⛸️ Glorious Moments on Ice & New Beginnings! ✨ - 2026.05.03 | Figure Skating

Hello, figure skating fans! It's Figure Lover. 💖

Did everyone enjoy 'K-Skating Day' last week? From the festival on the ice to exciting news about international skaters, we've prepared another packed newsletter for you this week! Let's dive right in 🚀

🏆 K-Skating Day, The Festival is Over, but the Memories Linger!

At the 'K-Skating Day' held last week, our national figure skaters received amazing awards! The star of men's singles, Cha Jun-hwan, won the Excellence Award, and women's singles skater Heo Ji-yoo took home the Special Rookie Award ^[2]. Their wonderful performances at the Milano Olympics and the Four Continents Championships were truly recognized!

There were also very special moments during the main event. Figure skaters put on an ice show together with speed skaters and short track athletes ^[2], and made unforgettable memories playing curling games with fans on the ice ^[6]. In particular, Kim Chae-yeon's beautiful gala performance completely captivated the hearts of the fans in attendance ^[7]. Everyone's watching the fancams 100 times, right? 😉

🇯🇵 'Post Asada Mao' Nakai Ami Joins Hands with a Korean Choreographer!

Here is news about 18-year-old Nakai Ami, who emerged as Japan's next-generation ace by winning a bronze medal at the Milano Olympics! She's gaining explosive popularity among Chinese fans and is being called the 'Post Asada Mao' ^[4]. Having overcome immense nerves on the Olympic stage ^[10], she is taking on new challenges for the next season!

Surprisingly, she announced that she will be working with Korean choreographer Shin Ye-ji for her new short program! 👏 She plans to attempt an image transformation with a tango-style program ^[1]. It's a truly proud achievement for our figure skating community to see a top-level Japanese skater collaborating with a Korean choreographer. The free skating choreography will be handled by David Wilson ^[1]. Aren't you looking forward to Nakai Ami's new performances next season?

😢 Goodbye, RikuRyu! Miura-Kihara Pair Retires

The Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi pair, who rewrote the history of Japanese pairs skating, has officially announced their retirement ^[3]. Since teaming up in 2019, they have left behind incredible achievements, including a World Championship title and an Olympic silver medal! Seeing them shed tears at the press conference made me tear up too 😭 Their final words, "We wanted to end it with a gold, so once we did win it, we talked to each other right away about retiring," were truly touching ^[8]. Thank you so much for showing us such wonderful performances all this time!

🌍 A Scoop of Global Figure Skating News!

In France, Milano Olympic gold medalists Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Baudry received the National Order of Merit from President Macron ^[5]. It's so cool to see Olympic glory leading to national celebration!

Also, at the exhibition gala in Prague, Ilia Malinin and Kaori Sakamoto shared the ice! Ilia reportedly offered a special goodbye to wrap up the season by performing a surprise quad axel ^[9]. Aren't these beautiful moments beyond competition exactly why we love figure skating? 💫

That's it for this week's news! Seeing the skaters' new beginnings and beautiful farewells makes Figure Lover's heart feel all warm and fuzzy. I'll be back next week with more fun news! Bye! ⛸️✨