2021-22 Retirements, Splits & Partner Changes

[surimi]

Follow all the latest figure skating retirements, splits, and new partnerships for the 2021-22 season in one place. This thread tracks confirmed announcements across singles, pairs, and ice dance, comeback news, and newly formed teams from around the world.

Feel free to post additions/changes (using full names and the country the skater/s represent, please), along with the source.

Retirements:

Ladies:
- Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)
- Sofia Samodurova (Russia)
- Anastasia Tarakanova (Russia)
- Serafima Sakhanovich (Russia)
- Elizabet Tursynbaeva (Kazakhstan)
- Satoko Miyahara (Japan)
- Rika Hongo (Japan)
- Yura Matsuda (Japan)
- Rin Nitaya (Japan)
- Alysa Liu (USA)
- Alaine Chartrand (Canada)
- Emily Bausback (Canada)
- Aurora Cotop (Canada)
- Ivett Toth (Hungary)
- Nicole Rajicova (Slovakia)
- Danielle Harrison (Great Britain)
- Niki Wories (Netherlands)

Men:
- Michal Brezina (Czech Republic)
- Keiji Tanaka (Japan)
- Nam Nguyen (Canada)
- Alexei Bychenko (Israel)
- Alexei Krasnozhon (USA)
- Ryan Dunk (USA)
- Christopher Caluza (Philippines)
- Peter James Hallam (Great Britain)
- Roman Galay (Finland)
- Adrien Tesson (France)
- Joseph Phan (Canada)

Pairs:
- Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro (Canada)
- Camille Ruest/Andrew Wolfe (Canada)
- Justine Brasseur (Canada)
- Zoe Jones / Christopher Boyadji (Great Britain)
- Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer (Austria)
- Ashley Cain-Gribble / Timothy LeDuc (USA)
- Brian Johnson (USA)
- Mervin Tran (USA)
- Nicole Della Monica (Italy)
- Jessica Pfund / Joshua Santillan (Switzerland)
- Antonio Souza-Kordeiru (Croatia)

Ice Dance:
- Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (USA)
- Sara Hurtado / Kirill Khalyavin (Spain)
- Adrian Diaz (Spain)
- Natalie D'Alessandro / Bruce Waddell (Canada)
- Ksenia Konkina (Russia)
- Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko (Russia)
- Anastasia Skoptcova / Kirill Aleshin (Russia)
- Alena Kanysheva (Russia)
- rumor: Arina Ushakova (Russia)
- Kiria Hirayama / Aru Tateno (Japan)
- Jim Wang (USA)

Splits:

Ice dance:
- Emmy Bronsard/Aissa Bouaraguia (Canada)
- Shira Ichilov / Laurent Abecassis (Israel)
- Shira Ichilov / Volodymyr Byelikov (Israel)
- Adelina Galyavieva / Louis Thauron (France)
- Eva Bernard / Tom Jochum (France)
- Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko (Russia)
- Angelique Abachkina / Pavel Drozd (Russia)
- Alena Kanysheva/Andrei Pylin (Russia)
- Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin (Russia)
- Elizaveta Shanaeva / Devid Naryzhnyi (Russia)
- Arina Ushakova / Maxim Nekrasov (Russia)
- Sofia Tyutyunina / Alexander Shustitskiy (Russia)
- Julia Wagret and Pierre Souquet-Basiege
- Sofia Val / Nikita Vitryanyuk (Spain)
- Isabella Flores / Dmitry Tsarevski (USA)
- Nicole Calderari / Marco Cilli (Italy)
- Ayumi Takanami / Shingo Nishiyama (Japan)
- Sasha Fear / George Waddell (Great Britain)
- Olivia Oliver / Joshua Andari (Poland)
- Chantelle Kerry / Andrew Dodds (Australia)
- Denisa Cimlova / Vilem Hlavsa (Czech Republic)
- Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck (Germany)

Pairs:

- Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov (Russia)
- Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev (Russia)
- Justine Brasseur/Zachary Daleman (Canada)
- Dorota Broda / Pedro Betegon (Spain)
- Jessica Calalang / Brian Johnson (USA)
- Ioulia Chtchetinina / Mark Magyar (Hungary)
- Sasha Fakhroutdinov/ Danny Neudecker (USA)
- Kate Finster / Matej Silecky (USA)
- Cleo Hamon / Denys Strekalin (France)
- Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert (Germany)
- Iasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko (Russia)
- Coline Keriven / Noel-Antoine Pierre (France)
- Audrey Lu / Misha Mitrofanov (USA)
- Isabelle Martins / Ryan Bedard (USA)
- Elizaveta Osokina / Andrei Rud (Russia)
- Lana Petranovic / Antonio Souza-Kordeiru (Croatia)
- Olivia Serafini/Mervin Tran (USA)
- Evgenia Tumanova / Georgy Kunitsa (Russia)
- Anna Vernikov / Evgeni Krasnopolski (Israel)
- Sylvia Wong / Skylar Weirens (USA)


- rumour: Alina Pepeleva / Roman Pleshkov (Russia)


New teams:
(Pairs and couples in strikethrough are ones which have since split again)

Pairs:
- Iasmina Kadyrova/Valerii Kolesov (Russia)
- Elizaveta Osokina / Andrei Rud (Russia)
- Elizaveta Osokina / Vladislav Antonyshev (Russia)
- Nadezhda Labazina / Mikhail Nazarychev (Russia)
- Iuliia Artemeva / Aleksei Briukhanov (Russia)
- Milania Vaananen / Mikhail Akulov (Finland)
- Hailey Kops / Evgeni Krasnopolski (Israel)
- Isabella Gamez / Alexander Korovin (The Phillipines)
- Zhang Siyang / Yongchao Yang (China)
- Maria Chernyshova / Harley Windsor (Australia)
- Winter Deardorff / Ryan Dodds (Australia)
- Emmanuelle Proft / Nicolas Nadeau (Canada)
- Natalia Zabiiako / Zachary Daleman (Canada)
- Maria Pavlova / Balasz Nagy (Hungary)
- Hazel Collier / Misha Mitrofanov (USA)
- Chelsea Liu / Daniel O'Shea (USA)
- Ian Meyh / Ellie Kam (USA)
- Winter Deardorff / Jake Pagano (USA)
- Nica Digerness / Mark Sadusky (USA) - unconfirmed
- Catherine Rivers / Nathan Rensing (USA)
- Grace Hanns / Danny Neudecker (USA)
- Olivia Flores / Luke Wang (USA)
- Oceane Piegad / Denys Strekalin (France)
- Coline Keriven / Tom Bouvart (France)
- Haruna Murakami / Sumitada Moriguchi (Japan)

Ice Dance:
- Avonley Nguyen / Grigory Smirnov (USA)
- Emily Bratti/ Ian Somerville (USA)
- Madeleine Gans / Jim Wang (USA)
- Emilea Zingas / Vadym Kolesnik (USA)
- Isabella Flores / Ivan Desyatov (USA)
- Moa Iwano / ??? (Japan)
- Milla Ruud Reitan / Nikita Remeshevskiy (Germany)
- Jasmine Tessari / Stephane Walker (Switzerland)
- Katarina Delcamp / Billy Wilson French (Great Britain)
- Samantha Ritter / Daniel Brykalov (Azerbaijan)
- Leia Dozzi / Pietro Papetti (Italy)
- Elisabetta Leccardi / Mattia Dalla Torre
- Shira Ichilov / Vladimir Byelikov (Israel)
- Annabelle Morozov / Devid Naryzhnyi
- Elizaveta Pasechnik / Maxim Nekrasov (Russia)
- Elizaveta Shanaeva / Pavel Drozd (Russia)
- Sofia Tyutyunina / Andrei Bagin (Russia)
- Arina Klimova / Filip Bojanowski (Poland)
- Olivia Oliver / Elliott Graham (Poland)
- Denisa Cimlova / Joti Polizoakis (Czech Republic)
- Sofia Val / Alexander Gnedin (Spain)

************************

See also:

• 2020-21 season
• 2019-20 season

 

[cohkaix]

Rika Hongo (JPN) just announced her retirement on her Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/rika__hongo/status/1404957561615306752?s=20

She returned to the competition last year, ranked 18 at All Japan Nationals.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Rika Hongo (JPN) just announced her retirement on her Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/rika__hongo/status/1404957561615306752?s=20

She returned to the competition last year, ranked 18 at All Japan Nationals.

Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Not the news I wanted to see when I signed in this morning.

I loved Rika. Easily my favourite Japanese skater since Mao Asada retired.

But, even I have to admit, the comeback didn't work out.

Here is my all-time favourite Rika programme, from when she was at her peak:

2015 Cup Of China FS

That performance earned Rika her absolute PB for the Free Skate. And contributed towards the second highest overall score of her career. (Her highest score came at Worlds later that season, where her FS score was 0.71 lower, but she achieved her absolute PB for the SP with a score that was 4.10 higher than she got in China).

Does anybody have a translation of what she says in the pictures? Because I would love to know if she says what her plans are.

I wish Rika-san all the best for whatever the future holds.

有り難う 理華さん (Hope that's right!)

CaroLiza_fan

 

[surimi]

I am so sad, Rika was one of my favorite Japanese ladies too. I mean, I saw this coming as she was probably the oldest still competitive Japanese lady, and she probably hit a performance wall after her return that was impossible to get over, but still I wish her well in her future endeavors.
Thank you for the memories, Rika, and good luck from now on, as always!
My favorite Rika programs were Frida, Carmen and Quidam. I am happy I had the chance to see Rika live and cheer for her.

 

[Weathergal]

I am so sad, Rika was one of my favorite Japanese ladies too. I mean, I saw this coming as she was probably the oldest still competitive Japanese lady, and she probably hit a performance wall after her return that was impossible to get over, but still I wish her well in her future endeavors.
Thank you for the memories, Rika, and good luck from now on, as always!
My favorite Rika programs were Frida, Carmen and Quidam. I am happy I had the chance to see Rika live and cheer for her.

I liked her "Riverdance" program as well.

 

[ladyjane]

I liked her "Riverdance" program as well.

One of my favourites too!

 

[rRainbow]

Translation of Rika's message on her twitter account:

“I would like to let you know that I’ve decided to retire. Thank you so much for your warm support all the time. Because my fans told me that they loved my skating and wanted to see me skate again, I was able to hang in there and get through difficult times. They really gave me strength.

I had always devoted myself to skating before I took a break from skating, but I was still able to come back to skating and to regain my love for skating as I achieved my various targets along the way, and that was a huge thing for me. At the same time, it has been the season in which I wanted to produce results now that I was back in competition, rather than just having fun.

After the Nationals, I did a lot of thinking about what I should do next, taking into consideration things such as my abilities at the moment, my competition results, and Canadian entry ban due to the pandemic. Then I made up my mind that I should think realistically and retire from skating to move on to a new chapter and do my best.
I am so grateful to you who cheered for me a lot in good times and bad times, and to my coaches. Thanks to all of you, I am able to retire now. I once thought about retirement when I took a leave from skating, but I am really glad that I came back without quitting and have skated to the fullest.

When I was a third grader in elementary school, Sendai rink closed, and I left my parents and moved to Nagoya with my coach. Since then, I have been very much wrapped in skating. I might have gone through more tough and painful times than happy times, but beyond that I was able to experience many things that I would never have experienced, if I had not skated. Also, I met many great people. Above all, it is thanks to everyone that, even though I was not particularly gifted, I was able to stand on the podium at international, Nationals and Grand Prix Series competitions.

As I write this message, I realize again that thanks to so many people I have been able to skate.

From now on I hope I can do something related to skating such as skating (as a pro). In my next phase of life I will give it my all with a smile, so I will be happy if you continue to watch over me.

I am sorry for being lengthy and thank you very much for reading this till the end. I would appreciate your continued support. I am truly grateful to all of you.”

 

[Weathergal]

Translation of Rika's message on her twitter account:

“I would like to let you know that I’ve decided to retire. Thank you so much for your warm support all the time. Because my fans told me that they loved my skating and wanted to see me skate again, I was able to hang in there and get through difficult times. They really gave me strength.

I had always devoted myself to skating before I took a break from skating, but I was still able to come back to skating and to regain my love for skating as I achieved my various targets along the way, and that was a huge thing for me. At the same time, it has been the season in which I wanted to produce results now that I was back in competition, rather than just having fun.

After the Nationals, I did a lot of thinking about what I should do next, taking into consideration things such as my abilities at the moment, my competition results, and Canadian entry ban due to the pandemic. Then I made up my mind that I should think realistically and retire from skating to move on to a new chapter and do my best.
I am so grateful to you who cheered for me a lot in good times and bad times, and to my coaches. Thanks to all of you, I am able to retire now. I once thought about retirement when I took a leave from skating, but I am really glad that I came back without quitting and have skated to the fullest.

When I was a third grader in elementary school, Sendai rink closed, and I left my parents and moved to Nagoya with my coach. Since then, I have been very much wrapped in skating. I might have gone through more tough and painful times than happy times, but beyond that I was able to experience many things that I would never have experienced, if I had not skated. Also, I met many great people. Above all, it is thanks to everyone that, even though I was not particularly gifted, I was able to stand on the podium at international, Nationals and Grand Prix Series competitions.

As I write this message, I realize again that thanks to so many people I have been able to skate.

From now on I hope I can do something related to skating such as skating (as a pro). In my next phase of life I will give it my all with a smile, so I will be happy if you continue to watch over me.

I am sorry for being lengthy and thank you very much for reading this till the end. I would appreciate your continued support. I am truly grateful to all of you.”

Thanks so much for the translation! What a lovely post she wrote! In honor of her retirement, here are two links to her "Riverdance" program mentioned earlier:
2015 Cup of China - where she won a silver medal!

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

2016 Worlds - where she came in 8th place and showed so much joy!

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[ladyjane]

Thanks so much for the translation! What a lovely post she wrote! In honor of her retirement, here are two links to her "Riverdance" program mentioned earlier:
2015 Cup of China - where she won a silver medal!

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

2016 Worlds - where she came in 8th place and showed so much joy!

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

I remember the joy at 2016 Worlds so well! It's part and parcel of the reason why I enjoyed watching it so much. And have watched this one repeatedly.

 

[Weathergal]

I remember the joy at 2016 Worlds so well! It's part and parcel of the reason why I enjoyed watching it so much. And have watched this one repeatedly.

I felt like I couldn't leave out her silver medal winning performance at CoC, but the Worlds is my favorite as well, not matter what the placement.

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted it elsewhere on the forum but U.S. Figure Skating released their ISP list and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea are listed as a new pair!
Chelsea most recently competed with Xie Zhong for China (with whom she was the national bronze medalist) as well as with Ian Meyr and Brian Johnson.

 

[dorispulaski]

That could work

 

[Princessroja]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted it elsewhere on the forum but U.S. Figure Skating released their ISP list and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea are listed as a new pair!
Chelsea most recently competed with Xie Zhong for China (with whom she was the national bronze medalist) as well as with Ian Meyr and Brian Johnson.

Oh good! I hope things go really well for them. That seems like it could be a solid partnership.

 

[moonvine]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted it elsewhere on the forum but U.S. Figure Skating released their ISP list and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea are listed as a new pair!
Chelsea most recently competed with Xie Zhong for China (with whom she was the national bronze medalist) as well as with Ian Meyr and Brian Johnson.

How exciting! Does she have US Citizenship?

 

[Seven Sisters]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted it elsewhere on the forum but U.S. Figure Skating released their ISP list and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea are listed as a new pair!
Chelsea most recently competed with Xie Zhong for China (with whom she was the national bronze medalist) as well as with Ian Meyr and Brian Johnson.

If she’s competed for China last season, wouldn’t she be ineligible to represent the US this upcoming season?

 

[happycamper2554]

If she’s competed for China last season, wouldn’t she be ineligible to represent the US this upcoming season?

She never competed internationally for China

 

[Colonel Green]

How exciting! Does she have US Citizenship?

She was born and raised in Missouri.

 

[skylark]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted it elsewhere on the forum but U.S. Figure Skating released their ISP list and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea are listed as a new pair!
Chelsea most recently competed with Xie Zhong for China (with whom she was the national bronze medalist) as well as with Ian Meyr and Brian Johnson.

Really loving this news! I can visualize them together. Chelsea had a really nice lyrical style with Ian. I'm so happy for Danny, and for them both.

 

[Weathergal]

Anyone know who Liu / O'Shea will be coached by? If I had to guess, I'd say Jim Peterson, but I really have no idea.

 

[el henry]

Anyone know who Liu / O'Shea will be coached by? If I had to guess, I'd say Jim Peterson, but I really have no idea.

My guess is Todd and Jeni. Danny has been hanging with the pairs at Great Park for some time now.

Tarah appears to be in Detroit, presumably with Jim and Amanda, but I'm not 100% certain.