Maia and Alex Shibutani pose for a portrait with their bronze medals on the Today Show set at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Feb. 21, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea.
Olympic ice dance bronze medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani announced today that they will not compete during the 2018-19 figure skating season. Although they are not competing this season, they are not ruling out future competitions.
"Our experience at the Olympic Games was the result of four years of relentless training and dedication,” Maia said. “While we are still young and love competing and performing, we have exciting projects that we have the opportunity to work on both together and individually.”
“We are currently touring with Stars on Ice and have plans to skate, train, and create new programs for shows we will be skating in throughout the year,” Alex said. “The support we have received from everyone around the world has been amazing and we are so grateful. We are incredibly excited about our new projects and opportunities and look forward to sharing them with everyone soon.”
The Shibutanis, who train in Canton, Michigan, with Marina Zoueva, Massimo Scali, Johnny Johns, and Oleg Epstein, began their partnership 14 years ago. Together they have won two U.S. titles (2016-17), three World medals (bronze in 2011 and ’17, silver in 2016), and have stood on the podium through various levels at the last 14 consecutive U.S. Championships. They capped off their 2017-18 campaign with a bronze medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, becoming the first ice dancers of Asian descent and the first team of American siblings to win an Olympic ice dance medal. They also won a bronze medal in the Olympic Figure Skating Team Event alongside six of their teammates.
