Maia Shibutani

Maia Harumi Shibutani (born July 20, 1994) is an American ice dancer.

Maia Harumi Shibutani was born on July 20, 1994, in New York City.

She is the daughter of Chris Shibutani and Naomi Uyemura, both of Japanese descent, who met as Harvard musicians.

She has an older brother, Alex Shibutani, who competes with her as her partner in the discipline of Ice Dance.

She started figure skating at the age of 4 in 1998 in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where she was a student at Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut.

A key source of inspiration for Maia and her brother Alex To pursue ice dancing came in March 2003 when their family attended the World Championships in Washington D.C. Alex Shibutani recalled, "We were seated close to the ice in the second row, and when the ice dancers came out for their warm up, we could actually feel a gust of wind as the skaters flew by. We were so impressed with the artistry, skating quality, and speed of the top teams that we decided to give it a try."

Maia and Alex Shibutani first teamed up as ice dance partners in the spring of 2004.

Their singles coach, Kathy Bird, arranged for them to work with their first ice dancing coaches Andy Stroukoff and Susie Kelley.

The Shibutanis also worked with Mary Marchiselli, and their first free dance program was choreographed by Josh Babb.

During the 2004–2005 season, their first season of competition, they competed on the juvenile level, which is the lowest competitive level in the U.S. Figure Skating testing structure.

Maia lived in Colorado Springs from 2005 through 2007 and was home-schooled.

They competed at the 2005 North Atlantic Regional Championships, the qualifying competition for the U.S. Junior Championships, and won the competition.

The win qualified them for the 2005 U.S. Junior Championships.

At that competition, they placed second in the first compulsory dance, fourth in the second compulsory dance, and third in the free dance, ending up with the silver medal.

The Shibutanis moved up to the intermediate level and embarked on several visits to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to work with choreographer Tom Dickson.

During that season, they were also coached by Judy Blumberg on the east coast.

After unexpectedly strong results in their first year competing at the intermediate level at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Competition (including first place in every compulsory and free dance segment of the competition that they entered at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Competition in the summer of 2005), the Shibutanis decided to relocate to Colorado Springs on a full-time basis in order to benefit from the strong training center environment of the Broadmoor Skating Club.

In Colorado Springs, their primary coach was Patti Gottwein During that time, they also worked with Rich Griffin, Damon Allen, Eric Schulz, and Christopher Dean.

The Shibutanis won the Southwestern Regional Championships, qualifying for the 2006 U.S Junior Championships.

At the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships, they placed second in the first compulsory dance and then won the second compulsory and free dances to win the title overall.

They worked as guest bloggers and aides for the media staff for U.S. Figure Skating at the 2006 U.S. Championships, and again at the 2006 Four Continents, which were held in Colorado Springs.

The Shibutanis moved up to the novice level, which is the first of the three levels that compete at the U.S. Championships.

Strong results at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, including first place in the Novice Free Dance event, earned them their first opportunity to compete internationally under the ISU Judging System.

At the North American Challenge event in Burnaby, British Columbia, they were the highest placing Americans in the novice event, pulling up from fifth place after the compulsory to second overall.

She moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2007 and graduated from Huron High School in Ann Arbor in 2012.

At the 2007 Midwestern Sectional Championships, their qualifying competition for the national championships, the Shibutanis placed second in the first compulsory dance and then won the second compulsory and the free dances to win the competition overall and qualify for the 2007 U.S. Championships.

At US Nationals, the Shibutanis placed second in both compulsory dances, but with a win in the free dance were able to capture the novice gold medal.

This was their second consecutive national title.

Following the 2007 U.S. Championships, the Shibutanis relocated once again, moving to Michigan to be coached by Marina Zueva and Igor Shpilband at the Arctic Edge Arena in Canton, Michigan.

She enrolled at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2012.

They are two-time members of the US Olympic team, competing at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.

Partnered with her brother Alex Shibutani, she is a two time 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Four Continents champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion (2016, 2017).

The siblings have won six titles on the Grand Prix series and stood on the podium at 14 consecutive U.S. Championships, at five levels including eight as seniors.

In 2018, the siblings became the first ice dancers who are both of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics (winning bronze in both team figure skating and the individual ice dancing event).

They are the second sibling duo to ever share an ice dancing Olympic medal, and the first from the United States.

The Shibutani siblings are often referred to by their nickname the Shib Sibs.

In 2019, Shibutani was diagnosed with a malignant mass on her kidney.

She began immediate treatment.

Maia Shibutani began skating at age four.

She originally trained as a single skater and was taught by Slavka Kohout Button, a coach best known for guiding US ladies' champion Janet Lynn.