Alex Shibutani

At 33 years old, Alex Shibutani has this physical status:

Alex Hideo Shibutani (born April 25, 1991) is an American ice dancer.

He and his sister Maia Shibutani are a two-time Olympic bronze medalists (silver in 2016 and 2017), the 2016 Four Continents champion and a two-time national champion (2016, 2017).

In addition, the Shibutanis have also won six titles on the Grand Prix series and a silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships.

Both of them have been members of the United States Olympic team, Sochi, Russia, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, making them two-time participants.

They were among the first ice dancers of Asian descent to win gold at the Olympics in 2018 (bronze in team figure skating and ice dancing).

They are the second sibling pair to win an ice dancing Olympic medal and the first from the United States.

Personal life

Alex Hideo Shibutani was born in Boston on April 25, 1991. He is the uncle of Chris and Naomi Shibutani, both of Japanese descent who met as Harvard musicians. Maia Shibutani, his younger sister, competes with him in ice dancing as his partner. He attended the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the late 1990s until relocating to Colorado Springs from 2005 to 2007. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2007

Alex Shibutani spent his sophomore year at Cheyenne Mountain High School while in Colorado Springs. In the fall semester of 2009, he completed his junior and senior years of high school at Huron High School and then enrolled in the University of Michigan.

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Career

Alex Shibutani started skating at the age of seven. He began training as a single skater and advanced to the junior national singles. He and his family attended the World Championships in Washington, D.C., in March 2003. "We were seated close to the ice in the second row," the ice dancers' warm up began, and we could actually feel a jolt of wind as the skaters passed by." We were so impressed with the artistry, skating quality, and speed of the top teams that we decided to give it a try."

In the spring of 2004, Maia and Alex Shibutani first joined up to compete in ice dancing. Kathy Bird, their first dancing coach, arranged for them to work with their first dancing instructors Andy Stroukoff and Susie Kelley. The Shibutanis have also worked with Mary Marchiselli. Josh Babb's choreographed their services during their youth seasons.

They competed on the youth level in the United States during the 2004–2005 season, their first season of competition. Figure Skating's testing scheme. Alex Shibutani played for the Hickory Hill Figure Skating Club in the championship during the season. They were in the 2005 North Atlantic Regional Championships, the United States' qualifying tournament. The Junior Championships were held in the United States and the individual champion of the tournament was crowned. They were eligible for the 2005 United States Open Championship. The Junior Championships have been contested. They finished second in the first compulsory dance, fourth in the second mandatory dance, and third in the free dance, earning them the silver medal.

After rising to the intermediate level and winning at non-qualifying competitions, the Shibutanis went to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to work with choreographer Tom Dickson. They were being taught by Judy Blumberg on the east coast during the off-season. The Shibutanis decided to relocate coaching centers to a more appropriate learning environment in the summer of 2005, and so under head coach Patti Gottwein. They also worked with Rich Griffin, Damon Allen, and Eric Schulz during that period.

Alex Shibutani and his sister have moved to Broadmoor Skating Club, where he and his sister trained. The Shibutanis won the Southwestern Regional Championships, the Shibutanis' qualifying tournament for the 2006 United States Junior Championships. The United States hosted the 2006 Olympic Winter Exhibition in the United States. They finished second in the first compulsory dance and then won the second mandatory and free dances to win the overall crown. They served as guest bloggers and aides for the media staff for the United States. Figure Skating at the 2006 United States Championships and again at the 2006 Four Continents, which were held in Colorado Springs.

The Shibutanis climbed to the novice level, which is the first and lowest of three levels of competition at the United States Championships. The Shibutanis competed under the ISU Judging System for the first time at the 2007 Midwestern Sectional Championships, their qualifying tournament for the national championships. They finished second in the first compulsory dance and then took first place in the second compulsory and the free dances to win the competition overall and qualify for the 2007 United States Championships. The Shibutanis finished second in both compulsory dances and then won the free dance, winning the novice gold medal by a margin of 2.06 points over silver medalist Sara Bailey & Kyle Herring. This was their second straight national championship.

The Shibutanis in Canton, Michigan, switched coaches after the 2007 U.S. Championships to Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva. Alex Shibutani, who at the time of the coaching change, had two years left high school and was considering his university options, and was considering his options.

The Shibutanis migrated to the junior level around the country. However, they were unable to compete on a global basis because Maia wasn't old enough. The Shibutanis placed fourth in the compulsory dance and then third in the original and free dances, earning the bronze medal overall. They were eligible for the 2008 US Championships because of their medalist selections. They finished seventh in the compulsory dance, 2nd in the original ballet, and fourth in the free dance. They finished 4th overall, with the pewter medal winning the pewter trophy.

Maia Shibutani has been ageless to compete on the international junior circuit. (JGP): The siblings made their junior international debut on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP). They finished second in the compulsory dance and then advanced to the gold medal overall by a margin of 11.00 points over silver medalists Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill in Courchevel, France. They were then referred to their second function, the Madrid, Spain festival. They finished second in all three segments of the competition and claimed the silver medal at this event. Both medalists qualified for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, which was the third-ranked qualifier in 2008–2009. They had already qualified for the 2009 U.S. Championships, which had also qualified them for qualifying for the event.

For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final was held concurrently with the senior final, but there was no such thing as a mandatory dance segment. The Shibutanis finished seventh in the original dance and third in the free dance, finishing in fourth place overall.

The Shibutanis qualified for the second year in a row at the U.S. Championships, where they represented on the junior team for the second year in a row. The Shibutanis came in second place in the mandatory dance, the original dance, and the free dance at the festival. They earned their fifth straight medal at a national level competition, winning their fifth straight podium finish. The Shibutanis were selected to the team for the 2009 World Junior Championships following the competition.

The Shibutanis finished fifth in the compulsory dance, 4th in the original dance, and 2nd in the free dance at Junior Worlds. They received the silver medal between the ages of 14 and 17.

Both of their JGP appearances were successful and the bronze medal at the JGP Final was awarded. They competed at the junior level of the United States Nationals, which they won. They finished fourth in fourth place at the 2010 Junior Worlds, finishing off the podium in fourth position. This was their last junior competition.

The Shibutanis were promoted to the senior level. They finished fifth at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy, up from eighth after the short dance with a good free dance performance. They received bronze medals at both the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Skate America, making them the first dance team to medal at both Grand Prix events in its inaugural season. They were the first alternates for the Grand Prix final.

At United States Nationals, the Shibutanis came in second place and were chosen to compete at the Four Continents and World Championships. They earned the silver medal at Four Continents. They were in fourth place at the World Championships after the short dance, 4.09 points behind third-placed Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat. They scored 4.34 points in the free dance, four more than Pechalat and Bourzat, both of whom had fallen. In their World Championships debut, the Shibutanis finished third overall by 0.25 points and won a bronze, a feat not even Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the current Olympic Champions, had achieved.

The Shibutanis earned their first medal at the 2011 Finlandia Trophy in their debut. They earned silver at the 2011 Cup of China, kicking off their Grand Prix season. The HK Trophy's first week is a week later, they finished first, edging Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje for gold by 0.09 points. It was the Shibutanis' first senior Grand Prix title. Their combined results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final.

At the 2012 World Championships, the Shibutanis came in 4th at the 2012 Four Continents and 8th at the 2012 World Championships.

The Shibutanis attended a dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on May 1, 2012 in Washington, D.C., who was invited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Shibutanis decided to stay at the rink with Marina Zoueva and ended their relations with Shpilband following Igor Shpilband's departure from the Arctic Edge Arena in June 2012.

In the short dance at the 2012 Rostelecom Cup, the Shibutanis came third place. They stopped their free dance for half a minute due to Alex pulling a muscle in his thigh. They were allowed to continue from the point of interruption, finishing fourth overall behind Russian ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina and Ruslan Zhiganshin. They received the bronze medal at their next event, the 2012 NHK Trophy. At the 2013 United States Championships, the Shibutanis also placed bronze. They then competed on the 2013 Four Continents and finished fourth, behind Madison Chock and Evan Bates. The Shibutanis finished eighth at the 2013 World Championships.

The Shibutanis began their season by winning bronze medals at 2013 Skate America and the 2013 NHK Trophy. They went on to win the bronze medal at the 2014 US Championships and were selected in the United States team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They ranked ninth at the Olympics, finishing ninth in ninth place. The Shibutanis also competed at the 2014 World Championships, where they came in 6th place.

The Shibutanis started their season by winning the gold medal at the 2014 Ondrej Nepela Trophy. They then won the silver medal at the 2014 Skate Americas. The Shibutanis received the gold medal at the 2014 Ice Challenge. They then went on to compete at their second Grand Prix event, the 2014 Cup of China, where they captured the silver medal. Their results on the Grand Prix series qualified them for the 2014–15 Grand Prix Final, where they ranked 4th.

The pair won the silver medal at the 2015 United States Championships, ahead of Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They then went on to compete in the 2015 Four Continents Championships and the 2015 World Championships, where they ranked 3rd and 5th respectively.

The Shibutanis began their season by winning the bronze medal at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in 2015. They received standing ovations for Fix You, their Coldplay free dance, on the Grand Prix circuit. They won the silver medal at 2015 Skate Canada International and the gold medal at the 2015 NHK Trophy, their second grand Prix event title in their career.

They qualified for the 2016–16 Grand Prix Final as the fourth ranked team based on qualification rules that had been modified in an attempt to compensate for the partially cancelled Trophee Bompard event. The highest total score amongst all participants during the Grand Prix season was a combined short dance and free dance score from NHK Trophy, which was 174.43 points. They finished fourth in the short dance at the Grand Prix Finals. Alex became seriously ill with food poisoning the night before the free dance. They decided to perform nevertheless, and received another standing ovation for their free dance. They came 4th in the free dance and fourth overall. They were banned from the exhibit in order to allow Alex to recover.

The Shibutanis came in second place behind Madison Chock and Evan Bates during the short dance but then climbed to victory of their first senior US title following the free dance. At both segments of the competition, they received standing ovations from the audience.

The Shibutanis then competed at the 2016 Four Continents Championships. They set personal records and finished first in both segments of the tournament for their first ISU Championship title.

The Shibutanis finished their season at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships. They set new personal records and finished second in both segments of the competition for their second world medal.

The Shibutanis claimed their second national championship at the 2017 U.S. Championships; they edged out Chock/Bates by 1.01 points after finishing first in the short dance and second in the free dance. The siblings took silver at the 2017 Four Continents in Gangneung (South Korea), placing second in both segments to Canada's Virtue/Moir.

They finished fifth in the short dance and fourth in the free dance at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki (Finland), putting them third overall over Canada's Weaver/Poje. The siblings received their third world medal, bronze.

The Shibutanis made their 2017 Rostelecom Cup debut at the end of season. They earned the gold medal and placed first in both segments with 77.30 points in the short dance and 111.94 in the free dance, placing first in both categories and gaining the gold medal with 189.24 points. They also won both the short and free dance at their second GP event, 2017 Skate America, earning them a total of 194.25 and first place overall in qualifying for the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. They earned their second consecutive bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final.

At the 2018 US National Expo, the United States received its first national medal of Excellence. Figure Skating Championships, the Shibutanis finished first in the short dance and third in the free dance, placing them second overall behind Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue. In 2018, they returned to the Winter Olympics as champions of a medal in the ice dance competition. They competed in both short and free dance in the team figure skating competition, aiding Team USA in winning the bronze medal. The Shibutanis then defeated Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue for the bronze medal in ice dancing. Maia and Alex's short dance rating of 77.73, for a free dance score of 114.86, was awarded a 76.59. They were the only Americans to win in an individual competition.

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Awards and honors

• The siblings are two-time winners of the Edi Award from the Professional Skaters Association for outstanding ice dance performance at US Nationals
• The Shibutanis are several times winners of the US Olympic Committee "Team of the Month" award (including in October 2017 and December 2017) for their competitive achievements while representing Team USA internationally.
• Maia and Alex were nominated and elected as Finalists for the 2018 James E. Sullivan Award, awarded annually since 1930 by the AAU honoring the best amateur athlete in America across all sports.