New Podcast: The Flattest Edge

[BlissfulSynergy]

I recently heard about a new podcast: The Flattest Edge! The two female hosts (not sure where they are from, but they are fs aficionados who have a particular fascination for ice dance). Earlier this year, they started their podcast, based on an idea inspired by The Runthrough's lore episodes on each discipline. The Flattest Edge begins with a detailed and very nostalgic two-part feature on The ShibSibs!

Lots of info is provided that I was unaware of. A great trip down memory lane, for sure. These ladies did their research. It is kinda funny, though, that they were only able to reference Judy Blumberg as a coach and an ISU judging official. Apparently, it's lost to them that Blumberg is a very distinguished former U.S. ice dance competitor with Michael Seibert. I remember those days. 🎗 Yet, I had no idea that Blumberg and Slavka Kohout were early coaches to the Shibs. Wow, they had a great foundational start!

It is really nice to see younger fans actively engaging with and eager to know more about the sport's history.

The Flattest Edge

Sport · A figure skating podcast by two fans focused primarily on the personal and competitive histories of some of the most compelling athletes to enter the sport. Join for the lore drops, stay for the ill-a...

podcasts.apple.com

Another episode is available discussing singles skaters transitioning to ice dance, etc.

ETA: Also on Spotify and other podcast platforms.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

So, if anyone checked out the first podcast episode on the Shibutanis, I thought it was well-researched. There were a lot of contemporaneous details I wasn't aware of because I didn't follow ice dance very closely back then. Regarding the Igor/ Marina fracas that the podcast hosts discuss, at the time of those events, my impression was that Igor had been helping some Russian ice dance teams not connected to the rink, without consulting with Marina. And also that he and Marina were not getting along in the aftermath of blowback criticism post all three top Canton teams sweeping the podium at 2011 Worlds. I didn't know anything about the references to questionable personal behavior by Igor, nor the reported rumor that U.S. fed helped fund Marina's civil suit... As the podcast hosts indicate, the full details of this famous break will never be known.

I was aware that the Shibutanis suffered a lot for excelling so young and for winning a World bronze medal in their senior season debut. I didn't realize that the Canton rink dynamics further exacerbated their subsequent competitive struggles.

I think the podcast hosts are being overly influenced by the Shibs' recent comeback results and by their early years when they suggest that the Shibs were never that good at twizzles. Not true. Sure, Maia & Alex may have struggled on twizzles early in their career. But that must have led to them working hard to improve in that area. By the latter period of their career, they were absolutely great, consistent, fast and synchronous with their twizzles. They came by their rep for superior twizzles honestly.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

It's interesting that the Canton rink coaches and students were not prepared for the blowback criticism they received after their stellar successes. Contrastingly, in a different era, Montreal's I.AM juggernaut seem much stronger and more prepared to weather jealous criticism. This is likely because I.AM founders have a solid, close relationship and they built their academy with sound vision, ideals, and wide-ranging collaborative input. Canton was a much smaller, more insular operation with a lot of tension existing between coaches, talented teams, parents, and rink management.