by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman & Robin Ritoss
Maia and Alex Shibutani had been inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in the course of the 2023 U.S. Championships in San Jose, California.
In 1998, Maia (4) and Alex (7) started their determine skating journey in Old Greenwich, CT, as single skaters. Five years later whereas watching the World Championships in Washington, DC from the second row, they had been passionate about the swooshing sound left by the flying ice dancers. At the 2005 US Junior Championships the siblings gained Juvenile silver after which Intermediate gold the next 12 months. The workforce stood on the US Championships podium for the subsequent 12 years.
In Pyeongchang, South Korea on the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the Shibutanis gained bronze within the Team Event earlier than taking dwelling one of many identical coloration for themselves. They had been the primary US siblings and first workforce of Asian descent to win an Olympic ice dance medal. Afterwards they introduced their choice to not compete in 2018-2019.
In April, they joined the Stars on Ice 22-city tour throughout the US. The widespread athletes obtained quite a few invites to hobnob with celebrities on this planet of sport and leisure. The Olympic medalists had been saluted on the Super Bowl, US Tennis Open, Academy Awards and plenty of extra occasions.
Since 2017, the workforce had been Sports Envoys for the U.S. State Department’s Sport Diplomacy Office. They continued touring to Japan, Korea, and Singapore talking with college students at cultural and goodwill occasions. At the invitation of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, they attended a dinner on the White House for the Japanese Ambassador.
While on tour with Stars on Ice in May, they introduced they might not compete once more within the 2019-2020 season, however would depart the door open for a potential return for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, the siblings who liked competing and performing, additionally needed to embark on some new and thrilling tasks. As center faculty children, Maia and Alex discovered a spot in enjoyable books and tales about their heritage. There had been no tales about Asian-American children doing enjoyable and thrilling issues and being heroes.
In May 2020, simply earlier than the Tokyo Olympics, they launched Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist about Japanese-American siblings Mika and Andy who journey to the Tokyo Olympics on a hunt for digital medals.
The sequel, Kudo Kids: The Mystery in Manhattan, was launched in 2021. Their subsequent literary undertaking is a non-fiction image e-book for youngsters.
“For me personally, the Shibutanis were one of my first athletes in 2011 when I came to USFS. They were up and coming and just lighting the world on fire, so it’s good to be back with them.”
Alex famous their return to Nationals. “It’s special to be here again at yet another place where we have such fond memories and so much history as competitive skaters and performers.”
Maia reminded him of being within the Media room earlier than they had been competing at worldwide championships when she was a back-stage photographer, and he was following reporters round. [Actually, they were guest bloggers and media aides at the 2006 U.S. Championships and later at the Four Continents in Colorado Springs where they trained at the time]
Alex defined their transfer to Los Angeles completely in 2018 due to their artistic course of and plenty of nice undertaking collaborators within the Southern California space.
“There was a community there we were already familiar with,” Alex famous. “The way we have shared our experiences in sport and worked to grow the sport has been through story telling both on and off the ice. LA is a hub and center for story telling. As we continue to grow and challenge ourselves more, we thought it was a really good place to be.”
“One of the things we’re really proud of as we continue to work on different projects, is to think of each other as good teammates,” Maia stated.
“The amount of work we had to put in to our partnership and relationship to be able to execute on a high level on the ice and then also aligning our different points of view creatively with all our various projects, takes a lot of work,” Alex added.
The siblings had been requested about latest artistic tasks and maybe increasing into new areas.
Alex famous the middle-school age thriller books from 2020 and 2021, then went into extra element about their newest collaboration – a kids’s image e-book scheduled for launch on or about April 18, 2023.
“The book is titled, Amazing: Asian-American and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All,” Alex stated. “It focuses on change makers from history and contemporary figures (us not included). We wanted to create this book because we wish we had had the opportunity to read one like it when we were younger.”
“We’ve been fortunate to have models in the sport from all sorts of backgrounds and all walks of life. For the Asian-America Pacific Islander community, we wanted to create it not only for them, but so everyone would learn more about these accomplishments and be inspired and empowered to make the world a better place.”
“I’m extremely proud of Alex,” Maia stated. “I had great skaters like Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan to look up to. He didn’t have someone who visually represented him in skating. I’ve definitely seen an impact on young skaters getting to meet Alex.”
“The Olympics in 2018 was an incredible experience for us,” Alex famous. “Since then, our sport, society and our tradition as a complete have grow to be extra comfy speaking about illustration, coming from totally different locations and the character of society usually, notably in skating.
Alex responded to the potential for increasing into music, tv and movie manufacturing. “We are working on developing projects and working on some [new] things, but at the present time we’re not able to talk about them in consideration of our partners.”
The pair commented on different skating occasions apart from the 2018 Olympics that left an indelible mark on their profession.
“I think first competing at the Sochi Games in 2014 was really impactful because we had dreamed about going to the Olympics since we were children,” Maia disclosed. “Joining Team USA in a greater role was amazing and inspiring for the next four years. Also 2016, when we won our first US Championship title and had the opportunity to compete in Boston [Alex’s birth city] at the World Championships, was memorable.”
Alex continued, “Having that home Worlds is something I wish for every skater to have – to get that boost of adrenaline and energy and crowd support.”
“They’ve always been a grounding presence for us, and they continue to be,” Maia famous. “Thinking about the sacrifices they made along the way, for us not to feel that additional pressure was so important.”
“Our parents never wanted anything else for us but to be happy,“ Alex added. “We were so privileged that they trusted and allowed us to make decisions and gave us unconditional support along the way, especially in the senior ranks. They were at every competition they could go to. Knowing that we had family there was always meaningful.”
“From day one to now, it has been family. In the most competitive circumstances, the most disappointing, frustrating valleys of the journey, we stuck together and believed in each other. It definitely makes today so meaningful for us.”
Closing the Press Conference, the Shib Sibs shared their ideas concerning the induction and appreciation of ice dance.
“We are so grateful to be joining all the athletes who are in the Hall of Fame and doing it with Paul George,” Maia stated.
“I’m truly grateful for all the coaches I’ve had with the sport. It was a sense of fun that drew me in, and while it’s not always been fun, we had so many great people influence us at different points in our career, and that’s impacted everything.”
“To echo Maia, we’ve been so lucky to cross paths with and stroll alongside aspect so many extremely proficient, but additionally so type and beneficiant folks whether or not or not it’s even for the hour lesson. That is how we’ve approached it – at all times persevering with to develop and be taught from individuals who wish to educate. They have made us the folks we’re right now.
“We will always represent figure skating and the sport of ice dance in anything we do. We appreciate its beauty and the lessons we learned and how influential and amazing these special moments will be.”
In conclusion, Reichert introduced that Maia and Alex can be taking part within the Ice Dance medal ceremony.
“They will be congratulating former competitors and young competitors who look up to them as well. It will be a wonderful full circle moment.”