The Rocker Skating Podcast

Episodes

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  Amber Glenn foxtrots to the #dwts lead + Trialeti Trophy & JGP Ljubljana preview 30.09.2026 1h 3m

  Michelle and Jackie preview this week's Trialeti Trophy and the sixth Junior Grand Prix of the season (Ljubljana). More AIN skaters, including Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, will be looking for a shot at getting onto the Grand Prix alternates list at Trialeti, while we see season debuts from European champions Nika Egadze, Anastasiia Gubanova, and Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava.Plus, we have our first impressions of Amber Glenn's week 3 on Dancing with the Stars, where she performed a Foxtrot to Toto's Hold the Line.
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  Mikhail Shaidorov in his first competition since winning the Olympics - Nepela Memorial and Nebelhorn super recap 28.09.2026 2h 5m

  The Challenger doubleheader did not disappoint. We saw the season debuts of a lot of skaters this weekend at Nebelhorn Trophy and Nepela Memorial. Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko, Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud, Olivia Smart / Tim Dieck, Mikhail Shaidorov, Daniel Grassl, Evgeni Semenenko, Julia Sauter, Haein Lee, and more competed this weekend.Jackie and Michelle also recap the fifth Junior Grand Prix in Batumi this weekend
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  [VIDEO] Unboxing Season Retrospective 25/26 book with Danielle Earl: Rocker Skating Podcast Interview 25.09.2026 43m

  Season Retrospective 25/26 just came out! (Go to https://store.rockerskating.com) Jackie talks to renowned figure skating photographer Danielle Earl, whose photography is featured in this book, about her origin story as a photographer. And we highlight some of our favorites from Season Retrospective. I hope you'll have a look!
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  Amber Glenn underscored DWTS Week 2 + previewing Nebelhorn and Nepela Memorial 23.09.2026 1h 13m

  It's a double-Challenger week this week. Jackie and Michelle preview Nebelhorn Trophy and Nepela Memorial, both of which will feature World medalists in multiple disciplines. The fifth Junior Grand Prix event will also be taking place this week - in Batumi, Georgia.Plus, Amber Glenn goes into Week 2 of Dancing with the Stars with a tango to Harrison's All the Things She Said (Heated Rivalry stans, it's time).
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  Estonia has a great week at Lombardia Trophy, Amber Glenn debuts on Dancing with the Stars 21.09.2026 1h 54m

  Amber Glenn had her debut on Dancing with the Stars last week, and we are so excited! Plus, on regular skating news, Lombardia Trophy, Junior Grand Prix Ankara, and Russian Test Skates happened!
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  Interview with Mark Hanretty 17.09.2026 30m

  Mark Hanretty has become a fixture on the commentary scene in international figure skating competitions. He and Ted Barton are halfway through another Junior Grand Prix series.Mark joined Jackie to talk about the new season, the new rules, and how he gets to know everything about every skater and their programs. And there's no interview with Jackie and Mark without a lot of nerding out on figure skating.
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  Looking ahead to Lombardia, and new US pairs battle at John Nicks International 15.09.2026 1h 25m

  It was a light(er) weekend of skating, but there was still plenty of it, including John Nicks Pairs International and Tallinn Open, won by Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii, Mihhail Selevko, and Niina Petrokina.Plus, the third Challenger event happens this weekend with Lombardia Trophy and it is yet another superb women's field. And the fourth Junior Grand Prix takes place in Ankara - Michelle and Jackie preview both of those events.
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  Recapping a wild ride at Kinoshita Group Cup, Mao Shimada and Alexandra Ignatova go head to head 07.09.2026 1h 46m

  Kinoshita Group Cup was as advertised - the competition field was deep, the Russian and Belarusian skaters were back in senior competition, and there was some great skating, especially in the women's event.Jackie and Michelle recap the weekend of skating in Japan, including Mao Shimada, Vladislav Dikidzhi, Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii, and Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin winning their respective events. And Alexandra Ignatova (Trusova) lands a quad lutz!
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  Interview with Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara, with special guests Kaitlyn Weaver and Mitch Islam 04.09.2026 41m

  Olympic Champions Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara made history for Japan as the first ever Japanese Olympic pair champions, and they made more history in July with THE DESTINY, an unprecedented show featuring the best pairs and ice dance teams in the world .They are joined by the show's choreographers, Kaitlyn Weaver and Mitch Islam. We talked about Miura/Kihara's Olympic triumph, the behind the scenes with THE DESTINY, and what they are up to now that they aren't competingInterpreting and translation: Momo PodolskyCover photo: Danielle Earl Photography
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  Kinoshita Group Cup preview, Jacob Sanchez interview, and Ukraine contests AIN eligibility 02.09.2026 1h

  The second Challenger series event of the season is upon us, and it's a big one. Some of the best from Japan and Russia are in Tokyo for this showdown. Michelle and I preview this event, which will feature the first international appearance of Alexandra Trusova (now Ignatova), Mark Kondratiuk, Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Koslovskii since the 2022 Olympics. Japan sends their strongest, including Mao Shimada, Yuna Aoki, Rio Nakata, and Shun Sato.Plus, I got to sit down for a quick chat with Jacob Sanchez about his new programs, a short program with Misha Ge and a free skate with Adam Blake ("it's good!" he says), as he heads to Tokyo this week.In the meantime, the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation announced today that they wrote a letter to the ISU contesting the application of AIN criteria for eight Russian skaters. We don't know the implications of that officially for Kinoshita Group Cup, but things seem to be quickly moving.
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  Champs Camp insights and surprises + JGP Riga, French Masters recap 31.08.2026 1h 16m

  Jackie is back from Champs Camp and Summer Sizzler and Michelle has lots of questions for him! Plus, the second Junior Grand Prix just took place, and France's Masters de Patinage happened this weekend as well.We also talk about the announcements of Alysa Liu skipping the 2026-27 season and the (literal) return of Deanna Stellato to the United States to compete with new partner Danil Siianytsia
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  Russia & Belarus back as Neutral Athletes at 1st Junior Grand Prix + JGP Riga and Summer Sizzler preview 24.08.2026 1h 17m

  Sofiia Dzepka and Lev Lazarev won their respective events at Junior Grand Prix Xi'an as Russia and Belarus athletes compete again in the international figure skating competitions as Individual Neutral Athletes.Michelle and Jackie recap what happened at the first JGP of the season, preview next week's JGP in Latvia, and talk about US Figure Skating's Summer Sizzler event this coming week
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  Bonus: New Season New Rules Part 2: What is a figure skating season? 20.08.2026 9m

  A primer for figure skating fans new and experienced - we never actually talk about what the figure skating season is. For most skaters, the start, end, and length of their season is actually much different than for the skaters who are expected to go to Worlds.In this bonus episode of the Rocker Skating podcast, Jackie talks about how the season differs depending on the skater, and why the season has lengthened for top skaters over the past decade.
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  Mao Shimada, Yuna Aoki shine at Summer Cup + JGP Xi'an preview 17.08.2026 1h 7m

  It may have only been a domestic event, but Kinoshita Kansei Summer Cup was a battle in the women's event, where Mao Shimada and Yuna Aoki had a close battle for the title. Michelle and Jackie also preview the first Junior Grand Prix of the season in China
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  Bonus: New Season New Rules Part 1: Scoring rules of thumb 14.08.2026 16m

  The updated rules and values starting in the 2026-27 figure skating season mark the biggest evolution in the scoring system since 2018. Understanding what a score means this season means recalibrating what "good" actually means. In this bonus episode of the Rocker Skating podcast, Jackie breaks down the rules of thumb for understanding scores, with base value examples from Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Ami Nakai, Mao Shimada, and Yuna Aoki.
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  Season 2 Premiere: Rules changes, Russia reinstatement, Cranberry Cup, Quebec Summer Championships, and more 10.08.2026 51m

  It's the Season 2 premiere of The Rocker Skating Podcast! Michelle and Jackie are back to discuss the opening events of the 2026-27 season, including Cranberry Cup, Quebec Summer Championships (featuring the anticipated debut of Hannah Lim / Zachary Lagha), and various domestic events in Japan and the US. We also talk about the rule changes and the reinstatement of Russia and Belarus athletes as AIN skaters
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  We're at the Bakerie: Interview with Marjorie Lajoie / Jean-Luc Baker - The Rocker Skating Podcast 22.07.2026 25m

  The newly-formed ice dance partnership of Marjorie Lajoie / Jean-Luc Baker has been buzzing in figure skating community for weeks now. Jackie had a chat with them about their origin story as a team and what they hope to accomplish with this new reset on their respective skating careers
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  What is Synchro9? US Synchro champion Cindy Kim gives us her 101 11.07.2026 30m

  A huge piece of news this week was that the 2030 Winter Olympics will have one more figure skating discipline, and that will be Synchro9. So what is Synchro9? How is that different from traditional synchronized skating? What does FIFA and the World Cup have to do with all of this?Cindy Kim, who won three US titles with the Haydenettes and is the coach of Team Image Junior, joins me to break down the fundamentals of Synchro9.
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  ISU reinstates Russia and Belarus skaters as neutral athletes 30.06.2026 4m

  The day before the 2026-27 season officially begins, the ISU released its decision to partially lift the ban on Russia and Belarus on ISU and international competitions. A quick look at what that means for skaters and competitions this season.
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  Emergency episode: Grand Prix assignments announced! First impressions 16.06.2026 18m

  The 2026-27 Grand Prix assignments were revealed today, and of course, we've got all kinds of feelings about them! The selection procedures were amended just a bit for this season, so there was a bit of confusion, especially about the seeded skaters. But Jackie brings you all of his first impressions about who's in, who's out, and which events have the most interesting fields!