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 Angers
The programs we already love - and the ones that may need some work
Which Olympic champions rose and which ones crumbled
Our first roses and thorns of the new season
Just 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.