The Figure Skating season 2024/25 has just come to an end, but the exciting news don’t stop coming in. Three-time ISU World Ice Dance medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani (USA) will return to competing in the upcoming Olympic 2025/26 season. The brother-and-sister team stopped following the 2018 Olympic Winter Games where they had taken bronze medals in the individual and in the team events when they were just 23 and 26 years old. They were the first Asian-American and non-white Ice Dancers to win an Olympic medal. 

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games ©ISU

“Grateful, happy and inspired by new possibilities,” Maia Shibutani wrote on social media. “Alex and I have been working hard and we can’t wait to perform together again.”

Following this Olympic success, the siblings decided to take a break from competing. However, any possible comeback plans were put on hold when Maia was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2019 and had to undergo surgery. 

In the end, the “ShibSib’s” break was seven years long. It is rare that a top skater or team makes a comeback after such a long time apart from 1994 when the ISU allowed so called professional Skaters to reinstate - an opportunity that stars such as Olympic Champions Katarina Witt (GER) and Jayne Torvill/Christopher Dean (GBR) took to compete at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. 

Maia and Alex Shibutani never lost touch to the world of Figure Skating in these past years even though they explored different areas outside the ice rink as well. Among their creative projects is a series of children’s books, with the most recent one named Incredible - celebrating historical and contemporary Asian-American and Pacific Islander personalities - set to be released on May 13, 2025. During this time, they also remained active as choreographers, creatives, ambassadors, and advocates for diversity and representation.

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games ©ISU

Last February, the Shibutanis came to Seoul, Republic of Korea, to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games together with their mentees from the PyeongChang Legacy Foundation. Together with the young students, the two-time Olympians visited the Rhythm Dance event at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Seoul and felt again the competitive atmosphere of a major championship.

“These past seven years have challenged and inspired us in ways we never expected. 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,” Maia Shibutani said in a press release published by US Figure Skating (read here). 

“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. We don't take any of this for granted. We're really enjoying the process and look forward to performing and competing together again,” Alex Shibutani commented.

Maia, 30 and Alex Shibutani, 34 will be training with their former coaches Marina Zueva and Massimo Scali again for their comeback.

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (USA) ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating NHK Trophy 2011 in Japan ©ISU

The siblings had teamed up in 2004 and only five years later claimed the silver medal at the ISU World Junior Championships. They won their first of three ISU World medals in 2011, at only 16 and 20 years of age, making them one of the youngest Ice Dance World medalists in history. 

Now coming back with new life-experiences and a rediscovered passion for competing, the “ShibSibs” are ready to shake up the Ice Dance World again and look to add another exciting chapter to an Olympic season full of incredible storylines.