by Jacquelyn Thayer We’ve written previously on the systemic circularity of funding in figure skating: money can help breed success; success yields the money that may be denied to those athletes who need it most. It is certainly a dollhouse miniature of the pitfalls that can make climbing the ladder of success in the real…
Competition, Ice Dance, News
Virtue and Moir Highlight Change, Will to Win
by Jacquelyn Thayer After an undefeated comeback season in 2016-17, silver at December’s Grand Prix Final has only further stoked the Olympic goals for Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir ahead of next week’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, where they’ll aim to win their eighth title as senior competitors. “We don’t plan…
Analysis
Snapshotting the Grand Prix
Feature, Interview, Pairs
Digerness and Neudecker Focused on the Steady Climb
by Jacquelyn Thayer For every championship title that seems a foregone conclusion, another may come down to a simple decision: stay novice or take a leap of competitive faith? Before creating something of an upset in the junior pairs field at the 2017 U.S. Championships, Nica Digerness and Danny Neudecker began their off-season planning to…
A Season in Stats, Analysis, Ice Dance
Canada’s NextGen Dancers, the National Summer Series, and the JGP
In addition to our Snapshot Stats on Tumblr, this Olympic season we’ll also be taking a numbers-oriented look right here at the topic of international assignments: who gets them, who doesn’t, and how often does reality reflect promise? Kicking things off, a first look at Canada’s NextGen program. Heading into the 2017-18 skating season, Skate…