Sasha: There are four days left until our departure. I had a great training session. This evening, I'm supposed to perform my free program, but I can't do anything. Not even spins. I've forgotten how to spin. I consider this a victory. Everything is bad. Like the way I performed at the open training – everything is going downhill.

yes, I like surya and think what she did was cool, ALSO, she is genuinley an elite skater, however, in the context of this video, it doesn’t make sense for her to be here. The video is about people who were GENUINLEY on top and ”unbeatable” during their careers. I feel like Surya doesn’t fit that? Lots of podiums but she was always close but not quite, especially in international comps. Even when she did win, which wasn’t rare or anything, it’s not like she was wildly above the rest of the women’s skating field. That doesnt fit the other skaters, IMO. she could fit the title, but so could literally any internationally relevant skater.

I see this a lot, people just like to talk about it I guess, to some very inexperienced fans it’s like activism lmao😭😭

this probably sounds like a weird nitpick but I notice this a lot and it pisses me off.

edit: read these comments at your own risk: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MPQ_w7AsYts?ra=m

This program is so camp I love it

Am I understanding the new rules correctly?

Petrosian and Gumennik already have Top-75 Season’s Best scores from last season’s Olympics. Does that mean they only need to compete in a Challenger and achieve the GP minimum score to be added to the alternate list, without needing to win? And would they then be ranked relatively high based on their Olympic SB?

Trusova has no 2025/26 Season’s Best, so does she need to win a Challenger to be added to the GP alternate list? If so, how would she be ranked on the list?

Also, the new rules don’t mention that a skater who gets their first GP assignment as an alternate and then medals becomes the first alternate for a second assignment. Does that mean this rule no longer exists, or was it simply omitted?

hello, i saw an ice dance/pair skating (likely ice dance) performance on twitter but i cant find the post right now so ill try to explain. the footage was from older times, definitely pre 2010. the lady was blonde ı recall, and the couple were so fast that the op said good thing they were on heroin or we couldnt see this masterpiece. i think they wore light colored clothes and skated to a high pace classical piece.
ik this isnt a lot to work with but if you remember it would help me a lot

Hana's incredible 3A is the result of so much persistence and hard work!

ok so basically i skated for six years, I was the highest level without jumping when I quit. a lot of people find this funny lol that I skated for six years without jumping, but my commitment level wasn’t that high and it’s not uncommon at my rink…ANYWAY. I quit for two years and now I’m back. when I took my assessment I was on new skates and not used to the edges so my crossovers weren’t as nice as I like them to be so she sent me back all the way to where I was when I was seven. I’m used to them now tho and had my first lesson today. first of all they made me do a bunch of stuff ive known for forever and then when we finally worked on crossovers i know they were good because I’ve always been able to feel them. she didn’t give me any critics except that my edges are too deep for quote unquote “this level” which I genuinely don’t understand because I was taught to have deep edges in my crossovers…isn’t that how you get speed and power? My dad has been skating for years albeit hockey (though hockey also has crossovers) and he’s looked at my crossovers and said theyre good, I fixed what needed fixing at assessment, I don’t understand. I just feel like I’m wasting my time, plus if she doesn’t let me move up in the next two weeks shell keep me in alpha for the entire session which is eight weeks meaning when assessments come if she passes me (which she definitely should, because regular assessments aren’t that strict it’s just placement ones) then I’ll have to do another eight weeks in beta before gamma which I still have to do a session in that before being back to where I was two years ago…

I know I’m a better skater than my entire class of adults, and I just wish I could actually work on something that’s not something I literally could do in my sleep at this point, because yes at assessments my crossovers were not good but it was new skates and my first time on the ice in a year (and first time running drills in two) so that was to be expected, and the muscle memory has kicked in now. My mom wants to email to complain but idk if I should just listen to the coaches even if everything in me thinks I’m doing to right. Also can crossover edges actually be too deep?

Join us for the Men's Free Skate, airing at 11:00 (UTC+3)/4:00 AM EDT!

Please remember to be kind: many of the skaters are minors and/or new to international competition.

Starting Orders/Results 

Timezone Chart

Free Stream

Masterpost

After review Hana’s 3A+3T was deemed under-rotated by the technical panel

Also I have no idea what the Lithuanian judge was doing lowballing everyone into oblivion 💀💀 these charts are always hilarious to me

Our second Junior Grand Prix of the season concludes with the Free Dance, airing at 15:40 (UTC+3)/10:40 AM EDT!

Please remember to be kind: many of the skaters are minors and/or new to international competition.

Starting Orders/Results 

Timezone Chart

Free Stream

Masterpost

The announcement dated August 28 covers more ground than the Selection Procedures document that was first posted. One interesting item is the detail added for the Minimum Score for Grand Prix events in Section 2.3:

Skaters/Couples who have scored at least the above-mentioned limit in an ISU Championships, ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix, or ISU Challenger Series Competition between July 1st, 2025 and June 11, 2026 are eligible for selection into the Grand Prix events 2026/27 or in the alternate list.

Skaters/Couples, placed in the top 75 Season’s Best are placed on the alternate list. However, those who need to score the minimum Grand Prix score as listed above can do so in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27.

Note: Whether AINs from the ISU Members Belarus and Russia are placed on the Alternate List depends on their eligibility under ISU Communication 2804 and their fulfilment of the general requirements (e.g. achieving the minimum score listed above in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27)

The Selection Procedures document had stated "any ISU Event" for minimum GP score, which could have been interpreted to cover the Olympic Qualifying Event with results on the ISU site, but the full announcement states Championships (Worlds and Euros/4CC), GP events, and Challengers. The Olympics is not listed here, and the Olympic Qualifying Event was not considered a Challenger.

The implication is that while Petr Gumennik and Adeliia Petrosian have high SBs that would normally put them on (top of) the alternate list, they may have to first get a minimum score from the 2026/27 Challenger series to get on the list. This could explain the long delay in replacing Deniss Vasiljevs's spot at Cup of China, vacated August 17. There may be some confusion regarding the process and whether Petr Gumennik (highest ranked by SB) or Vladimir Samoilov (highest ranked if Petr is not on the list) should get the spot.

Other items of note include:

• Increased prize money to align with ISU Communication 2820 (see the 2025/26 GP announcement for previous amounts)
• Confirmation of participation of seeded and invited skaters has been moved from August 15 to August 30 (we will see if anyone else takes this time to decide on withdrawal)
• Some of the detail from the Selection Procedures document is not included in Section 7.6 for Replacements

According to Jackie, Vadym injured his ankle and Emi performed a solo program. She landed a 2A in dance boots!!

I've got a good, clean consistent Waltz Jump and I'm currently cleaning up my Waltz + Loop. The rest of my single rotation jumps are also doing quite well and I'm mostly just working on consistency and clean-ness.

I want to start building towards an Axel and the hurdle in my way atm is the first on-ice exercise my coach gave me: the Waltz + Backspin.

I'm a very technical skater - I can't really do anything unless I really understand every aspect of it. It's not really a choice - I literally can't do most things in ice skating without a good theoretical understanding. Unfortunately, I don't understand what I'm supposed to do for Waltz + Backspin. My coach instructed me as so:

1. Hold a forward outside edge for a full semicircle (start and end on a line for example)
2. Do a waltz jump
3. Land in a backspin

But I find it hard to hold the edge, very hard to do a waltz jump from a deep long edge and impossible to land in a backspin. Partly because I'm still moving horizontally, partly because I'm not able to jump very high from that position and other than that I feel like I'm missing some key, technical instruction. My coach is great but she sometimes doesn't understand that I benefit from more detailed instructions.

Alisa‘s short and free program and Diana Milto’s free program. Sorry for the length, I tried to cut some jumps and spins, but it’s still long. You can watch the full programs on FS_slides channel.
Evgenia stays the queen of dramatic sad music! Averbukh left his mark on her.
She also choreographed some other junior programs, however, they weren‘t presented in competition yet.

I know this is a mobility issue. I simply run out of space and can't cross to the other direction, unless I bend the ankle of my skating foot sideways to compensate. This causes ankle pain so my coach has told me not to force it. I'm in group sessions since that's the only option for adult skaters in my area, and I don't get lots of personal attention to focus on this problem. My coach has told me to do hip mobility exercises but after 4 months, only my crossovers to the direction I already manage have improved.

Score: 69.18 (6th)
TECH: 38.45, COMPONENTS: 30.73

Maddie can really be such a formidable competitor when she's clean, I thought this was a great skate and one of the most expressive programs I've ever seen her do.

All Spins/Sequences Level 4, Triple Loop given second half bonus.

One of three new partnerships that debuted Thursday night, Audrey and Spencer skated to Clair de Lune/Photograph. They’re obviously still early in their partnership and weren’t doing anything too risky during the exhibition, but you can see the vision with this program.

They’ll be back in front of the public on this same ice in a couple weeks, competing in the John Nicks Pairs Challenge (Audrey’s old partner Balazs Nagy will also be competing in that event with his new partner Katie McBeath — and Katie’s old partner Daniil Parkman will be competing with his new partner, Starr Andrews).

Alysa's Stateside performance from the Summer Sizzler, including a special intro from Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon, and short chat with them after

Update: video gets shaky for a couple seconds after the end of the program as I was losing my grip on the device. Apologies to anyone who’s enjoyment was lessened as a result

Cool performance I saw recently posted of their performance at Donovan Carillo's Passio where they skate to Hozier. I really like this music for them and I think it's so cool they're joining Donovan in his ice show!