American ice dance brother and sister Alex and Maia Shibutani are set to return to competitive figure skating, ending a seven-year hiatus during which Maia was diagnosed with cancer.
They took a break after winning bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics, before Maia had surgery to remove a tumour from her kidney.
The pair, known as the Shib Sibs, have written four childrens’ books in their time away from the sport, but return with an eye on the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina.
“These past seven years have challenged and inspired us in ways we never expected,” 30-year-old Maia said.
“I’m so happy and grateful to be healthy and in a position to make the decision to return to the sport I love in this way.”
Aged 20 and 16, the Shibutanis won bronze at the 2011 World Championships, making them the youngest ice dancers in almost 50 years to win a world medal.
They also won silver in 2016 and bronze in 2017 and are two-time US champions.
They won bronze medals in the ice dance and the team event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, making history as the first athletes of Asian descent – their parents are Japanese – and only non-white team to earn an Olympic ice dance medal.
“Our experiences and the new skills we’ve developed during our time away from competition have brought us different perspectives and created some exciting new possibilities,” said 34-year-old Alex.
“We don’t take any of this for granted. We’re really enjoying the process and look forward to performing and competing together again.”
Justin Dillion, US figure skating’s senior director of athlete high performance, said it was “incredibly exciting”.
“They are strong ambassadors for the sport, both on and off the ice,” he said.
“Their comeback adds to the excitement surrounding Team USA after a very successful year and makes the team stronger as we look toward the Olympic season.”
