Olyphil

In memoir, skating champion Nicole Bobek confronts her past head-on, frightening details and all — Globetrotting by Philip Hersh  It's wild how fast life can flip. On minute, you’re center ice with the world at your feet. . .The next you're barefoot in a Florida jail cell shaking so hard you can't even hold the phone stead...

Nicole Bobek told me to fasten my seatbelt before reading her new memoir. It was a bumpy ride, indeed.

Alysa Liu, guest at Laufey concert last night, told the singer she was returning to her 24-25 short program to the Laufey song, “Promise.” Liu recently dropped her short to another song, by Laufey and D4vd, amid an investigation into death of teenage girl whose remains were found in D4vd vehicle.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again: that applies to Amber Glenn and 3 axel. She got negative GOEs on her first 13 attempts at 3A. In her last 20, Glenn got positive GOEs on 14, including most recent three, two at this weekend's Nebelhorn Trophy. Wow. (Click on link to see them.)

I couldn’t agree more.

Pet peeve: why do TV commentators refer to someone winning a second straight title in an event as “defending the title?” You defend a title simply by playing in the subsequent event. If you win, it is “successfully” defending the title.

By the numbers, Russia's Petrosian looks golden at 2026 Olympics. Will pressure and her coach's past factor in? — Globetrotting by Philip Hersh Figure skating has become more and more of a math exercise since the sport began using its new scoring and judging system in the 2004-05 season. If it were only a numbers game, you could securely pla...

Difficult jumps give 2-time Russian champion Adeliia Petrosian an edge over her likely 2026 Olympic rivals at the start. Other factors may diminish it. My look: www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2025/5/...

Olympic bronze medalists in 2018, the "ShibSibs" have been away from competitive skating since then.

A season of tragedy and triumph for U.S. figure skaters — Globetrotting by Philip Hersh The figure skating season that ended nine days ago at the World Team Trophy in Japan was one of overwhelming tragedy and historic triumph for Team USA. The tragedy happened Jan. 27, when 28 members o...

My look back at the 2024-25 season, in which U.S. athletes shook the pall left by an airplane crash to honor with their performances those in the figure skating family who died.

Ilia Malinin won a second straight world title, but he wanted more Ilia Malinin won a second straight world title Saturday night, but felt upset that he had left something undone.

That’s why he whacked the ice in frustration after finishing a free skate that left him happy because it brought another gold medal but disappointed because he fell short of his goal. www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...

Thank you. Fixed.

How Alysa Liu rediscovered figure skating and came out of retirement Alysa Liu returns to top-level figure skating competition this month after a two-year retirement.

If you’re coming in late to the Alysa Liu saga, which I have chronicled since she was 13, this story I did last October will catch you up.

www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...

Alysa Liu on top of the world, a startling position after two years away from skating Alysa Liu become the first U.S. woman to win a world title since 2006, after having returned to international competition only last October, her first since winning a bronze medal at the 2022 World Ch...

No wonder Liu kept saying, “What? What?” as she skated around after the free skate. She was having trouble grasping what she had done. My NBC OlympicTalk story.

www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...

Ilia Malinin looks invincible to his top rival at figure skating worlds Ilia Malinin leads Yuma Kagiyama by a small margin going into the World Championships free skate.

And that assessment of Ilia Malinin comes from a guy who won silver medals at the 2022 Olympics and three world championships, a guy whose edge work, posture and finesse have given Yuma Kagiyama a nonpareil elegance on the ice.

At figure skating worlds, a U.S.-Canada ice dance story adds a chapter Madison Chock and Evan Bates go for a third consecutive world title, but Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have momentum.

“I think what’s really nice (about the rivalry) is the two of us are extremely distinct in our own styles,” Madison Chock told me. “What I admire about them is they have always had their own voice, and they never strayed from that."

Alysa Liu finds the joy — and the lead — at World Figure Skating Championships Alysa Liu can become the first U.S. woman to win a world championship in 19 years.

Her unexpected return this season, on her own terms, has been so enjoyable that Liu literally turned a cartwheel on the entry walkway before taking the ice. My story. www.nbcsports.com/figure-skati...

Jason Brown tries to reboot his Boston story at World Figure Skating Championships Jason Brown is back from boot problems to compete at his seventh World Championships.

The miracle of his “Hanukkah boots” kept Jason Brown going far longer than he expected, but he finally realjzed the miracle couldn’t go on forever. My story for NBC Sports. www.nbcsports.com/olympics/new...

To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Henry II: “Won’t someone rid us of this meddlesome Muskrat?” (And his pal with the dead orange muskrat on his head?)

Dave Wharton It was 1982 when I first walked into the Los Angeles Times building downtown as a college intern, never imagining this extraordinary newspaper would send me around the world to write about a hidden...

Three years before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the LA Times is without a lead Olympic writer, as the talented, resourceful and relentless David Wharton just announced he is retiring. www.facebook.com/wharton.dave...

Make that the 2025 (!!) World Championships

Isabeau Levito, reigning world silver medalist, has been assessed as ready to compete at 2024 World Figure Skating Championships March 26-29 in Boston, sources tell me. Levito missed January's U.S. Champs with foot injury. She returned to competition at a 2026 Olympic test event in late Feb.

The Orange Idiot’s tariffs are a tax on all U.S. residents. But the genuflecting Republican boobs in Congress don’t get that.

🇺🇸 Jason Brown has completed his ‘return to play’ monitoring and confirmed his spot for #WorldFigure

www.olympics.com/en/news/jaso...

I guess the Orange Madman won’t be able to blame the wildfires in South Carolina on a Democratic state administration.

🇫🇷 Laurence Fournier-Beaudry / Guillaume Cizeron are announced as a new ice dance team
www.instagram.com/p/DGsqJY8IiA...

A reminder: #LegacyOnIce broadcast today at 3pm ET

🎥 Live stream today on Peacock for the US
🌏 Live stream on YouTube outside the US: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeU...
📼 Tape delay broadcast on NBC on March 30 at 1pm ET

➡️ The US Figure Skating Family Support Fund: usfigureskatingsupport.org

I guess Vance’s next ski trip will be to Sochi. Maybe his buddy Vlad will let him stay at the Russian president’s skazillion ruble home in the area.

For Japan's Shimada, already a skating star, the Olympics remain a long way off — Globetrotting by Philip Hersh What more is there to say about Mao Shimada? Only that it is too bad the new minimum age rules for international events will keep the 16-year-old Japanese skater from competing in the 2026 Olympics, ...

Japan's Mao Shimada, 16, was utterly dominant in winning a third straight World Junior Figure Skating Championships, but the sport's new eligibility rules mean she is four months too young for the 2026 Olympics. www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com/home/2025/3/...

Bradie Tennell put herself squarely in the conversation for the 2026 US Olympic team with a very strong free skate at 4CC, giving herself the silver medal behind Kim Chaeyeon of South Korea. US skaters Sarah Everhardt and Alysa Liu were 3-4