Walley & Flip: A Figure Skating Podcast

We are back with our Skate Canada recap! This week, we're diving into the battle between the first-year senior rookies and the seasoned veterans. In the women’s event, Mao Shimada takes on Isabeau Levito and Niina Petrokina, but which of the rising senior stars impressed us the most, and who left us wanting a little more? We also break down the rookie class on the men's side, including Rio Nakata and how he measured up against the established field.Over in ice dance, we're talking Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, where they actually belong in the standings, and whether the results told the whole story. Plus, we get into the performances that stood out, the skaters who still have something to prove, and Flip reveals his favorite free dance of the season so far. Was it what you expected? Tune in for all our takes, surprises, and opinions from Skate Canada!

Walley and Flip are back for the first episode of the season - and after six months away, there are definitely a few cobwebs to dust off.The 2026-27 Grand Prix Series begins in Angers with an event full of triumphs, meltdowns, surprise podium finishes, and results that immediately raise questions about the season ahead. Adam Siao Him Fa delivers for the home crowd, while Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov endures a disastrous free skate and tumbles all the way to 10th. In the women's event, Olympic bronze medalist Ami Nakai rebounds from a popped triple Axel in the short to defend her Grand Prix de France title. We discuss Yuna Aoki's brilliant short program, Anastasiia Gubanova's silver, Lara Naki Gutmann's trip to the podium, and which early-season programs already have us completely invested.Meanwhile, Olympic champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron begin their season with a commanding victory on home ice. Are they already untouchable, or did the rest of the dance field give us reasons to keep the debate alive?We also saw the first appearance by Russian skaters on the Grand Prix since the 2021-22 season. Competing as neutral athletes, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii take silver behind Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava. We unpack their return, what the result means competitively, and how it felt to see Russian athletes back on the Grand Prix stage.Plus:Our biggest surprises and disappointments from AngersThe programs we already love - and the ones that may need some workWhich Olympic champions rose and which ones crumbledOur first roses and thorns of the new seasonJust how seriously we should take results from the opening weekend

Walley and Flip are back for one last time this season to break down the very real identity shift coming to figure skating as the ISU rolls out major rule changes for the 2026–2027 season.From reducing jump content and limiting combinations to introducing more choreographic elements across disciplines, the sport may be heading toward a very different balance of athleticism vs. artistry.Are ultra-C jumpers about to lose their edge?Does this open the door for PCS skaters?And is the ISU quietly laying the groundwork for an even bigger overhaul (eg. tech vs. artistic program split rumors)?Also, Marin Honda and Shoma Uno teaming up in Montreal as a potential ice dance team?? We discuss whether this is a real competitive prospect, a soft launch into post-singles careers, or just the most intriguing “what if” of the season.We also react to some surprise announcements and potential retirements!

Walley and Flip are back with their full World Championships reaction and there is a lot to unpack. In ice dance, we dive straight into “arm gate,” Lilah and Lewis’s shocking slide off the podium, and the very real rise of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik. Plus, did Piper and Paul flop or fly with the return of Wuthering Heights?Across the women’s and men’s events, it was a mix of glory and heartbreak that absolutely delivered. We break down the redemption arcs from Kaori Sakamoto, Yuma Kagiyama, and Mone Chiba, and more!And in true Walley and Flip fashion, we go a little off-script… sharing some chaotic and nostalgic stories from our own skater days.

Alysa Liu did NOT leave her skates out in the rain- and the women overall absolutely brought it. It was the clean skate party of our dreams and the energy felt truly Olympic from start to finish. So many athletes rose to the moment with clutch performances, huge elements, and programs that delivered under pressure. Overall, the judging felt relatively consistent and fair… but there were a couple of placements we simply did not think were warranted. Yes, we name names.In pairs, the quality stayed sky high. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara threw down a world record performance and cemented their status at the top with a lights out skate on the biggest stage. The event as a whole was packed with strong, mostly clean programs, but there were also some real disappointments and missed opportunities that shook up the final standings.

We are back to unpack the absolute emotional rollercoaster that was the Olympic men’s and ice dance final and honestly we are still recovering. No amount of lit candles or Etsy witches could have saved the men's event. We were left in total shambles. And then out of the madness rose Mikhail Shaidorov, who absolutely crushed the rest of the field and delivered when it mattered most. We break down how he separated himself, who cracked under pressure, and what this result means long term.Over in ice dance, the tension did not stay on the ice. We get into the controversy swirling around Madison Chock and Evan Bates versus Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron and the scandal that had everyone talking. What actually happened, what felt political, what felt fair.

Join us as we react to the Olympic figure skating team event an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. We each share our three roses and three thorns from the competition who delivered when it mattered most and what results left us with more questions than answers. Then we dig into what implication this team event may have on the individual competitions. What performances change the outlook for the individual events? Who gained confidence, who might be rattled, and where do the medal races feel wide open now?

Join us for our olympic figure skating team event preview! Who are the five countries most likely to make the final and where could things take a turn? We look at the real contenders and the pressure points as the US and Japan expect to go head to head for gold while Italy and Georgia are likely to battle it out for bronze. But as we should all know, expect the unexpected.We dig into the strengths and weaknesses of each team across disciplines, what strategies/approached could change the outcome, and what the team event could mean for momentum confidence and fatigue heading into the individual events. Is the team event a springboard or a trap?

We’re back with a short and sweet episode full of our always valued and definitely respected opinions and recommendations for the ISU and the skating world at large LOL. We dig into the offer up our own amendments not just for the ISU but also for skaters program technical content because why stop there. We also get into the bigger question of how Europeans and Four Continents can become more relevant and exciting events. Should the top skaters be competing here and what can be done to actually incentivize them to show up and get fans in the seats?From there we recap Four Continents, starting with the women. We talk Jia Shin’s stock heading into the Olympic season, Gabby’s comeback, and where we see the Japanese women landing for the rest of the year. Ice dance somehow turns into a repeat of US Nationals which might honestly be a preview of what we are heading toward in the next quad. Kao and Jun come out swinging and make their Olympic intentions very clear. And for once, pairs actually gives us a lot to talk about.

What can we say? sometimes you have to flop to fly...Are the tables actually turning in ice dance or are we just desperate for an unpredictable podium at the olympics? We recap the European Figure Skating Championships starting on home ice with Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson and ask is their stock starting to slip. Meanwhile Guignard and Fabbri continue to quietly build momentum. Has their stock gone up enough that an Olympic medal is now a realistic conversation rather than wishful thinking?In the women’s event we look at the injured European contenders and their fight back to full strength. What is their realistic runway through the rest of the season and who can actually peak in time rather than just survive. Over in the men’s event we unpack one of the most shocking podiums of the championship. Reshtenk-who?In pairs we are feeling extremely vindicated. Metelkina and Berulava continue to validate our early season prediction and we ask whether Europeans just made their Olympic case even stronger.Only after the skating do we zoom out to the bigger picture. We discuss the ISU proposed changes what is realistic what feels performative and where the federation continues to miss the mark. And yes we get into the saga of Gabi Papadakis being fired from NBC. Cease and desist? Or twizzles amiss?