Synchronized skating has officially reached a historic milestone: Synchro9 will make its Olympic debut at the 2030 Olympic Winter Games.
For a community that has dreamed about this moment for decades, this announcement represents so much more than a new competition opportunity. It represents years of dedication, innovation and belief from the athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and supporters who have helped build this sport.
The announcement has brought a lot of excitement - and also a lot of questions;
What exactly is Synchro9? How will it work? What does this mean for today's skaters? What information is available right now?
This article shares what we know today, what we are still waiting to learn, and why this milestone is such an important moment for the future of synchronized skating.
A Historic Moment for Synchronized Skating
The journey to Olympic inclusion has been decades in the making. 7 decades, to be more precise.
Since the earliest days of synchronized skating (formerly called "precision skating"), athletes, coaches, officials, sport representatives, and volunteers around the world have worked to grow and evolve the sport. Through the creation of international competitions, the development of athletes, and the continued pursuit of excellence, synchronized skating has become a global sport with a passionate community behind it.
The addition of Synchro9 to the Olympic Winter Games is a celebration of that collective effort. For OneTeamMVMT's founder and executive director, Lisa Carriere, it's an exciting moment for the whole community;
"Seeing synchronized skating accepted into the Olympic Games is an incredibly emotional moment for everyone who has believed in this sport. For decades, members of the synchro community have poured their passion into growing synchronized skating and proving what this sport can be. What excites me most is imagining the first athletes who will step onto Olympic ice as synchronized skaters—they won't just be competing for medals; they will be making history, and they will carry the support of an entire global community with them."
At OneTeamMVMT, this moment feels especially meaningful because bringing the synchronized skating community together has been at the heart of our mission since day one. We knew we couldn't control if or when synchronized skating would become Olympic, but we could help build a sport that was impossible to ignore, and that's where we placed our focus.
For the past decade, OneTeamMVMT has worked alongside athletes, coaches, clubs and families to strengthen synchronized skating through grassroots programs focused on education, collaboration and athlete development. Since 2016, more than 2,000 participants from 12 countries have taken part in our in-person development camps, and thousands more have participated in our virtual programs (virtual training camps and classes, parent education webinars, virtual coach interviews, etc), with each project contributing to a stronger, more connected global community.
Throughout that journey, one belief has remained constant:
When the synchronized skating community works together, the entire sport moves forward.
Olympic inclusion is the result of decades of dedication from countless people across synchronized skating. Every athlete who stepped onto the ice, every coach who shared their expertise, every official who helped shape the sport, and every supporter who believed in its future, contributed to this historic moment.
This milestone belongs to the entire synchronized skating community.
What is Synchro9 and What Do We Know?
Synchro9 brings a new synchronized skating competition format. Rather than the traditional 16-skater team format with 4 alternates, Olympic Synchro9 teams will consist of 9 skaters + 1 alternate.
Synchro9 will be a women’s Olympic event, contributing to the goal of achieving gender parity at the 2030 Olympic Winter Games. This is an important milestone for women’s sport and the visibility of female athletes on the Olympic stage, however the exclusion of males on Synchro9 teams has also brought a range of emotions within the synchronized skating community. Male skaters have played an important role in building and growing our sport, and for those who have dreamed of representing their country at the Olympic Games, the current Synchro9 format brings understandable disappointment and questions. OneTeamMVMT remains committed to supporting the continued growth and development of synchronized skating opportunities for all athletes.
Synchro9 is designed to showcase the qualities that make synchronized skating unique: speed, precision, athleticism, creativity and teamwork, while creating a format designed to shine on the Olympic stage. This format will include head-to-head battles with elimination rounds, a new scoring system and judging criteria to base choreography around, and new program requirements that emphasize creativity and difficulty.
For the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 seasons, teams will be required to have three programs instead of the traditional 2-programs we see in figure skating;
- The starting round will feature programs of 3 minutes 30 seconds in length, and the music theme must be Street dance.
- For the semi-final round, the program duration is 2 minutes 40 seconds, and the music must be 110-120 beats-per-minute
- The final/placement round is also 3 minutes 30 seconds in length
- This information can be found in ISU Communication 2784
The inaugural Olympic competition will include nine countries, each represented by one team. This is another difference from the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, which celebrates the global growth of the sport by bringing together as many participating countries as possible.
Synchro9 will also be included in the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games, and international competitions for the 2026-2027 season have already been shared by the ISU;
- Irvine USA (Nov 7-8, 2026)
- Vantaa Finland (Nov 28-29, 2026)
- Rouen France (Jan 29-30, 2027)
- Budapest Hungary, (Feb 20-21, 2027)
- World Championships for Junior & Senior (March 26-April 4, 2027)
Over the coming seasons, athletes, coaches and officials will continue learning and refining the discipline through international competitions. These early competitions will be an important part of understanding how Synchro9 develops and evolves before the Olympic Games.
What We Don't Know Yet
Because Synchro9 is a brand-new format of synchronized skating, many details are still to come.
We are currently waiting for official information regarding:
- How countries will qualify for the Olympic Games
- How Olympic teams will be selected/formed
- Will countries form a National Team, or allow multiple teams/organizations to compete against each other to determine who qualifies to represent their country?
- How Synchro9 competitions will be structured
- How the judging and scoring system will work
- Whether adjustments will be made as the discipline continues to develop
This process is expected. New disciplines evolve over time as athletes, coaches, officials and governing bodies gain experience and learn what works best. At OneTeamMVMT, we will continue following official announcements and sharing updates as more information becomes available.
What Comes Next?
This announcement is only the beginning of a new chapter for synchronized skating.
Over the coming weeks and months, we'll continue exploring what this milestone means for different parts of our community, including:
- What today's athletes should focus on
- How parents can support their skaters through this new era
- What coaches and clubs need to know
- How Synchro9 may change competition and athlete development
Our goal is to help athletes, families and coaches navigate this exciting time with accurate information, thoughtful discussion and a focus on long-term growth.
The Olympic dream that so many have worked toward for decades is now becoming reality. And the future of synchronized skating has never been brighter.
One Team. One Dream. One Historic Moment.
For years, we have believed that synchronized skating is strongest when we move forward together. This week, that dream is one step closer to reality.
Follow OneTeamMVMT on social media and stay tuned as we continue sharing official Synchro9 updates, resources and insights on the road to the 2030 Olympic Winter Games.