In advance of his Senior Grand Prix debut, 2018 US Junior Men’s champion and two-time Junior Grand Prix Final competitor Camden Pulkinen took the time to chat with us after An Evening With Champions, an annual Harvard University-run ice show that benefits The Jimmy Fund. Read all about Camden’s perspective on the upcoming season, what he hopes to convey with his skating, and his friendships with skaters from all over the world in the interview below!
Interview - Karen Chen at Evening with Champions
After a season away from competition, 2017 US champion and 2018 Olympian Karen Chen is returning to the international stage with her first Grand Prix assignment, Skate America, in just two weeks. We sat down with her to discuss the changes she’s made in the past year -- including enrolling as a full-time student at Cornell University -- and what she hopes to take from her early-season competition experience heading into the Grand Prix series. Read all about it in the interview below!
Episode 35: Photography and Figure Skating (feat. Interview with Joosep Martinson) - Transcript
Becs: Good costumes are such a draw in terms of just being like "Yes yes you are worthy!"
Gabb: Especially if they're sparkly!
Becs: Yes sparkles please!
Kat: Aka Ice Dance ladies.[Gabb: Yes!] 90% of the time deliver with their costumes.
Becs: Yes. One thing that is so beautiful about picking who you're going to photograph is ah Ice Dance ladies and ladies in general show up looking usually fabulous most practices even so...
Kat: And then you have the men with like 80% black costumes or monochrome.
Becs: Yeah it's tragic, it's a tragic contrast.
Interview - Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson
In advance of their upcoming first Challenger event, Great Britain’s ice dance power duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson sat down with us for an interview to talk about last year’s fabulous free dance and how they feel going into the new season, as well as their individual interests and hobbies. The team garnered a lot of attention from fans as well as many personal bests last season with their 80’s themed free dance.
Read about that and more in our interview with them here!
Interview - Andrew Torgashev
Interview - Gabriella Izzo
Interview - Joseph Phan
Interview: Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen
In The Loop had the opportunity to talk to the promising new U.S. junior ice dance team, Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen, who graciously agreed to speak with us prior to their Junior Grand Prix debut at JGP Courchevel this week. Although they just teamed up earlier this year, Katarina is the 2017 US Intermediate Champion and the 2018 US Novice Champion with her former partner Howard Zhao, while Jeffrey is the 2018 US Novice Silver Medalist with former partner Gianna Buckley, and also the younger brother of 2017 US Champion Karen Chen.
Read about their programs, goals, role models and more in our interview with them here!
Episode 31: The Cost of Figure Skating (feat. Interview with Tim Koleto) - Transcript
Taeri: It seems like in every competition cycle there's a number of skaters, especially those from smaller federations, who talk about their financial struggles. There are just a lot of little things that factor into making the sport burdensome like travel, housing, and accommodation - not just for the skater but for their coaches and their families. We've looked into multiple ways that skaters fund their own careers and it honestly varies based on factors like a skaters federation, their world ranking, even their popularity to get booked for shows.
Interview: Brian Orser, Coach at Toronto Cricket Club
Nina: So what's the most rewarding part of being a coach?
Brian: Just seeing it all come to fruition. There are some days when Tracy [Wilson] and I are out there and we've got all of these amazing athletes and it's just like a well-greased machine. All the parts are all moving smoothly and there's a nice harmony with the session. Everybody's got good energy and they're doing their things and we just stand back and we just watch it. And we go "Wow! This is good skating. We're really lucky." But you can't become complacent because as soon as that happens, the wheels fall off, so you have to keep it well-greased. And then there are days where it doesn't [work] and sometimes we just have to accept that too.