Biography

Maia and Alex Shibutani, known to audiences around the world as the “ShibSibs,” are the sister-brother ice dancing duo who captured two Olympic bronze medals at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Their dedication and hard work, skating together for 14 years, paid off as they became the first U.S. team of siblings to earn an Olympic medal in ice dancing and the first in the world to do so since 1992. The Shibutanis also made history in South Korea as the first ice dancers of Asian descent to claim an Olympic medal.

Maia, born in NYC and Alex, born in Boston, MA, spent their early years growing up in Boston, MA and Old Greenwich, CT. Maia and Alex decided to take up ice dancing when she was 9 and he was 12 after their family traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the 2003 World Championships. They were so enthralled by the ice dancing competition that they became a team shortly afterward.

During their first year competing, they earned a silver medal at the U.S. Junior Championships (2005) at the Juvenile level. From 2006-2007, they lived and trained in Colorado Springs, and won unprecedented back-to-back National titles at the Intermediate (2006) and Novice levels (2007). As they advanced to the Junior level, they relocated to Michigan to train alongside the top ice dance teams in the world. They debuted internationally with a gold at their first Junior Grand Prix at the ages of 14 and 17. They won silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships, and the Junior ice dance title at the 2010 U.S. Championships.

Upon advancing to the senior level, Maia and Alex made a historic debut on the international circuit in 2010, becoming the first ice dance team ever to medal at both of their Grand Prix events during a rookie season.  By earning a silver medal at the 2011 Four Continents Championship, they became the first ice dancers of Asian heritage to medal at a major ISU championship.  During the 2011 World Championships, they became the first American ice dancers to medal at their Worlds debut.  At just 16 and 19, they were the second youngest team in the history of the sport (and youngest since 1962) to medal at the World Championships. They secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, competing at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, competing as the second youngest team in the field and placing ninth.

Maia and Alex went on to win the national crown in both 2016 and 2017. Maia and Alex are the only ice dance team to medal at every level of national competition over consecutive years, standing on the podium at each of the 14 years that they have competed. A gold medal at the 2016 Four Continents Championships marked their first ISU Championship title. They returned to the World Championships medal podium, earning a silver medal in 2016 and the bronze in 2017. Their bronze-performance secured three spots for the United States at the 2018 Olympic Games.

Maia and Alex entered the 2018 Winter Games as top medal contenders. They started off the Games with a bang, skating strong in the team event in both the short dance and the free dance to lift the United States to a bronze medal. Then, in the ice dancing event, they rallied from a fourth-place showing in the short dance to claim the bronze medal.

“No one expected this of us but we have always dreamed this was possible and knew we had it in us,” Alex told reporters after winning the ice dancing bronze medal.

Added Maia, “We believed in each other."

Collaborators: Over the course of their career, Maia and Alex have collaborated extensively with a wide range artists from the world of dance - including champion ballroom dancers from “Dancing with the Stars” such as Derek Hough, Corky Ballas, and Jenna Johnson; Michael Jackson’s choreographer Travis Payne and his Dance Master for the “THIS IS IT” tour, Stacy Walker; Emmy Award winning Hip Hop dancer, Hokuto Konishi; “So You Think You Can Dance” artist, Alex Wong; and former principal dancer from the American Ballet Theatre, Cheryl Yeager.

Ambassadors for their Sport: In 2016, Maia and Alex were named Sports Envoys with the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Other figure skaters selected for this role have included Michelle Kwan (2008) and Evan Lycacek (2012). As Sports Envoys, they led outreach activities in Korea (2017) and Japan (2018), engaging youth in dialogues on the importance of leadership, respect for diversity and the Olympic ideals. Maia and Alex have also been honored with invitations to attend events in Washington DC hosted during official visits to the US by the Prime Minister of Japan. In 2012 they were invited to by Secretary Hillary Clinton, and in 2015 they were invited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joseph Biden.

Charitable Activities: Maia and Alex are Athlete Ambassadors for the multi-national organization Right To Play. Other organizations that they support include Figure Skating in Harlem, Charity:Water, The Jimmy Fund (Children’s Cancer Research), Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation, and THE ONE FUND.

Honors and Awards: Maia and Alex were finalists for the 2017 James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation’s best amateur athlete across all sports. They were voted by skating fans as winners of the 2016 SKATING Magazine Readers’ Choice Award. In 2012, Maia became the first ice dancer to be awarded a Travel and Training Grant from the Women’s Sports Foundation. Maia was again awarded a grant in 2014, and in 2018 was nominated for the Women’s Sports Foundation Team Sportswoman of the Year. Maia and Alex are two-time (2011, 2016) winners of the Professional Skater’s Association EDI Award for outstanding ice dance performance at US Nationals. And from 2015 through 2018 they were nominated by the US Olympic Committee and named on multiple occasions with the support of fans voting for athletes from all Olympic sports, as Team USA’s Team of the Month.

Social Media: Throughout their careers, Maia and Alex have distinguished themselves with their unique ability to connect with fans through a wide range of social media platforms. In August 2012, Maia and Alex launched their own YouTube channel – ShibSibs – with proprietary videos for which they do everything from concept creation, directing, filming, and editing.  With 120 original videos thus far and formats ranging from humorous music video parodies, “behind-the-scenes” montages, and even originally scripted material - the ShibSibs channel has quickly garnered an international following with over 166,000 subscribers and more than 10.5 million views.

You can follow them on Instagram and Twitter:

@maiashibutani

@alexshibutani

@ShibSibs