:21Honest to God.
01:13:22Yeah.
01:13:23Yeah.
01:13:23And she understands English enough such that when I was asking her the questions before
01:13:28the translation happened, she was like, oh yeah, I know what you're asking me.
01:13:32Yeah.
01:13:32So, so then, you know, she knows what she's, what she's going to tell me.
01:13:36Now, have you ever had anybody on there who all of a sudden, like sometimes, and Ted,
01:13:42you know this, you're doing an interview and often I'll take an answer and I'll go with
01:13:46that and make it, but you get nothing.
01:13:48Yeah.
01:13:49You got nothing to work with here.
01:13:50Yeah.
01:13:50Nothing.
01:13:51Um, it, yes.
01:13:53Uh, but luckily my interviews aren't live.
01:13:57So there's plenty of editing.
01:13:58Oh, okay.
01:13:58Um, but I tend to not interview people that I don't know.
01:14:05Okay.
01:14:06Mm-hmm.
01:14:07Right.
01:14:07Yeah.
01:14:08Um, because like it, just having that rapport is important to, to have, have, have, have a
01:14:15actual conversation with that.
01:14:16So what happens when you've gone through all the people you know, but you go back again
01:14:20or do you get through?
01:14:20Well, luckily I haven't gone through all the people that I know yet.
01:14:22So, uh, yeah, I don't do that many interviews.
01:14:26It's probably like maybe 10 at most a season, but they'll probably, there'll probably be
01:14:31more.
01:14:31But your podcasts, I mean.
01:14:33It's a lot of analysis.
01:14:35Okay.
01:14:35It's, um, the, you know, our, our Sunday show.
01:14:39No, who's the woman that you work with?
01:14:40Michelle Ellis.
01:14:41Michelle Ellis.
01:14:41I don't know her.
01:14:42I did actually ask, and I think she's a lawyer.
01:14:45Is she not?
01:14:45She's a, she's a lawyer.
01:14:46She's a skater before.
01:14:47She, she skated.
01:14:48She kind of, it was like me, like a sort of mediocre skater, um, who loves figure skating.
01:14:53Does she know that you think that she's mediocre?
01:14:54Oh yeah.
01:14:55Yeah.
01:14:55Absolutely.
01:14:55She does.
01:14:55Yeah.
01:14:56Okay.
01:14:57But you know, like not a, not a national level skater, right?
01:15:00Somebody who skated when they were a kid, understands the sport, understands general
01:15:05skating, but she has been in, uh, she was an ABC researcher.
01:15:10Oh, okay.
01:15:11And then was an NBC, has been an NBC researcher for the last 15 years.
01:15:14So she's been in the sport covering this stuff for 25 years.
01:15:19Can she be a junior Grand Prix researcher?
01:15:21That would be really good.
01:15:22Not for her, but you know, I mean, that, that would, that would be Mark Hanreddy already.
01:15:26Yeah.
01:15:27He's just doing everything himself.
01:15:28It's a lot of work.
01:15:29Yeah.
01:15:29I'll tell you that.
01:15:31Wow.
01:15:33And Lisa and Misha just running through the last part of their short program there.
01:15:38So I want to ask you a lot, one last question that's not related to on the ice at the
01:15:42moment.
01:15:43Because of the Olympics, we've seen a lot of social media that everybody's putting up
01:15:46graphics and they've got their own little shows or, you know, whatever the case may
01:15:49be.
01:15:50I mean, how do you feel, you know, because you do this now for a living, it takes a lot
01:15:54of energy, you know, as we go along towards 2030, will this grow or this will start to
01:15:59get diluted a little bit and then grow during Olympics?
01:16:02I mean, what you're feeling about, because the social media is so commanding right now
01:16:06about everything in life, but our sport, especially.
01:16:09I think it ebbs and flows.
01:16:11I do think what was interesting was I did a poll of the people who use my website around
01:16:18when they started calling themselves a figure skating fan.
01:16:25And something like 30% of the people who use my site, which is probably a pretty good sample
01:16:33of the world of figure skating fans, said that it was within the last four years.
01:16:40Really?
01:16:41Yeah.
01:16:41And then another 30% was like 90s and early 2000s.
01:16:46And it was like 10% that was between like the mid 2000s and the late 2010s.
01:16:53So like the lull that we all experienced in figure skating, like that's still the case.
01:16:58Like there's a lot of new fans.
01:17:00There are a lot of fans that have been around for a long time, but there aren't that many
01:17:05that were like 10 to 15 years.
01:17:09Yeah.
01:17:09And so the influx of new fans, I think that's been surprisingly resilient so far.
01:17:17Like the skating fandom from the Olympics has continued to enjoy the sport for what I've
01:17:25been able to see.
01:17:27And so I think that's going to continue.
01:17:30You know, obviously it depends on how it all goes over the next few years.
01:17:34But I do think that there is a, the momentum has been sustained since the Olympic season.
01:17:40Okay.
01:17:40At least so far.
01:17:41Fantastic.
01:17:42I actually find that really interesting.
01:17:43And I think it's really important that we continue to engage the new fans and the new
01:17:49ways they follow skating and the new things that interest them about skating.
01:17:52Because the fans that have been around for a long time have been and always will be skating
01:17:55But I don't think you should forget about them.
01:17:57Oh no, you should.
01:17:57You should.
01:17:58You have to be inclusive here, but, but spend that effort.
01:18:01Absolutely, to engage not only these new ones, but that will bring on new ones, because it's
01:18:06a different world with social media, online presence and things like that.
01:18:10Yeah.
01:18:11Um, so, and I'm, I'm actually surprised at that because I didn't think we were getting
01:18:17that many new fans, but.
01:18:19Well, I, I felt it just of the little bit that I've been looking online a lot, just covering
01:18:25the juniors, would we have a kickover from last season?
01:18:29And there is, because people are staying online.
01:18:31I don't know how much watch the juniors, I don't know the numbers at the moment, but
01:18:34I know that we had, we have more people in the stands on juniors, we have more people
01:18:37that are following the juniors around, and which then they follow their careers a little
01:18:41bit longer than the seniors.
01:18:42But, you know, your junior crowd is not, you know, your senior crowd is not necessarily
01:18:47a junior crowd, right?
01:18:48So, um, but interesting.
01:18:50We have one minute left.
01:18:52We have one minute left.
01:18:52You're going to wrap up and you're going to throw.
01:18:53We're going to wrap up here.
01:18:54We're going to take a break after the pairs before we come back with dance, but we are
01:18:58going to end this practice and we're going to go to an interview with Leah Pereira and
01:19:02Trent Michaud, talking about their successful last season, what's coming up and their, their
01:19:09importance of leadership with the new skaters.
01:19:11Before the throw, last question.
01:19:12What's your favorite discipline?
01:19:15Women.
01:19:16Okay.
01:19:16So dance is coming up.
01:19:18We're going to.
01:19:20Okay.
01:19:20And you do not want to miss the warmup of the dance practice.
01:19:23I set the table for that one and he delivered the meal.
01:19:26Here we go.
01:19:27As we.
01:19:28As we.
01:19:30Go to the interview.
01:19:30As we go to interview.
01:19:36All right.
01:19:37I have with me Leah Pereira and Trent Michaud, Canadian senior pair champions and world bronze
01:19:43medalists.
01:19:44It's just exciting to even say it.
01:19:46So did you think it would happen this fast?
01:19:51You know what?
01:19:52I think it happened like at the perfect time.
01:19:54We had such a great start to our partnership being six that the world championships in our
01:19:59first six months.
01:20:01And then we really learned a lot and grew together post being six that worlds.
01:20:08I think I didn't even.
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