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The Skating Session

Tony Wheeler & Thomas Vu

Hosted by lifelong figure skating fans Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu, The Skating Session dives deep into the world of competitive figure skating with sharp analysis, historical context, and a millennial lens. From dissecting Grand Prix assignments to unpacking Olympic rule changes and iconic comebacks, Tony and Thomas bring decades of fandom and a critical eye to the ice. Whether you're a seasoned fan or a returning viewer from the golden age of the 90s, this show offers smart, opinionated, and informed commentary on the sport’s past, present, and future.

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  • 23 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 19 min
  • English

Episodes 23

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  • S3 · E2
    Monday · 1 hr 17 min

    New Rules! Russia Is Back! JGP Thoughts, Kinoshita, Synchro9

    Episode 2 is here! Tony and Thomas discuss at length (and rant about) many of the new rule changes and program layout changes this season. We also discuss AIN/Russia being back in competition and their dominance in the first Junior Grand Prix event, as well as some of Tony's picks for favorite performances from the most recent JGP Riga. We briefly go over the stacked fields for this weekend's Kinoshita Cup, and synchronized skating is officially headed to the Olympics!

  • S3 · E1
    August 30 · 1 hr 24 min

    We're Back! 2027 Season Outlook; Off-Season News

    We're back! Our Season 3 premiere highlights all of the big off-season news, the early season news, what we've been up to, and what to look forward to in the 2027 season.

  • S2 · E29
    April 2 · 1 hr 52 min

    The Skating Session Live - 2026 World Championships Event Recap

    Tony and Thomas stream live about their experience at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. They discuss the event, the fans, the skating, and even the controversial deduction for an illegal element that decided the bronze medal in Ice Dance. Watch us on Youtube!

  • S2 · E28
    February 20 · 1 hr 28 min

    LIVESTREAM - 2026 OLYMPICS Pairs & Women's Free Skate Review & Insight

    We streamed live and had some technical hiccups in the beginning. We also couldn't figure out how to end the live recording. We go over the Pairs Free Skate, and talk about our initial reactions to the fantastic Women's Competition. We talk about our Olympic experience in Milan, and answer some live chat questions! Watch us on Youtube!

  • S2 · E26
    February 12 · 1 hr 52 min

    2026 OLYMPICS FREE DANCE Deep Dive & Aftermath

    Watch us on YouTube to watch the elements and see our breakdown! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJgyvASRfw Tony and Thomas watched the free dance and have A LOT of opinions. We recorded the programs so we could deep dive them and get down to who the winners should be. Who came out on top? Was it right? What does it say about the scoring system? See it all here, and as always share your thoughts whether we (or the technical panel & judges) got it wrong.

  • S2 · E23
    February 8 · 1 hr 4 min

    2026 OLYMPIC GAMES - Team Event Day 2 Review & Strategy

    Tony and Thomas highlight day 2 of the team event and then have to go straight off into packing for Milan. Today featured the men's short program, confirmed the top 5 teams to the free skates, and began with the free dance. Shame on us for counting Canada out of making the final! Does anything change by Ilia Malinin announcing he will skate the free skate tomorrow? It's all here.

  • S2 · E22
    February 7 · 1 hr 7 min

    2026 OLYMPIC GAMES - Team Event Day 1 Review & Strategy

    Tony and Thomas highlight day 1 of the team event and the start of the 2026 Olympic Games! The rhythm dance, pairs short, and women's short are all completed and give us a bette glimpse into the 5 teams that will qualify to the free skates. Have our favorites for gold and bronze changes? Do countries need to rethink their teams? It's all here! Link to Download Scoring Spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1d5o7COnlGudxd742w0Sqg4rLEXQwI9mH Watch us go through it on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVNf4b61kn4

  • S2 · E21
    February 3 · 55 min

    2026 Olympic Team Event Score Simulator & Overview

    Download the spreadsheet we used to try this on your own! 2026 Olympic Team Event Simulator by the Skating Session Tony and Thomas give you two videos in less than 24 hours! Today we go in depth with our own simulations of the 2026 Olympic figure skating team event, including our rationales, our most important segments to look out for, which skaters may be asked to do double-duty across both segments, and share our final point totals. Spoiler: we have different winners. Watch us on YouTube to see us do this live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQxU60EqwU

  • S2 · E20
    February 2 · 42 min

    Glitter & Gold Netflix Ice Dancing Documentary Review

    Tony and Thomas review the three-part Glitter & Gold documentary that was released on Netflix earlier today. The series features a look at Chock & Bates, Gilles & Poirier, and Fournier Beaudry & Cizeron and their push from the end of the 2025 season into the Grand Prix series of this Olympic year. We share our favorite moments, the confusion over the direction that the documentary was originally planned to go, question why it's left at only three episodes, and more. In case you missed the social media announcement, we also share our big news regarding the Olympics at the start!

  • S2 · E19
    January 25 · 2 hr 10 min

    2026 Four Continents Championships Competition Review & Insight

    Tony and Thomas review the 2026 Four Continents Championships. Some skaters are wild by skating here and then heading to the Olympic in less than two weeks! The most perfect result ever in the women's event? Maybe. The best use of PCS ever in an event? Definitely not. We review all of the disciplines giving a rundown of the top skaters. Tony is also trying to build up The Skating Session Instagram account, so please follow? Coming up after this, expect heavy coverage of the Olympic Games with new videos every single day!

  • S2 · E18
    January 19 · 1 hr 31 min

    2026 European Championships Competition Review & Insight

    Tony and Thomas review the 2026 European Championships. Nerves or saving energy for the Olympics? Either way, the competition was a bit of a letdown in most of the disciplines. We review dance, pairs, men, and women and share some of our standout skates.. and of course, our thoughts on how the dance competition in particular played out. Did the judges get it right? Speaking of which, we give high praise to the judges in one discipline over using the system in the way it is supposed to be used— finally! Enjoy!

  • S2 · E17
    January 12 · 1 hr 44 min

    2026 US National Championships Competition Review & Insight

    Tony and Thomas are back from St. Louis and ready to talk all things National Championships. Running on zero sleep, we highlight all four disciplines, the no-surprise Olympic announcements, some of the insights we heard from skaters, officials, and fans throughout the week, and some of our favorite moments and run-ins with former champions and skating personalities. Watch us on YouTube!

  • S2 · E16
    Dec 9, 2025 · 1 hr 39 min

    Grand Prix Final Event Review [Part 2] - Ice Dance Deeper Dive & Women

    Watch on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145468805 (No YouTube this week, they don't want us showing elements!) Tony and Thomas complete recapping the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. As seems to be requested most heavily, we do a deeper dive into the dance event and compare the elements of the top teams against the all-but-forgotten about GOE scoring rubric. We share our opinions of the results between the top two and the heated battle for the bronze medal, and then briefly recap the women's competition. Enjoy!

  • S2 · E15
    Dec 8, 2025 · 1 hr 21 min

    Grand Prix Final Event Review [Part 1]

    Tony and Thomas are back with their first of two videos recapping the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. 30 years of this event, and it's the last time contenders from both Europeans and Four Continents nations will face off against each other before the Olympic Games. This first video focuses on the pairs and mens competitions, with a brief look at ice dance. Tomorrow, we will deep-dive the dance event and also review the women's competition. Enjoy!

  • S2 · E14
    Nov 30, 2025 · 1 hr 36 min

    Question & Answer Week; Reaction to Ice Dance Judging Video

    Tony and Thomas are back on this “off week” in preparation for the Grand Prix Final. We have some updates on the response from our Finlandia judging video, including reactions around the Internet and through the ISU as well as a current competitor writing to us about all of it. We also opened up the forum this week to ask questions that you would like us to answer and discuss. Enjoy! Link to YouTube videos of edges: The Four Figure Skating Turns Thomas’ “Technical Panel” Youtube videos: @thetechnical panel Olympic qualifying document / SkatingScores charts: USFS Oly Selection Criteria Skating Scores Women's Chart Skating Scores Men's Chart Skating Scores Pairs Chart Skating Scores Dance Chart ISU Technical Documentation The Technical Requirements for 2025/2026 Ice Dance Scoring Rules & Rubric Scale of Values

  • S2 · E13
    Nov 23, 2025 · 2 hr 7 min

    Grand Prix #6 - Finlandia Trophy Competition Review

    Tony and Thomas are back after the SOS ice dance judging rant yesterday with a full review of the sixth and final Grand Prix regular season stop, Finlandia Trophy. Were there more ice dance shenanigans in the free dance? What was the fallout of the scoring yesterday? As always, a review of all four disciplines plus mention of who we will see in two weeks at the Grand Prix Final. Hopefully by then, Tony's voice and his health will be back to normal. Enjoy!

Showing 1–20 of 23 episodes