The Rocker Skating Podcast

It was a light(er) weekend of skating, but there was still plenty of it, including John Nicks Pairs International and Tallinn Open, won by Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii, Mihhail Selevko, and Niina Petrokina.Plus, the third Challenger event happens this weekend with Lombardia Trophy and it is yet another superb women's field. And the fourth Junior Grand Prix takes place in Ankara - Michelle and Jackie preview both of those events.

Kinoshita Group Cup was as advertised - the competition field was deep, the Russian and Belarusian skaters were back in senior competition, and there was some great skating, especially in the women's event.Jackie and Michelle recap the weekend of skating in Japan, including Mao Shimada, Vladislav Dikidzhi, Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii, and Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin winning their respective events. And Alexandra Ignatova (Trusova) lands a quad lutz!

Olympic Champions Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara made history for Japan as the first ever Japanese Olympic pair champions, and they made more history in July with THE DESTINY, an unprecedented show featuring the best pairs and ice dance teams in the world .They are joined by the show's choreographers, Kaitlyn Weaver and Mitch Islam. We talked about Miura/Kihara's Olympic triumph, the behind the scenes with THE DESTINY, and what they are up to now that they aren't competingInterpreting and translation: Momo PodolskyCover photo: Danielle Earl Photography

The second Challenger series event of the season is upon us, and it's a big one. Some of the best from Japan and Russia are in Tokyo for this showdown. Michelle and I preview this event, which will feature the first international appearance of Alexandra Trusova (now Ignatova), Mark Kondratiuk, Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Koslovskii since the 2022 Olympics. Japan sends their strongest, including Mao Shimada, Yuna Aoki, Rio Nakata, and Shun Sato. Plus, I got to sit down for a quick chat with Jacob Sanchez about his new programs, a short program with Misha Ge and a free skate with Adam Blake ("it's good!" he says), as he heads to Tokyo this week.In the meantime, the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation announced today that they wrote a letter to the ISU contesting the application of AIN criteria for eight Russian skaters. We don't know the implications of that officially for Kinoshita Group Cup, but things seem to be quickly moving.

Jackie is back from Champs Camp and Summer Sizzler and Michelle has lots of questions for him! Plus, the second Junior Grand Prix just took place, and France's Masters de Patinage happened this weekend as well.We also talk about the announcements of Alysa Liu skipping the 2026-27 season and the (literal) return of Deanna Stellato to the United States to compete with new partner Danil Siianytsia

Sofiia Dzepka and Lev Lazarev won their respective events at Junior Grand Prix Xi'an as Russia and Belarus athletes compete again in the international figure skating competitions as Individual Neutral Athletes.Michelle and Jackie recap what happened at the first JGP of the season, preview next week's JGP in Latvia, and talk about US Figure Skating's Summer Sizzler event this coming week

A primer for figure skating fans new and experienced - we never actually talk about what the figure skating season is. For most skaters, the start, end, and length of their season is actually much different than for the skaters who are expected to go to Worlds.In this bonus episode of the Rocker Skating podcast, Jackie talks about how the season differs depending on the skater, and why the season has lengthened for top skaters over the past decade.

It may have only been a domestic event, but Kinoshita Kansei Summer Cup was a battle in the women's event, where Mao Shimada and Yuna Aoki had a close battle for the title. Michelle and Jackie also preview the first Junior Grand Prix of the season in China

The updated rules and values starting in the 2026-27 figure skating season mark the biggest evolution in the scoring system since 2018. Understanding what a score means this season means recalibrating what "good" actually means. In this bonus episode of the Rocker Skating podcast, Jackie breaks down the rules of thumb for understanding scores, with base value examples from Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Ami Nakai, Mao Shimada, and Yuna Aoki.

It's the Season 2 premiere of The Rocker Skating Podcast! Michelle and Jackie are back to discuss the opening events of the 2026-27 season, including Cranberry Cup, Quebec Summer Championships (featuring the anticipated debut of Hannah Lim / Zachary Lagha), and various domestic events in Japan and the US. We also talk about the rule changes and the reinstatement of Russia and Belarus athletes as AIN skaters

The newly-formed ice dance partnership of Marjorie Lajoie / Jean-Luc Baker has been buzzing in figure skating community for weeks now. Jackie had a chat with them about their origin story as a team and what they hope to accomplish with this new reset on their respective skating careers

A huge piece of news this week was that the 2030 Winter Olympics will have one more figure skating discipline, and that will be Synchro9. So what is Synchro9? How is that different from traditional synchronized skating? What does FIFA and the World Cup have to do with all of this? Cindy Kim, who won three US titles with the Haydenettes and is the coach of Team Image Junior, joins me to break down the fundamentals of Synchro9.

The day before the 2026-27 season officially begins, the ISU released its decision to partially lift the ban on Russia and Belarus on ISU and international competitions. A quick look at what that means for skaters and competitions this season.

The 2026-27 Grand Prix assignments were revealed today, and of course, we've got all kinds of feelings about them! The selection procedures were amended just a bit for this season, so there was a bit of confusion, especially about the seeded skaters. But Jackie brings you all of his first impressions about who's in, who's out, and which events have the most interesting fields!

Jackie is fresh off his trip to the 2026 ISU Congress, the first time that media has been invited to cover it in person. He has a lot to bring back from Congress, including clarifications on a lot of questions that skating fans had (what do you mean two free skates?!), changes coming to the Grand Prix and "Big Worlds," and rule changes in singles and pairs for the upcoming season. Also, Jackie and Michelle cover the latest off-season news, including the formation of Marjorie Lajoie / Jean-Luc Baker as the newest Canadian ice dance team.

"Athletes are the heart and soul of the sport, and we need to recognize the amount of work that the athletes put in." On this episode of The Rocker Skating Podcast, Jackie sits down with International Skating Union President Jae Youl Kim at the 2026 ISU Congress to talk about the changes to prize money and future competitions, how proposed changes are being done and where athlete representation comes in, what he's looking forward to in the next Olympic cycle, and the ISU's current stance on athletes from Russia and Belarus.

This episode was recorded on May 24, 2026. Things may have changed since then. Michelle and Jackie are back for an emergency off-season news episode. This has been one of the biggest rollercoaster off-seasons we've seen. Kaori Sakamoto got married? Marin Honda and Shoma Uno are coming back as ice dancers? Majorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha split up? WHAT IS HAPPENING!?

Part 2 of our final event recap of the season wraps up Worlds with Women, Pairs, and Men — and there was a lot to close out the year. Jackie and Michelle break down Kaori’s fourth world title and what it meant to see her finish the season with that skate after everything this Olympic year asked of her. In the Men’s event, they get into Ilia’s bounce-back Worlds after Milan and Yuma delivering the kind of redemption performance fans were hoping to see. They also talk through the Pairs event and what it meant to see Germany back on top. Plus, don't forget to nominate your picks for Performance of the Season!

The final recap of the season is here, and Part 1 dives straight into Ice Dance. Jackie and Michelle break down the podium — what it means for Zingas & Kolesnik , the U.S. breakout team, and why Fournier Beaudry & Cizeron continue to dominate. They unpack the Lewis & Gibson scoring drama , including that “straight arm” deduction that cost them big, and highlight other standouts — including the viral moment of the night: Smart & Dieck skating their Dune Pt. 2 free dance for the last time , and more. Don't forget to nominate your Performance of the Season, NOW!

Jackie and Michele are back to preview the Men’s and Ice Dance events as we head into this very unpredictable post-Olympic Worlds. The fields are set (mostly…), but history says anything can still happen—and honestly, that’s part of the fun. Who are YOUR podium picks?