In case you have been living under a rock, the Winter Olympics were held this past February in Milano Cortina. Over the years, I have always tuned in to watch and see the events, but one in particular has always held my fancy, and that is figure skating. Stifel brings the skaters on a tour of the country after the games so people can see the Olympians that represent them and give them their flowers in person.
Figure skating falls into the same category as dance in terms of being one of the most difficult (and dangerous) artistic disciplines to master. Because I grew up in a dance-based world, I always held immense respect for the figure skaters because their training blended elements similar to ours, but theirs involved ice, blades, and crazy jumps. Figure skating also has the most creative element to it; whenever I see it, it’s like dance on ice with songs that are either really classic or really unexpected.
Seeing these skaters in person, though, even from the nosebleeds, you could see all of the incredible turns and jumps that they do, and I felt nothing but admiration and pride for them because our Team USA brought home the gold this past Olympics.
To catch you up, our team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics consisted of 16 athletes from around the country, but not all are present on the tour. The ones who are present are Andrew Torgashev (a Florida native), Isabeau Levito (the youngest solo skater on the team this year), Alysa Liu (the first gold medalist in women’s figure skating for the US since 2002), Jason Brown (Team USA’s bronze medalist), Amber Glenn (the first openly queer female figure skater), Ilia Malinin (self-dubbed the Quad God), and pair skaters Christina Carreira and Anthony Pomomarenko, Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam as well as legendary pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
The arena was nearly sold out, and the energy ran high through each act that was performed. What I like the most is how you can see each skater’s personality through the songs they choose, and each performance was stunning in its own right. If you watched the Olympics this year, odds are that you would recognize most of them.
The show was split up into two acts, with all of the cast opening to a medley of ‘Brink of Annihilation/Fearless’ by Tommee Profit, followed by two solo performances by Torgashev and Levito. The stars took the time to introduce their teammates in some manner, be it funny or honorary, and it was clear that the national pride was running high.
After Carreira and Ponomarenko performed their Nelly Furtado medley, Alysa Liu performed her short program to Laufey’s song ‘Promise.’ When I saw this during the Olympics, I was in awe. The hidden subtext of the song choice is truly something to note if you know Liu’s history with the sport.
Team USA then honored the members who won gold in the team event, wearing their jackets and medals for all of us to see, and considering this is only the third show, it was kind of bittersweet, and it allowed the audience to feel like they were a part of it, too.
Seeing Chock and Bates skate in person was also a sight to behold. The pair is the most awarded on Team USA and not without reason. Very few people in the skating community have beaten them, and if you saw that France won and are like ‘why’ know that you’re not alone. This past Olympics was the married couple’s final one, and both of their programs and their costumes reflected who they are to their core.
I don’t remember seeing much of Jason Brown during the Olympics, but that man has a penchant for theatrics. Both of his routines were interesting to watch. It’s no wonder he and Amber get along so well.
Amber herself had routines that were incredibly complex and showed off her skills to the max. Glenn is also one of the oldest female ice skaters to qualify to compete in the Olympics, a feat few have managed to achieve in this lifetime. Her “Like a Prayer” program is very complex, and the mix is on another level.
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, while not winning many medals at the Olympic Games, have routines that are so interesting and fun to watch that you can’t help but be in awe of them. Plus, if you research how they came to be a pair, their come-up story is pretty cool. Their first performance was a piece entitled “The 305 Experience,” which pays homage to Pitbull (O’Shea dressed up as him), and their second one was the title track from the movie Shallow, and all I could say was holy moly. The pair is able to attempt more interesting stunts due to their height difference, which makes them so much fun to watch.
And then there’s Ilia Malinin. Self-dubbed “the quad god,” Malinin is the only male ice skater to land six quads in competition, as well as the first skater in decades to do backflips on Olympic ice, a move which was banned due to the dangers. In his ‘Lose Yourself’ routine, he did three back-to-back and the audience ate it up: who wouldn’t? Malinin continues to test the limits of the sport and has hinted at wanting to attempt to master quint jumps now that the Olympics are over.
Isabeau Levito is a ballet dancer on ice. Her skating is so different from Glenn and Lou’s, but it is so elegant, and what sets her apart from everyone else is not just reflected in how she skates, but also in her music choices. The next Olympics are sure to be one where her name is even bigger than it was this past one.
All of the new routines for the show were also so interesting to watch. My personal favorite was when the Blade Angels, Levito, Glenn, and Liu, skated to “Golden” from the hit film KPop Demon Hunters. The song choice is a great reflection of them as a team, and each woman matches the personality of a member of Huntrix extremely well (Liu is Rumi, Levito is Zoe, and Glenn is Mira). Their costumes also reflected the outfits that Huntrix wore at the end of the movie.
Alysa Liu: the skater who quit the sport due to the high pressures and came back on her own terms, like a phoenix from the ashes. No one expected it, and no one was prepared for it, but her skill was so strong and so was her will that she beat out the favorite Sakomoto Kaori from Japan to take gold. I can’t listen to the song ‘Stateside’ without thinking of her, and seeing her perform her gala skate routine was nothing short of extraordinary. She really knows how to have fun on the ice, and that is what makes her so incredible to watch.
The entire cast is so united and fun to watch, and their interactions with the fans are so heartwarming to see. After they performed their final skate, they all donned Orlando Magic jerseys and skated around to the fans who were on the floor watching them on the makeshift rink.
Seeing this team of skaters live, in person, has made me so proud to be an American, and I cannot wait to see what the 2030 Olympics hold.