Alex and Maia Shibutani are American former competitive ice dancers. The pair are a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2018), a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016; bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Four Continents champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion (2016, 2017). The Shibutanis (Alex and Maia) have also won six titles on the Grand Prix series and a silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships. They are two-time members of the US Olympic team, competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. In 2018, they became the first ice dancers who are both of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics (bronze in team figure skating and ice dance).[1][2] They are the second sibling duo to ever share an ice dance Olympic medal, and the first from the United States.[3] The Shibutani siblings are often referred to by their nickname the Shib Sibs.[4]
Maia and Alex Shibutani teamed up to compete in ice dance in the spring of 2004.[5] Their singles coach, Kathy Bird, arranged for them to work with their first dance coaches Andy Stroukoff and Susie Kelley.[6] The Shibutanis also worked with Mary Marchiselli. During their juvenile season, their programs were choreographed by Josh Babb.
During the 2004–2005 season, their first season of competition, they competed on the juvenile level, which is the lowest competitive level in the U.S. Figure Skating testing structure. During that season, Alex Shibutani represented the Hickory Hill Figure Skating Club in competition. They competed at the 2005 North Atlantic Regional Championships, the qualifying competition for the U.S. Junior Championships, and won the competition.[7] The win qualified them for the 2005 U.S. Junior Championships. At that competition, they placed second in the first compulsory dance, fourth in the second compulsory dance, and third in the free dance, ending up with the silver medal.[8]
2005–2006 season
After moving up to the intermediate level and performing well at the non-qualifying competitions, the Shibutanis went to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to work with choreographer Tom Dickson. During that off-season, they were being coached by Judy Blumberg on the east coast. After doing better than expected at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Competition in the summer of 2005, the Shibutanis decided to move coaching centers to a better training environment and so moved to train in Colorado Springs under head coach Patti Gottwein.[9][6] During that time, they also worked with Rich Griffin, Damon Allen, and Eric Schulz.
Alex Shibutani changed his club representation to the Broadmoor Skating Club, where he and his sister trained. The Shibutanis won the Southwestern Regional Championships, their qualifying competition for the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships.[10] At the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships, they placed second in the first compulsory dance and then won the second compulsory and free dances to win the title overall.[11] They worked as guest bloggers and aides for the media staff for U.S. Figure Skating at the 2006 U.S. Championships,[12] and again at the 2006 Four Continents, which were held in Colorado Springs.[13]
2006–2007 season
The Shibutanis moved up to the novice level, which is the first of the three levels that compete at the U.S. Championships. Strong results at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, including first place in the Novice Free Dance event, earned them their first opportunity to compete internationally under the ISU Judging System. At the North American Challenge event in Burnaby, British Columbia, they were the highest placing Americans in the novice event, pulling up from fifth place after the compulsory to second overall.
At the 2007 Midwestern Sectional Championships, their qualifying competition for the national championships, the Shibutanis placed second in the first compulsory dance and then won the second compulsory and the free dances to win the competition overall and qualify for the 2007 U.S. Championships.[14] At US Nationals, the Shibutanis placed second in both compulsory dances, but with a win in the free dance were able to capture the novice gold medal by a margin of victory of 2.06 points ahead of silver medalists Sara Bailey & Kyle Herring.[15] This was their second consecutive national title.[16]
Following the 2007 U.S. Championships, the Shibutanis relocated once again, moving to Michigan to be coached by Marina Zueva and Igor Shpilband at the Arctic Edge Arena in Canton, Michigan.[6] An important factor in the decision to relocate their training based included the opportunity to live and train in an area which could provide access to both world class ice dance coaching, as well as excellent educational opportunities. Alex Shibutani, at the time of the coaching change, had two years left of high school and was considering his university options.[17]
2007–2008 season
The Shibutanis perform a lift at the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix Final
The Shibutanis moved up to the junior level nationally. However, they were unable to compete internationally on the junior level because Maia was not yet old enough. At the 2008 Midwestern Sectionals, the Shibutanis placed fourth in the compulsory dance and then third in the original and free dances to win the bronze medal overall. This medal qualified them for the 2008 U.S. Championships. At Nationals, they placed 7th in the compulsory dance, 2nd in the original dance, and 4th in the free dance. They placed 4th overall, winning the pewter medal.
2008–2009 season: Silver at World Junior Championships
Maia Shibutani became age-eligible to compete on the international junior circuit. The siblings made their junior international debut on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP). At their first event, the 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Courchevel, France, they placed second in the compulsory dance and then won the original and free dances to win the gold medal overall by a margin of victory of 11.00 points over silver medalists Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill.[18] They were then assigned to their second event, the event in Madrid, Spain. At this event, they placed second in all three segments of the competition and won the silver medal.[19] These two medals qualified them for the 2008–2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, for which they were the third-ranked qualifiers.[20] Qualifying for the event had also qualified them for the 2009 U.S. Championships.
The Junior Grand Prix Final was held concurrently with the senior final for the first time and so did not have a compulsory dance segment. The Shibutanis placed 7th in the original dance[21] and 3rd in the free dance,[22] finishing in 4th place overall.[23]
The Shibutanis went on to the 2009 U.S. Championships, where they competed on the junior level for the second consecutive year. At the event, the Shibutanis placed second in the compulsory dance,[24] the original dance,[25] and the free dance.[26] They won the silver medal overall[27] marking their fifth consecutive podium finish at a national-level competition. Following the competition, the Shibutanis were named to the team to the 2009 World Junior Championships.[28]
At Junior Worlds, the Shibutanis placed 5th in the compulsory dance, 4th in the original dance, and 2nd in the free dance. At the ages of 14 and 17, they won the silver medal.[29]
2009–2010 season
For the 2009–2010 season, the Shibutanis continued to compete at the junior level, as Maia at just 15, remained age-ineligible to compete on the senior level internationally. On the Junior Grand Prix series, the Shibutanis won gold medals at both their JGP events - in Lake Placid, New York, and in Zagreb, Croatia. At the JGP Final in Tokyo, Japan, they won the bronze medal. At the 2010 US Nationals, competing for their third and final time at the junior level, they won the Junior ice dance title. At the 2010 Junior Worlds, their final junior event after having competed for only two seasons on the international circuit, they finished just off the podium in fourth place. This was their final junior event.
At the ages of 16 and 19, the Shibutanis advanced to the senior level and experienced a historic rookie season. At their senior international debut, they finished fifth at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy, moving up from eighth after the short dance with a strong free dance showing.[30] They won the bronze medal at both the 2010 NHK Trophy (pulling up from 5th place after the short dance) and the 2010 Skate America (pulling up from fourth place after the short dance), making them the first dance team to medal at both Grand Prix events in its first senior season. They were the first alternates for the Grand Prix final.[31]
The Shibutanis finished second at U.S. Nationals (behind Meryl Davis and Charlie White) and were chosen to compete at the Four Continents and World Championships. At their first ISU Championship event as senior competitors, the 2011 Four Continents championships, they once again finished just behind Davis and White, earning a silver medal. Maia and Alex Shibutani became the first figure skaters of Asian descent in the history of the sport to medal in ice dance at an ISU championship event. At the World Championships, they were in fourth after the short dance, 4.09 points behind third-placed Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat. In the free dance, they scored 4.34 ahead of Pechalat and Bourzat, both of whom had fallen. The Shibutanis finished third overall by 0.25 points and won a bronze in their World Championships debut, a feat not even Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the current Olympic Champions, had accomplished. Their bronze medal finish remains the highest world championship debut of any US ice dance team in history. At the ages of 16 and 20, they were also the youngest world medalists in the discipline of ice dance in over 50 years.
At the 2012 US National championships, the Shibutanis repeated as the silver medalists behind Davis and White. The Shibutanis finished 4th at the 2012 Four Continents, an event during which Alex competed in the free dance while extremely ill, and 8th at the 2012 World Championships.
During the off-season, they were invited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to attend a dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on May 1, 2012, in Washington, D.C.[33]
Following Igor Shpilband's dismissal from the Arctic Edge Arena in June 2012, the Shibutanis decided to remain at the rink with Marina Zoueva and ended their collaboration with Shpilband.[34]
The Shibutanis began their season with another injury which forced them to withdraw from the US Classic in September. They began their competitive season by winning bronze medals at 2013 Skate America and 2013 NHK Trophy. They then went on to win the bronze medal at the 2014 U.S. Championships and were named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They placed 9th at the Olympics.[36] The Shibutanis also competed at the 2014 World Championships, where they placed 6th.
2014–2015 season
The Shibutanis started their season by winning the gold medal at the 2014 Ondrej Nepela Trophy. Combined with their gold medal at the 2014 Ice Challenge they were the top finishers in the 2014-2015 ISU Challenge Cup series. They then won the silver medal at the 2014 Skate America.[37] They then went on to compete at their second Grand Prix event, 2014 Cup of China, where they won the silver medal. Their results on the Grand Prix series qualified them for the 2014–15 Grand Prix Final, where they placed 4th.
They qualified for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final as the fourth ranked team based on qualification criteria that had been modified in an attempt to account for the partially cancelled Trophee Bompard event. Their combined short dance and free dance score from NHK Trophy of 174.43 points was the highest total score amongst all competitors during the Grand Prix season. At the Grand Prix Final event, they placed 4th in the short dance. The night before the free dance, Alex became severely ill with food poisoning.[39] They chose to compete nonetheless, and managed to get another standing ovation for their free dance.[40] They finished 4th in the free dance and 4th overall.[39] They withdrew from the exhibition so that Alex could recover.[41]
At the 2016 U.S. Championships, the Shibutanis placed second behind Madison Chock and Evan Bates during the short dance, but moved up following the free dance to win their first senior US title.[42][43] They earned standing ovations from the audience at both segments of the competition.[42][44]
The Shibutanis next competed at the 2016 Four Continents Championships. They set personal bests and finished first in both segments of the competition for their first ISU Championship title.[45][46][47] With this title, they became the first ice dancers of Asian descent to win an ISU ice dance championship event.[45][47]
The Shibutanis began the 2016–17 season with a gold medal at the Skate America Grand Prix in Chicago. They followed that with another victory at the Cup of China Grand Prix event held in Beijing, once again qualifying for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. At the Grand Prix Final event in Marseille, France, the Shibutanis were ranked second after the short dance, placing behind Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada, and ahead of reigning World champions, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. A third-place finishing the free dance portion of the competition placed them third place overall - the bronze medal being their first medal at a Grand Prix Final.
At the 2017 U.S. Championships, the Shibutanis won their second national title; they edged out Chock/Bates by 1.01 points after placing first in the short dance and second in the free dance.[52] The siblings took silver at the 2017 Four Continents in Gangneung (South Korea), having ranked second in both segments to Canada's Virtue/Moir.
At the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki (Finland), they ranked fifth in the short dance and fourth in the free dance, ending up third overall by a margin of 0.37 over Canada's Weaver/Poje. The siblings received their third world medal, bronze.
2017–2018 season: Two Olympic Bronze
The Shibutanis made their season debut at the 2017 Rostelecom Cup. They scored 77.30 in the short dance and 111.94 in the free dance to place first in both segments and won the gold medal, with 189.24 points. At their second GP event, 2017 Skate America, they again won both the short and free dance for a total of 194.25 and first place overall, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. At the Grand Prix Final, they earned a second consecutive bronze medal.
At the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the Shibutanis placed first in the short dance and third in the free dance, placing them second overall behind Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue. They returned to the Winter Olympics in 2018, favorites for a medal in the ice dance event. They performed both the short and free dance in the team figure skating event, helping Team USA win the bronze medal. The Shibutanis later beat fellow Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue for the bronze medal in ice dancing. Maia and Alex received a short dance score of 77.73, a free dance score of 114.86, and a total score of 192.59. They were the only Americans to medal in their individual event.
That's Life (remix) performed by Frank Sinatra, Jay Z arranged by Ryan "Ryanimay" Conferido choreo. by Hokuto Konishi, Aye Hasegawa, Randi Strong, and others
Hip Hop: That's Life (remix) performed by Frank Sinatra, Jay Z arranged by Ryan "Ryanimay" Conferido choreo. by Hokuto Konishi, Aye Hasegawa, Randi Strong, and others
Emily Samuelson is an American former competitive ice dancer. With former partner Evan Bates, she is the 2009 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2008 World Junior champion, and the 2009 U.S. national silver medalist. The duo competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Samuelson later skated with Todd Gilles.
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