(AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Team Canada 1 performs their short program during the Synchronized Skating World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, April 3, 2009. Synchronized skating, or “synchro” is a specialized discipline of skating involving groups of eight or more skaters performing various group formations and maneuvers. ( Philip Kamrass / Times Union )The Albany Figure Skating Club?s Achilles Synchronized Skating Team performs Wednesday at the Albany Academy Field House.

Founded in 1921, the association has more than 750-member, school-affiliated and collegiate clubs. The NCAA tournament — which is sold out — brings national and even world recognition to Albany thanks to a dedicated audience that thrives on March Madness bracket fever. They will be competing in the synchronized skating competition at the Times Union Center next week.

Denied from the 2022 Winter Olympics, the synchronized skating world is hoping for a shot in 2026. “The number of teams continues to grow year by year.”Synchronized skating has never been an Olympic sport and is not scheduled for the 2022 Winter Olympics.“There’s a big movement to enter into the next (2026) Olympics,” Gold said. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Team USA 1 performs in the free skating competition at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday, April 3, 2004. The rink will be open 7 days a week from 11:00 am - 8:00 pm and skating is free. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)The Achilles Edge Intermediate Synchronized Skating Team perform during the 2012 Spring Ice Show, hosted by the Albany Figure Skating Club, at Albany Academy on Sunday March 4, 2012 in Albany, N.Y. 24 solo skaters performed, as well as groups including the Achilles Edge Synchronized Skating Teams. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Team Finland 2 performs their short program during the Synchronized Skating World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, April 3, 2009. They would almost have to build a second Olympic village to house all the skaters.”The Albany regional is one of three regionals in the country. Members of the Empire Edge, the Albany Figure Skating Club’s synchronized skating team, practice  at the Albany Academy skating rink earlier this month. Gold’s team, the Skyliners, fields teams that go to nationals, worlds and its skaters have been chosen to represent Team USA. The International Skating Union is the international sport federation administering Ice Skating sports throughout the world. For the 2026 Winter Olympics, the IOC allowed a longer distance between events, so that alpine skiing can be held in a mountain area, and indoor sports such as ice hockey and figure skating can be held in a large city more than 160 km (100 mi) away, where such arenas are already available or have greater usage after the games.
And the bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics host city goes to: Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Start a petition of your own Start a petition of your own.

“A lot of us came out of ‘retirement’ (from skating) to get this off the ground.”Eastern Synchronized Skating Regional Sectional ChampionshipsTickets: $89 for a three-day pass and $33 for a 1-day pass, general admission.Children under 6 are free.While skating is often an individual sport, synchronized skating is the ultimate team sport where no athlete stands out.“It’s about skaters working together as a team to create a beautiful, synchronized performance on the ice,” Gold said.

(Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)Team Marigold Ice Unity from Finland perform their free skating to finish second in the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2019 in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, April 13, 2019. “Part of the challenge is that there are so many teams and so many skaters involved that it’s a little bit of a financial burden. The performance was part of the club?s second annual SkateFest.

“You might have eight skaters on one side of the ice doing something and another eight skaters on the other side performing.”Teams competing in eastern regionals represent skating clubs from Maine to Florida. “So to have our sectional competition local is just a really unique experience.”“A lot of us from this area grew up attending events at the Times Union Center, so it’s really kind of a neat experience to get to skate on ice that some of us have watched Disney on Ice or Stars on Ice or attended concerts at,” she said.The late-night practices are a result of a team made up of women who have jobs and children. Our access to transportation and our hotel space combined with the improvements to the facility is how we get them hooked to come here.”“Synchronized skating is the fastest-growing discipline within U.S figure skating,” said Gold. “We have 20 different properties accommodating all the skaters and their families, the organizers, everyone.

Team USA 1 won fourth place while Finland 1 won the Championships title with team Sweden 1 placing second and team Finland 2 placing third. "Joyce Bassett is a sports columnist for the Times Union, specializing in women and girls in sports and golf. The junior skating levels — featuring the top teams that will advance to nationals — will take the ice starting at 7 p.m. Saturday.The sport itself is best viewed from the higher levels of arenas.“You really want to get a bird's-eye view of the whole thing,” Gold said.
Teams of eight to 20 skaters blend elements of singles skating, pairs skating, and ice dance in side-by-side performances. (AP Photos/MTI, Szilard Koszticsak)Members of the British team help out a fallen teammate during the free skating portion of the World Synchronized Skating Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, April 3. We teach our athletes leadership, accountability, perseverance, and the commitment to teamwork with dignity, pride, and humility.

The difference between the two sports is that competitors stay in town for the entire skating event, Delaney noted. The Milano Cortina 2026 Candidature fully embraces the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm, putting the long-term development strategies and challenges of the host cities and regions at the centre.