After COVID and a canceled competition, Montreal finally gets the chance to welcome the World.  Four years ago, the world was shut down by a deadly pandemic, which no one knew was the cause, and up until that time, knew of a cure or treatment. Montreal, which was supposed to be where the World Championships were supposed to take place in 2020 was abruptly cancelled, along with many sporting events. The International Skating Union re-scheduled the event for 2024. Since that time, the Russians were banned from competition because of the assault on Ukraine in 2022. The omission has brought ..read more

Shanghai, China will be the setting for the regional competition representing non-European countries in Americas (North America and South America), Africa, Asia and Oceania. Located on the central coast, the city has grown enormously within the last 30 years, overtaking Beijing as the country’s biggest city, and is considered a global financial hub. The tournament has been dominated by the United States, Canada, Japan and China, having won 277 out of 288 medals since 1999. Men: Japan stands to dominate the competition, with 2022 Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama the leading contender thi ..read more

Columbus, Ohio is the setting for this year’s United States Figure Skating Championships. A few interesting facts about the city. It was named after Italian explorer Christopher Columbus at the city’s founding in 1812. It’s also the state capital, with over 900,000 residents. It’s also the home of The Ohio State University, as well as the home of MLS’ Columbus Crew who won the soccer league championship in 2023. And of course, the home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, who play at the Nationwide Arena, where the event will take place. Medals will be awarded to the top four skaters in each d ..read more

Canadian Nationals takes place in the city of Calgary, Alberta. The Olympic Saddledome (now called Scotiabank Saddledome) was the setting for the 1988 Winter Olympics, where Elizabeth Manley surprised everyone, overcoming all adversity to bring the host country a silver medal performance and became “Canada’s Sweetheart”. Katarina Witt would win her second straight Olympic gold, while Debi Thomas would become the first African-American figure skater to win an Olympic medal, bringing home bronze. In an exciting men’s Olympic final, American Brian Boitano out skated Canadian Brian Orser for gold ..read more

The city of Kaunas, which is the second largest in the country of Lithuania is the setting of the European championships. A few fun facts about the location.  The city was founded in 1413, and for a time served as a Governorate capital of the Russian Empire between 1843 and 1915. In between WWI and WWII, it served as a temporary capital of Lithuania after the current capital (Vilnius) was captured and controlled by Poland. Today, Kaunas has been noted for it’s rich cultural and academic life. It’s interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has ..read more

On December 9th, 2023; venture capitalist Elon Musk decided to reinstate far-right conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones to his social media platform, ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter). His reasoning was to continue his campaign to make X a “free speech” refuge even to the detriment of the company’s business interests. In 2018, Twitter banned Jones and his ‘Infowars’ program after his continuous lies and false reporting of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The shooting left 20 kids and six adults dead. Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion to families of Sandy Hook victims over h ..read more

The Grand Prix season ends with a visit to Beijing. The capital city of China holds the dubious distinction of hosting both the Summer and Winter Olympics (2008 and 2022). COVID has devastated the country for the last four years, as they haven’t been able to host Grand Prix events due to heavy restrictions on foreign visitors and their own population. In fact, the 2022 Winter games were very fortunate to be held, as the health inspectors prohibited athletes from visiting numerous locations. This year’s Cup of China marked the first time the Grand Prix was held since 2021. This weekend’s even ..read more

The sixth and final stop on the senior Grand Prix tour takes place in the “land of the rising sun”, Japan. NHK has hosted the event since 1979, and was added to the Grand Prix series in 1995. Some legendary names who’ve won at NHK have gone on the Olympic gold. They include American Brian Boitano (1985), Germany’s Katarina Witt (1986 and 87), China’s Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo (5-time pairs champions) and Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White (4-time champions). Men: Japanese skaters Shoma Uno and Yuma Kagiyama are still reeling from upset losses to France’s Adam Siao Him Fa in their previou ..read more

The Grand Prix series makes its fifth stop on the tour, and the city of Espoo, Finland. The city is located west of the country’s capital, Helsinki. According to the city’s official website, it’s known as a hub of know-how, research and development, at the heart of which stands the Aalto University campus. Large natural areas are characteristic of Espoo: seashores, the archipelago, the wilderness in nature reserves and the waterways of the lake highlands. This is the second year in a row the city has hosted the event, and the third time Finland has hosted a Grand Prix event. Men: Japan’s Kao ..read more

The third stop on the senior Grand Prix is in Angers, France. The medieval city surrounded by ancient walls, castles and châteaux is located in western France. According to one tourist website, Angers was the seat of the Plantagenet (or Anjou) dynasty, and for over 300 years English monarchs had Angevin blood, from Henry II in 1154 to Richard III in 1485. The Angevin Kings of England had strong claims to the French throne, which eventually plunged the two nations into the Hundred Years War.  The Duchy of Anjou was reclaimed by the French crown early in the 13th century. Angers became the ..read more