The Future of Figure Skating Anna Kellar

Episode Notes
Part 1 of my conversation with choreographer, director, and producer Sandra Bezic! With her brother Val, Sandra was a four-time Canadian pairs champion and competed in the 1972 Olympics. She is most well known, however, as a choreographer and the creative force behind many skating shows and TV programs. She has choreographed for champions like Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning, Katarina Witt, Lu Chen, and Tara Lipinksi. Most recently, she made Lindsay Thorngren’s short program for the 23/24 season. She was the director of Stars on Ice for many years and collaborated with David Wilson on Yuna Kim’s All That Skate and Javier Fernandez’s Revolution on Ice. Sandra also produced the Canadian TV program Battle of the Blades and in 2023 made the series  “I Have Nothing” alongside comedian Carolyn Taylor.

Sandra has a unique understanding of how to make skating appeal to general audiences, and we had a great conversation about choreography, entertainment, and the changes she’d like to see in the sport. 

Transcript of our conversation at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16tp4AuF159XJuNPMNxgpq82pGFxA9GOUTNMFLfJESvE/edit#heading=h.tje8hivsf0d

I’ve made a playlist of a few of Sandra's choreographies that is accessible on our YouTube page. 

You can follow Sandra on Twitter and Instagram @SandraBezic . Her website is smbcreative.ca

You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast 

If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

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Episode Notes
My guest today is journalist and author Christine Brennan. Christine is a USA Today columnist and frequently appears on ABC, CNN, and PBS. She has covered figure skating since the Calgary Olympics, and her books Inside Edge and Edge of Glory are classics. Christine is also actively reporting on the sexual abuse scandals in figure skating, and we talked about covering these difficult topics and holding institutions accountable.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RLvetYplX8JsLwfD6OwkoGEUbWLsPLN5d--xdrCZ68o/edit#heading=h.am5hlkrye8qq

You can follow Christine on X/Twitter @cbrennansports . Her website is www.christinebrennan.com

You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Episode Notes
What will it take to end the crisis of abuse in sports? This issue has been reverberating in the skating world, as more survivors have come forward with their stories, and the institutions charged with protecting athletes have largely failed to make the needed changes. Gymnasts for Change Canada advocates for eradicating maltreatment and misconduct in sport and is at the forefront of the campaign for a national inquiry into sport in Canada. Their sister organization, Figure Skaters for Change Canada, which is anonymous, has also published an open letter pushing Skate Canada to address specific cases of abuse, as well as making systemic changes.

My guests, Amelia Cline and Abby Spadafora, are board members of Gymnasts for Change Canada, and are themselves survivors of abuse during their careers in elite gymnastics. We discussed the pathways to making change in this seemingly intractable problem, and what fans of skating can do to support survivors.

You can follow their work at their website, https://www.gymnasts4changecanada.com/ and @Gym4ChangeCan

Amelia Cline is on Twitter at @ameliagrace1989 
Abby Spadafora is at @abbyspadafora 

You can also learn more about the sibling organization Figure Skaters for Change Canada at
@FSforchangeCan

Report by Global Athlete and Gym4ChangeCanada:
Canadian Safe Sport Think Tank Report

You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast 

If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends!

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Episode Notes
A special conversation about the anti-doping system and how it is working (or not working) to support athletes. I'm joined by Meagan Duhamel, a 2018 team gold medalist and individual bronze medalist in pairs from the PyeongChang Olympics, by Rob Kohler, director of Global Athlete and formerly deputy Director-General at WADA, and by Paul Greene, who is the founder of Global Sports Advocacy and a leading lawyer representing athletes. We talk about the CAS decision in the Kamila Valieva case, tackling state-sponsored doping, and what a fair system would look like for athletes.

My explainer of the CAS decision for AnythingGOE: https://anythinggoe.com/making-sense-of-the-valieva-decision/

Thanks again to Meagan Duhamel, Rob Koehler, and Paul Greene. You can follow Meagan on Twitter @mhjd_85 and on Instagram @Meaganduhamel You can follow Rob on Twitter at @RobKoehler2 and Global Athlete @GlobalAthlete and globalathlete.org Paul Greene is at @greenesportslaw and his website https://www.globalsportsadvocates.com has more information about his work.

Video Podcast: https://youtu.be/FuToObR1T6E

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DqBjmYnhtEiQZMDdTKPjvNas-mNNeXJjPrKWuJRcG_o/edit

You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Episode Notes
This episode features Bruno Massot, the 2018 Olympic and World Champion in pairs. Bruno is now coaching full-time, and we spoke at the European Championships where he was accompanying the Swedish team of Greta and John Crafoord. This was a shorter-than-usual conversation but it was still a very interesting one. We got into the future of pairs and what makes for a great coach.

You can follow Bruno on Instagram at @bruno_massot and reach me with comments or suggestions by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast.

Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N...

Make sure you're subscribing on your podcast platforms and on YouTube to ensure you get all of the future episodes. Special thanks to Ivan Danyliuk for editing and technical assistance.

If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the tip jar at https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

Episode Notes
Johanna Allik is a former Estonian national team member in singles and ice dance and the co-founder of JIV Sport apparel company. She has recently published The Book of Figure Skating, a beautiful coffee table book full of information and original interviews. We spoke at the 2024 European Championships about the growth of skating in Estonia and Belgium (where she now lives), her experience speaking out about her eating disorder and the importance of keeping athletes in the sport post-puberty.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zbD-_g2wahzKCTf8Kc55S49dponx21bXjFujHGl1p5c/edit?usp=sharing

You can follow Johanna on Instagram @johannaallik and check out her YouTube channel @johannaallik7

You can order The Book of Figure Skating at jivsport.com

You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at fsfuturepodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast .

Special thanks to Ivan Daniluk for editing and technical assistance. If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co Remember to subscribe and review The Future of Figure Skating podcast on whatever platform you use, and share it with your friends!

Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

Find out more at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

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