Alex Shibutani

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

He attended the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut, during the late 1990s[7] before relocating to Colorado Springs from 2005 through 2007 then Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2007.

While in Colorado Springs, Alex Shibutani attended Cheyenne Mountain High School and finished his sophomore year there.

During that season, Alex Shibutani represented the Hickory Hill Figure Skating Club in competition.

Alex Shibutani, at the time of the coaching change, had two years left of high school and was considering his university options.

At their first event, the 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Courchevel, France, they placed second in the compulsory dance and then won the original and free dances to win the gold medal overall by a margin of victory of 11.00 points over silver medalists Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill.

On the Junior Grand Prix series, the Shibutanis won gold medals at both their JGP events - in Lake Placid, New York, and in Zagreb, Croatia.

[35] The Shibutanis finished second at U.S. Nationals (behind Meryl Davis and Charlie White) and were chosen to compete at the Four Continents and World Championships.

Maia and Alex Shibutani became the first figure skaters of Asian descent in the history of the sport to medal in ice dance at an ISU championship event.

At the World Championships, they were in fourth after the short dance, 4.09 points behind third-placed Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat.

The Shibutanis finished third overall by 0.25 points and won a bronze in their World Championships debut, a feat not even Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the current Olympic Champions, had accomplished.

Their bronze medal finish remains the highest world championship debut of any US ice dance team in history.

A week later they placed first at the 2011 NHK Trophy, edging Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje for gold by 0.09 points.

The Shibutanis finished 4th at the 2012 Four Continents, an event during which Alex competed in the free dance while extremely ill, and 8th at the 2012 World Championships.

During the off-season, they were invited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to attend a dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on May 1, 2012, in Washington, D.C.[37] Following Igor Shpilband's dismissal from the Arctic Edge Arena in June 2012, the Shibutanis decided to remain at the rink with Marina Zoueva and ended their collaboration with Shpilband.

They paused 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 and finished 4th overall behind Russian ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina and Ruslan Zhiganshin.

They began their competitive season by winning bronze medals at 2013 Skate America and 2013 NHK Trophy.

They then went on to win the bronze medal at the 2014 U.S. Championships and were named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

On the Grand Prix circuit, they earned standing ovations for Fix You, their Coldplay free dance.

They qualified for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final as the fourth ranked team based on qualification criteria that had been modified in an attempt to account for the partially cancelled Trophee Bompard event.

At the Grand Prix Final event in Marseille, France, the Shibutanis were ranked second after the short dance, placing behind Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada, and ahead of reigning World champions, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

At their second GP event, 2017 Skate America, they again won both the short and free dance for a total of 194.25 and first place overall, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya.

The Shibutanis later beat fellow Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue for the bronze medal in ice dancing.

Michael Bublé medley: Maia and Alex Shibutani are amongst the most active Olympic sports athletes engaged across several social media platforms.

Their YouTube channel @ShibSibs,[90] established in 2012, includes 95 videos which have been viewed almost nine million times by over 157,000 subscribers, as of April 2018.

Videos consist a range of formats including behind-the-scenes montages from their travels throughout the world for training, exhibition shows and competitions.

Amongst the popular are lip synch music videos with casts which include popular Olympic figure skaters and gymnasts from all over the world, including Yuzuru Hanyu and Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano, Javier Fernandez, Adam Rippon, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

[91][92] The Shibutanis were guests on the Nickelodeon television show, Nicky Ricky Dicky & Dawn appearing as themselves during episode 304 broadcast in 2017.

They have made several appearances on NBC's The Today Show, including to skate performance on the Rockefeller Center rink and to introduce Ralph Lauren designed outfits for the 2018 US Olympic team.

The Shibutanis perform a lift at the 2008–2009 Junior Grand Prix Final
Alex & Maia Shibutani with coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in 2008.
The Shibutanis at the 2011 Worlds
Maia and Alex Shibutani at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships
Maia and Alex Shibutani at the 2015 Grand Prix Final
The Shibutanis with the other medalists and their coaches at the 2011 World Championships