First published 2002
Christine Brennan opens the curtain on the 2002 Olympic Tour of Champions on Ice, marking the skating show's 25th anniversary. She travels with Olympic gold medalists Sarah Hughes, Alexei Yagudin, Marina Anissina, and Gwendal Peizerat as they perform across 93 cities nationwide. Brennan captures their daily routines from morning wake-up calls through evening performances, revealing quiet backstage moments and playful interactions between shows. The book traces the evolution of figure skating through Champions on Ice's quarter-century history, exploring how fan enthusiasm shaped the sport and examining the Russian skaters who transformed North American ice dancing in the early 1990s. Tom Collins emerges as the visionary behind this touring phenomenon, having assembled the first Olympic-level skating tour in the mid-1970s. His formula for success centers on building a supportive family atmosphere among performers. Brennan details the artistic choices behind music selection and choreography while profiling skating legends from every era of the tour. The celebration of pure skating joy permeates each chapter.
Genres: sports, non-fiction, 21st-century, figure-skating
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: North America
Period: 2002, 1970s
224 pages · Hardcover · McClelland & Stewart