2022-23 Retirements, Splits and New Partnerships

[BlissfulSynergy]

Apologies if this has already been posted on the Forum elsewhere:

Balázs Nagy shared an Instagram post showing himself and Chelsea Liu practising a triple twist, captioned "We’re back". Not sure if this is an indication of a new partnership? And, if so, whether they would consider competing for the US or for Hungary (the latter have 2 spots at Worlds after Pavlova & Sviatchenko's 7th place finish)?

B. Nagy is clearly well-liked in the skating community. And many people are also happy to see Chelsea coming back. I am surprised to see Chelsea as Nagy's partner. I really did not expect that she would return after the freak fall and concussion she suffered while skating with Danny O'Shea in Fall 2021. They were a promising team.

Danny is the first to applaud in the comments on Nagy's post, and many other skaters and fans chime in with congrats. So, this sounds like a legitimate pairing. Nagy has been living in Budapest recently, so it's not clear where they will compete. It looks like representing Hungary is a possibility, tho' maybe they will train in the U.S.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Sae Shimizu and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda (JPN) are a new pairs team.



They're also training at Kinoshita Academy like Nagaoka/Moriguchi.

 

[Ruthypegs]

Billy Wilson French (British ice dancer) has teamed up with Sophia Gover (of Canada). More info about the team from their coaching team's website: https://www.icedanceelite.ca/meet-our-teams (scroll down to Sophia & Billy). They are training at Ice Dance Elite with Carol and Jon Lane and Juris Razgulajevs.

It seems, from Anything GOEs twitter post, that it is likely they will represent Canada which, short term, as junior skaters, may give them more opportunities than Britain, but long term seems like an odd decision, given the depth of Canadian dance vs British dance.

Good that he's found a new partner and an excellent coaching team - I hope that it works out for them. I'm not familiar with Sophia, but Billy's a super-talented skater.

Shame they're not skating for Great Britain, though.

 

[ZeldaJo21]

I am, well, flummoxed by the reappearance of Dmitry.

I trust that MIDA are satisfied with whatever reasons he gave for his disappearance on Isabella, and I hope he is well. This should be, um, interesting.

All very strange and confusing with the disappearance and reappearance suddenly of Dmitry!!! Poor Isabella was so distraught when he went MIA

 

[hanca]

Lovely long list, but not very relevant, is it! We are talking about a concrete person, Cirisano getting released, so the only thing that is relevant is how Russia’s federation is willing to release their skaters. They may have released easily Gubanova, Kurakova etc, because they have much stronger ladies skaters. But they took three years to release Iliuschetchkina, refused to release Akopova to skate for Australia (at the time when Akopova had no results to speak of), refused to release Osipova to skate for Czechia… so the release of Ciriziano may not be as easy as you are implying. Ciriziano is the junior champion, winner of two junior Grand prix, and the state of the current Russian ice dance field is not as strong that they would think they want to lose their upcoming talent. The situation in ladies is different and even pairs are pretty strong, but ice dance is going through renewal. So how is it going to help that Cirizano has EU citizenship? Russia is currently pretty pi***d off for not being able to compete internationally, and Russian ice dance need strong couples, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they drag their heels with Cirizano’s release. He will be released eventually, but it can take quite a few years.

Well, I hate to do this, but I told you so. The Russian federation did not allow Cirisano switch his country. So much about it being easy if he goes to a country who is in EU.

Коган ответил на вопрос о смене Чиризано спортивного гражданства

Федерация фигурного катания на коньках России (ФФККР) не разрешила российскому фигуристу Дарио Чиризано сменить спортивное гражданство, сообщил генеральный... РИА Новости Спорт, 18.05.2023

rsport.ria.ru

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Poor Isabella was so distraught when he went MIA

Right, that was clearly a difficult experience to go through. I'm glad Isabella had so much support through it all. As I said earlier, that was a very trying situation to come back from emotionally. Perhaps her youth and optimism, and her strong family ties helped see her through. I suspect she grew up a great deal through the entire process, and that she was forced to examine her love for the sport in order to find the toughness and resilience to continue, without doubting herself.

I'm happy for Isabella that she landed on her feet with another wonderful partner, who in some respects, appears to be an even better match for her. She seems to have moved on quite well, without losing her optimism and her effervescence. Kait Weaver has choreographed Bella/ Vanya's new FD to music from West Side Story. The clips posted on Bella's Instagram are lovely.

 

[dorispulaski]

Sae Shimizu and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda are now skating pairs- but is Lucas still planning to do singles as well?

 

[surimi]

I've already added Sae and Lucas :] No idea if he's staying in singles. He doesn't seem to have Sumitada's level of cleanness and consistency, so it would be very difficult to stay relevant in the stacked Japanese field. None among the top skaters are planning to retire anytime soon, AFAIK (and I hope).

Should I put Keegan in the OP at last? We know his last competition was WTT, and I have been waiting for some kind of formal announcement from him or his team, but I don't know if any is coming, so I might as well add him.

 

[NanaPat]

Sae Shimizu and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda are now skating pairs- but is Lucas still planning to do singles as well?

@Jumping_Bean says he will try to do both see this post

 

[ladyjane]

Should I put Keegan in the OP at last? We know his last competition was WTT, and I have been waiting for some kind of formal announcement from him or his team, but I don't know if any is coming, so I might as well add him.

Do that @surimi. It's still season 2022-2023 (just), he has stated it often enough and even the ISU made a retirement page: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...an-messing-can-retires-happy?templateParam=15

 

[dorispulaski]

After all, if Canada wheedles him into competing again, we can always resurrect him.

 

[moonvine]

Do that @surimi. It's still season 2022-2023 (just), he has stated it often enough and even the ISU made a retirement page: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...an-messing-can-retires-happy?templateParam=15

I will miss him so very much.

 

[surimi]

Okay, adding Keegan then.

I've also added Kostornaia/Kunitsa among new pairs. Does anyone know if she plans to pursue her singles career yet, or has she switched for good?

 

[VickB]

Okay, adding Keegan then.

I've also added Kostornaia/Kunitsa among new pairs. Does anyone know if she plans to pursue her singles career yet, or has she switched for good?

She was once considered to next Olympic women champion...

From Wikipedia...
Kostornaia has landed triple Axels in competition. She holds the highest score for the Women's Short Program (85.45 - set at the ISU Grand Prix Final 2019/20.

So she does have 1 major International title as Grand Prix Final champion . .

Good luck in future endeavors

Vick

 

[Magill]

She was once considered to next Olympic women champion...

From Wikipedia...
Kostornaia has landed triple Axels in competition. She holds the highest score for the Women's Short Program (85.45 - set at the ISU Grand Prix Final 2019/20.

So she does have 1 major International title as Grand Prix Final champion . .

Good luck in future endeavors

Vick

She was also the European Champion so it is more than 1 major international title...

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Okay, adding Keegan then.

I've also added Kostornaia/Kunitsa among new pairs. Does anyone know if she plans to pursue her singles career yet, or has she switched for good?

She just got engaged with her partner. I think it could either go very well and they will work well on the ice and have that extra chemistry on the ice that will make the skating even better and make them skate for a long time. But I would not entirely rule out that she could return to singels skating if something was to happen with their relationship. Skating together and being a couple always seems a bit risky with possible split up. Of course there is a lot of examples where couples stay together. My impression though is that they havn´t known each other for that long time. I hope everything works out fine and wish them all the best.

 

[hanca]

Well, I hate to do this, but I told you so. The Russian federation did not allow Cirisano switch his country. So much about it being easy if he goes to a country who is in EU.

Коган ответил на вопрос о смене Чиризано спортивного гражданства

Федерация фигурного катания на коньках России (ФФККР) не разрешила российскому фигуристу Дарио Чиризано сменить спортивное гражданство, сообщил генеральный... РИА Новости Спорт, 18.05.2023

rsport.ria.ru

Russian skating federation is saying that skaters on their national team will be released two years after the new federation requests release. So Cirisano will be able to compete for Czechia in spring 2025, if his new partnerships last so long. I am wondering, if he split up with his Czech partner and found another partner from another country, would the release still be in spring 2025, or would it start counting again two years from the time the new country requests his release?

Без исключений: ФФККР отказала Чиризано в упрощённой смене спортивного гражданства на чешское

Дарио Чиризано не получил одобрения от Федерации фигурного катания на коньках России (ФФККР) на переход в сборную Чехии для выступлений с Денисой Цимловой. Теперь ему как члену национальной команды придётся отбыть двухлетний карантин, который истечёт весной 2025 года. По словам главного тренера...

russian.rt.com

 

[removof]

it's impossible to wait 2 years it's too long.

 

[cheerknithanson]

it's impossible to wait 2 years it's too long.

Would he even be able to obtain a Czech citizenship by then?

 

[synesthesia]

The ice dance field has lost another couple due to injury :



Wishing Max a full recovery and Lara to find a suitable new partner!


Even though this does not seem to be a reason for the split, there are once again insinuations that the German federation does not support its athletes sufficiently, if I am reading Lara's post correctly.