This week, we're recapping Grand prix de France! Ilia Malinin takes it home in the men’s event in just an absolute shocking turn of events, Adam Siao Him Fa stages another of his signature free skate comebacks, Nika Egadze goes for a sail, and Gabriele Frangipani counts to four.

The Japanese women continue to impress and exhibit complete perfection, leaving us plotting how to sneak an extra Olympic spot or two their way.

Things feel completely despondent over in ice dance, rich with injustices and more disturbing shake-ups looming for the rest of the season.

0:50 - 12:01 Grand prix de France Women's Recap

12:02 - 16:59 Grand prix de France Pairs Recap

17:00 - 27:25 Grand prix de France Men's Recap

27:26 - 39:29 Grand prix de France Ice Dance Recap

39:30 - 46:16 Breaking news and Cup of China preview

Walley and Flip are so back. This week, we’re recapping the Denis Ten Memorial Challenger and a handful of early domestic events. The season has only just begun, but there’s already a lot to talk about.

Keegan Messing made his return at a Canadian event, but the scoring left us with some questions. With just one Olympic spot available for Canadian men, the competition is already intense. We also get into the growing conversation around Mikhail Shaidorov and Ilia Malinin’s skating skills and how that comparison is playing out.

On the women’s side, we’re applauding Bradie Tennell’s switch to Young and Beautiful for her short program. We’re also wondering whether Haein Lee might be finding her way back to the form that earned her a world silver in 2023. And with Maddie Schizas competing a lot this fall, we’re asking whether this strategy will help her build momentum or end up putting her Olympic spot at risk.

We also talk about Oona and Gage Brown’s new free dance (and violent ending) to The Godfather.

To close out the episode, we debut a new game - "Three Beats to Glory" where we each name three pieces of music a skater or team has used, and the other has to guess who we’re thinking of.

Tune in for another fun episode!

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00:00 Introductions

01;02 Keegan Messing at Texas Trophy

02:09 Bradie Tennell at Boston Open

03:05 Adam Siao Him Fa shoutout

03:48 Denis Ten Memorial Men recap (Mikhail Shaidorov)

05:52 jump value discourse: are difficult combinations awarded appropriately?

08:49 Ilia Malinin vs. Mikhail Shaidorov skating skills?

09:39 Denis Ten Memorial (Nika Egadze and Jason Brown)

13:30 Den Ten Memorial Women recap (Haein Lee, Maddie Schizas)

18:39 Denis Ten Memorial Ice Dance recap (Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin, Oona/Gage Brown)

Walley and Flip are back to recap the final stretch of the pre-grand prix figure skating season from the Olympic Qualifier (aka Chinese Nebelhorn), to the actual Nebelhorn, and the Ondrej Nepela Memorial. With the Grand Prix series just around the corner, we’re breaking down the highs, lows, and head-scratchers from the final major Challenger events.

We talk Amber Glenn’s fired-up Olympic campaign, Jia Shin’s quiet brilliance, and Isabeau Levito bringing back that sparkle. But not everyone impressed- Adelia Petrosian and Peter Gummenik fell short of sky-high Russian expectations, and we’re not holding back. The Italian men’s fight for just two Olympic spots is heating up, while the Italian women are leveling up fast.

And of course, we crash out on the drama: Ice Dance travesties at the olympic qualifier, Rika Kihira switches to ice dance, USFS sabotaging their own skaters, programs that already need to be reworked, and Saki Miyake left without an NHK host spot?!

00:00 Introductions

02:30 Beijing Olympic Qualifier/Chinese Nebelhorn (Adelia Petrosian, Anastasia Gubanova, Loena Hendrickx, Peter Gummenik, Donovan Carrillo)

15:45 Beijing Olympic Qualifier Ice Dance Judging Controversy (Wang/Liu vs. Majorov/Reitan)

18:25 Rika Kihira switches to ice dance

20:30 USFS (hopefully unintentionally) sabotaging Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy

23:15 Yuna Aoki over Saki Miyake for the NHK host spot

25:00 Nebelhorn Recap (Amber Glenn, Jia Shin, Isabeau Levito, Stephen Gogolev, Andrew Torgashev, Lukas Britschgi, Miura/Kihara vs. Hase/Volodin, Fear/Gibson, Carreira/Ponomarenko)

37:30 Ondrej Nepela Recap (Lara Naki Gutmann, Anna Pezzetta, Kevin Aymoz, Matteo Rizzo, Daniel Grassl, Nikolaj Memola, Smart/Dieck, Taschlers, Green/Parsons, Tomi Guarino Sabate)

49:00 Alysa Liu Short Program change

In this episode of Walley and Flip, we dive into the latest happenings in figure skating, starting with Flip’s dramatic Reddit cleanup and a few words on Ilia Malinin. The Lombardia Trophy takes center ice, with a packed men and women's field.

The Ilia vs. Yuma rivalry heats up early in the season, while Nikolaj Memola cements himself as the Italian Stallion with crowd-pleasing charisma. Shun Sato, Kao Miura, and Adam Siao Him Fa round out a strong men's showing.

Over in the women's event, Ami Nakai’s face card never declines, Lara Naki Gutmann emerges as the shark in the water with her fierce “Jaws” program, and the discussion of impending heartbreak continues for Japanese women as we harp on the limited Olympic spots, highlighting the intensity of the competition among elite talent like Rion Sumiyoshi, Rino Matsuike, and more.

Pairs and Ice Dance get a quick recap, we also break down the Italian federation’s Olympic selection criteria, and preview what has felt like the mythical Beijing Qualifier event looming on the horizon.

Timestamps:

00:00 Ilia Malinin and Flip needs to delete her reddit

04:44 Lombardia Trophy Men's Recap (Yuma Kagiyama, Nikolaj Memola, Shun Sato, Kao Miura, Maxim Naumov, Adam Siao Him Fa)

13:19 Italian federation Olympic selection criteria

14:59 Lombardia Trophy Pairs Recap

15:46 Lombardia Trophy Women's Recap (Rion Sumiyoshi, Ami Nakai, Sarah Everhardt, Alysa Liu, Rino Matsuike, Alysa Liu, Lara Naki Gutmann)

35:15 Lombardia Trophy Ice Dance Recap

35:50 Bejing Olympic Qualifier Preview

This week on Walley and Flip, we break down what felt like the first legitimate competition of the season. We gush over Mone Chiba’s magical performance, send our prayers to Kao Miura and Wakaba Higuchi, and officially begin construction of a shrine for Saki Miyake- because who casually medals at their first international senior event at 22? Historic.

We also briefly check in on the Bolero Cup, where Lilah and Lewis debuted their Spice Girls rhythm dance and very Scottish free dance.

00:00 Opening and Flip was stung by a jellyfish

01:45 Kinoshita Cup Women (Mone Chiba, Kaori Sakamoto, Saki Miyake, Bradie Tennell, Hana Yoshida, Wakaba Higuchi, Maddie Schizas, Rinka Watanabe)

20:50 Kinoshita Cup Men (Jun Hwan Cha, Kao Miura, Jimmy Ma, Kazuki Tomono, Tomoki Hiwatashi)

25:05 Kinoshita Cup Pairs (Miura/Kihara, Metelkina/Berulava)

26:28 Kinoshita Cup and Bolero Cup Dance (Fear/Gibson, Lauriault/Le Gauc, Zingas/Kolesnik, Neset/Markelov)

32:08 Lombardia Preview!!

This week on Walley and Flip, we attempt to tiptoe around our real thoughts on ice dance at French Masters (and the rest of the ice dance season)... but let’s be honest, they still come out. We've got opinions, and they don’t stay buried for long.

Then it’s pairs time. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps bring the drama at the John Nicks Challenge - can backflips turn into backflops? What would John Nicks say? We also begin to preview US pairs race, with a few rising teams making their case for that third olympic spot.

Quick, sharp, and a little snarky - just the way we like it.

00:00 Introductions

00:46 French Masters Ice Dance (Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier-Beaudry, Evgenia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud) + other ice dance nuggets

14:42 French Masters Men's Recap (Kevin Aymoz, Adam Siao Him Fa, Francois Pitot, Luc Economides)

20:09 Lea Serna vs. Lorine Schild for the olympic spot

22:42 John Nicks Pairs Challenge (Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps)

27:00 The US Pairs race (Spencer Howe & Emily Chan, Ryan Bedard & Chelsea Liu, Audrey Shin & Balazs Nagy)

31:00 Closing

This week on Walley and Flip: A Figure Skating Podcast, we open up about our skating fan origin stories.

Then we dive into the land of maple syrup and miraculous recoveries: the Canadian comebacks are coming in hot. We try to make sense of Gabrielle Daleman and Keegan Messing's return, and the chances of them making the Olympic team.

We break down what little we know (and wildly speculate) about USFS Champs Camp and Summer Sizzler...where were the Shibtuanis?

We also brace ourselves for this season’s 90s-themed Rhythm Dance- a theme that sounds fun until you remember some people think Macarena counts as choreography inspiration.

And we debut a new game: “Whose Warhorse Is It Anyway?” - where one of us shouts out a classic overused (not necessarily negative) piece of music and the other has to yell out the first skater who comes to mind. No thinking, just instinct.

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00:00 Opening and how we became fans of figure skating

07:00 Canada comebacks (Gabrielle Daleman, Keegan Messing)

13:25 Japanese women tangent

15:50 Canada comebacks (cont'd)

16:46 USFS champs camp and summer sizzler (+ shibutanis)

23:30 Rhythm Dance 90's theme

26:15 Program announcement highlights

39:20 "Whose Warhorse is it Anyway?"

Walley and Flip have made their glorious return for the 2025-2026 season. Join the fabulous ladies as they share their thoughts on Sunset Boulevard, cranberry bogs, highlights from the Cranberry Cup, program announcements they are most excited for, potential upsets, skating conspiracy theories, and more!

00:00 - Introductions

02:15 - Cranberry Cup (cranberry bogs)

03:30 - Cranberry Cup highlights (Sofia Samodelkina, Isabeau Levito, Jia Shin, Sonja Hilmer, Aleksandr Selevko, Roman Sadovsky, Stephen Gogolev, Sophie Jolene Von Felten, and MORE!)

20:30 - Programs Flip is most excited for

22:00 - Yuma vs. Ilia

24:30 - Programs Walley is most excited for

26:20 - Upcoming competitions and closings

It's an off-season opener like no other! Sisters Walley and Flip are back and skating straight into the chaos, kicking things off with their takes on the headline of the moment: the Shibutanis' stunning return to competition after a 7-year retirement. But that's just the warm-up.

The main event? A no-holds-barred breakdown of the Ice Academy of Montreal—figure skating's powerhouse factory. From its humble beginnings to its world-dominating rise, we unpack IAM’s coaching magic, the politics that swirl behind the scenes, their recent controversies, and where they might be heading next. Is their reign untouchable, or is the ice getting thin?

0:00 Introduction and Shibutani's Return

04:23 Marie France, Patrice, and Romain

09:15 Gabi Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron/ + Laurence Fournier Beaudry

09:54 Humble Beginnings/IAM's olympic history, Tessa and Scott

15:25 Political Pull and Strategy

16:30 Choreography

22:25 Coaching Staff and Expansion

23:44 Scott Moir and Opening of the London Campus

25:40 IAM Culture and Controversies

36:14 90's Rhythm Dance Theme

38:40 Skate America Breaking News

Clear the ice and cue the dramatic lighting — the First Annual Walley and Flip Awards are here, and no, the ISU definitely did not approve this message.

This week, your favorite sister duo is handing out the hardware in categories you won’t find on any official ballot. From the 🥇 Greatest Underdog Story to the 😬 Skater Treated Most Unfairly Award, get ready for awards you didn't know the skating world needed.

While we don’t do a deep dive into World Team Trophy, expect some choice highlights and plenty of WTT side commentary. Think of this episode as the skating version of a group chat rant—if that group chat had microphones and a name.

Come and celebrate the 2024-2025 season, because if the ISU won't give out the awards that matter (AKA Skater Most Likely to Abort a Jump)....we will!

(also- trust me, you don't want to know the number of awards we edited out of this episode....)

00:00 Introduction to the Walley and Flip Awards

02:20 Greatest Underdog Story

05:08 Most Entertaining Program

07:05 Best Choreographed Program

08:35 Best Skating Skills Showcased this Season

09:34 Greatest Potential

12:25 Most Likely to Abort a Jump

13:35 Best Coach

16:20 Best Skating Friendship

18:30 Biggest WTF Moment

20:57 Skater Treated Most Unfairly

22:30 (TANGENT) Alysa vs Amber Components at World Team Trophy

24:00 (TANGENT) Choreography discourse: Kaori and choreographic history (Marie France, Benoit, etc.)....Shae Lynn choreography (Yuma Kagiyama, Ilia Malinin, Sarah Everahrdt)

28:39 Moment of the Year