Historical "firsts" for 2025-26 season

[icetug]

First time Poland took part in a team event at the Olympics.

 

[4everchan]

I was wanting to say it was the first time an ID couple won World's at their debut, but I was wrong. It was done before - in 2015 when Gabriëlle and Guillaume did that earlier. I'll make it the first time in 11 years then... exactly the same applies to the skaters at Euro's.

Pap ciz didn't win worlds at their debut. I think they took part the year before and had finished like 13 or something.

 

[Rikku]

What I would like to know is who are the charming young couple in the photo?

Ilse and Erik Pausin, Austrian pairs' skaters in the 1930s

 

[kiimnu]

It's a first that a Japanese woman won two individual Olympic medals.

It's also a first that two Japanese women had top-three finishes at the Olympics.

 

[Jeanie19]

Jacob Sanchez. First US male skater to do 4CC, JR worlds and SR Worlds in the same season.

 

[kiimnu]

It's a first that a Japanese skater won senior World Championships four times!! (4x World Champion Kaori Sakamoto!!!! )

 

[Fetinia]

IS it the first time all three men Olympic medalists were from Asia? I know we had three men of Asian heritage in 2014 , but not three men from Asia continent.

 

[icebun]

3A-1Eu-4S by Shaidorov, which is also the first jump combo at an Olympic competition with a quad jump at the end

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

First time olympic champion with two different partners in dance : Guillaume Cizeron. ( I'm thinking that's true but I may be wrong. I know it's been done in pairs but I don't think it's been done in ice dance).

Also, most likely the first time ice dancers win gold at Olympics before even taking part in world championships. (FBC)

I think your first comment is true. Mark Hanretty mentioned it. While the last comment is technically accurate for FB/C as a competitive duo, it's obviously incorrect that neither have taken part in a World championship event. Never having taken part is quite different from being experienced ice dancers with multiple medal wins with other partners. And, in Guillaume's case, a former World and Olympic champion with his prior long-time partner.

ETA:
For sure, it is still rare for a team with prior separate experience and multiple medal wins with others to compete at their first Worlds and Olympics together and win outright, especially by the margin they won at Worlds. But obviously various factors are involved in the margin of the Worlds win. Initially, I didn't think it would be a slam dunk for FB/C to partner and to be so good together that they would become favorites for World and Olympic gold.

Many fans wondered how they would look together and how they would be able to meld their different styles. In the end, the key marvel for me is the way in which they came together so quickly and creatively. They have indicated that the key to creating their FD was finding the music and spending hours on the ice exploring ways of moving together. It goes without saying that they are both highly talented in regard to SS and technique. Some fans even feel that Laurence is more masterful than Guillaume. I feel they are equally talented in these aspects. Moreover, they complement each other in ways we did not anticipate on the basis of having seen their opposing styles in previous partnerships.

Laurence has generally been described as athletic, and Guillaume as lyrical. Together they have created something fresh, unique, and different that moves beyond athleticism and lyricism. The Whale music choice, melded with their passionate approach, technical precision, and refined attention to detail, as well as creative risk-taking, sets them apart. If they continue, what will they do next? Will they be able to create something as mesmerizing and unique that yet takes them in more unexpected directions? Of course, the Golden Waltz RD for next season should be as much of a challenge for them as it will be for other teams unused to performing traditional dances.

 

[4everchan]

I think your first comment is true. Mark Hanretty mentioned it. While the last comment is technically accurate for FB/C as a competitive duo, it's obviously incorrect that neither have taken part in a World championship event. Never having taken part is quite different from being experienced ice dancers with multiple medal wins with other partners. And, in Guillaume's case, a former World and Olympic champion with his prior long-time partner.

I obviously, like you have noted, mean as a duet. I am well aware of their previous experiences

 

[ladyjane]

Pap ciz didn't win worlds at their debut. I think they took part the year before and had finished like 13 or something.

I'm getting old....so it is the first then?

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Yep, Pap/Ciz placed 13th at 2014 Worlds (post Sochi Olympics). Their compadres, Péchalat/ Bourzat, were third.

 

[IceDancingQueen]

I was wanting to say it was the first time an ID couple won World's at their debut, but I was wrong. It was done before - in 2015 when Gabriëlle and Guillaume did that earlier. I'll make it the first time in 11 years then... exactly the same applies to the skaters at Euro's.

No that’s incorrect - you were right the first time. FB/C winning debut gold in ID at Worlds is a first. Gabby and Guillaume were 13th at 2014 Worlds which was their debut and then they won the following year, which in itself was a record as no one had made such a leap before. I believe Tessa and Scott debuting at Worlds at 6th place was a record before this year’s placements by Z/K (3rd place debut) and of course FB/C (1st place debut).

EDIT: If we are going on skaters who had never competed at senior Worlds before as part of another ID team then Z/K take that record from Tessa and Scott.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

I'm sorry, the Tweet has been removed (the video is still available on R****t); as we're still in the 2025-2026 season, was this the first Quintuple jump April's fool? Sofia Dzepka was supposedly practising 5T + 2T.

https://x.com/tireqvfx/status/2039384319836164295

I remember the International Skating... Onion setting up a joke on an extraordinary congress to name... jumps with six rotations "before a two-year-old Eteri student jumps it", but it wasn't a Quintuple and maybe not an April's fool? (I think that their account was deleted, it's not Kostonion.)

 

[gkelly]

I believe Tessa and Scott debuting at Worlds at 6th place was a record before this year’s placements by Z/K (3rd place debut) and of course FB/C (1st place debut).

EDIT: If we are going on skaters who had never competed at senior Worlds before as part of another ID team then Z/K take that record from Tessa and Scott.

Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin took Silver in their Worlds debut in 1989.

Going further back, Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman won Gold in their 1962 debut (would probably have been in 1961 if that Worlds had not been canceled).

And of course the medalist teams at 1952 Worlds all medaled at their first Worlds because it was the first time ice dance was included in the event.

 

[yfan1]

And of course the medalist teams at 1952 Worlds all medaled at their first Worlds because it was the first time ice dance was included in the event.

This made me laugh.

 

[IceDancingQueen]

Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin took Silver in their Worlds debut in 1989.

Going further back, Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman won Gold in their 1962 debut (would probably have been in 1961 if that Worlds had not been canceled).

And of course the medalist teams at 1952 Worlds all medaled at their first Worlds because it was the first time ice dance was included in the event.

Oh yeah sorry I was only thinking of teams under the new judging system!

 

[Sabine]

First headbanger in history of World Championships (perhaps all ISU competitions) performed by Hocke/ Kunkel in Prague should be a historical first. At least I've never heard of this before.

 

[dorispulaski]

I thought it was illegal before?

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I thought it was illegal before?

That never stopped Adam Siao Him Fa doing backflips, leading them to be legalised.

By the way, Surya Bonaly is at the Rooster Cup in Paris at the moment. She and her husband, Peter Biver, have a whole pile of students competing there today.

CaroLiza_fan