The Skating Session

In Episode 5 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu recap Day Two of the 2025 World Team Trophy, featuring the pairs short program, free dance, and men’s free skate. They reflect on standout performances, surprising scores, and the overall energy of the event as the season winds down.

The episode covers athlete fatigue, evolving team dynamics, and the ebb and flow of program quality across disciplines. With their usual insight and humor, the hosts explore what Day Two reveals about where the sport stands and where it's headed.

Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.

In Episode 4 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu dive into Day One of the 2025 World Team Trophy in Japan. They explore highlights, unexpected performances, and intriguing storylines emerging as top skaters like Jason Brown, Ilia Malinin, Kaori Sakamoto, and new world champion Alysa Liu take to the ice. They discuss the atmosphere of the competition, evaluate standout moments and technical decisions, and provide sharp analysis of scoring trends and judges' calls.

Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.

In the final episode of The Skating Session's 2025 Worlds trilogy, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu break down the men's competition and then launch into a comprehensive discussion on what figure skating needs to fix—structurally, competitively, and aesthetically. From Ilia Malinin’s dominance and artistry gap to the rise of Mikhail Shaidorov, Yuma Kagiyama’s generational brilliance, and the redemption of Kevin Aymoz, this is an unfiltered analysis of every standout (and shortfall).

Then the second half of the episode shifts: GOE inflation, flawed choreographic elements, why the “Q” call is "not real," what to do with death spirals, and how the IJS has deformed program structure across all disciplines.

Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.

In Episode 2 of The Skating Session, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu take a comprehensive look at the pairs and ice dance events at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships. They unpack the medal races, choreographic trends, and evolving judging standards, offering sharp, rule-informed commentary on everything from Miura/Kihara’s controversial win and Hase/Volodin’s rising dominance to the emotional impact of Smart/Díaz and the choreographic excellence of Turkkila/Versluis.

For ice dance, Tony and Thomas critique the effect of choreographic elements, the rhythm dance rule changes, and what they see as declining clarity in competitive structure. They spotlight emerging teams, inconsistent scoring, and the broader identity crisis in ice dance.

Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.

In the debut episode of The Skating Session, hosts Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu—Millennial superfans of the sport since the '90s—break down their experience attending the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston. They discuss the event’s logistics, fan engagement, organizational highs and lows, and innovative changes to presentation and format. Then, they dive into the women’s competition: performances, programs, rule changes, judging, and standout skaters like Alysa Liu, Kaori Sakamoto, Amber Glenn, and Wakaba Higuchi.

Expect rulebook nerdiness, behind-the-scenes commentary, and sharp, unapologetic takes on the state of the sport.