Alex Shibutani Apologizes After Incident with Sister Maia

Olympic medalist Alex Shibutani has issued an apology following the leak of a video in which he appears to assault his sister and ice dancing partner, Maia Shibutani.

“I feel terrible,” Alex shared with reporters on Friday. “I lost my temper during practice. It was a mistake, and I apologized to Maia right afterwards.”

The video, which surfaced on social media last month, captures him shouting an expletive-laden outburst directed at Maia.

“The intensity of what we’re trying to achieve, and the standards we hold ourselves to, can be overwhelming at times. We both get that,” he explained. “But, it was a mistake, and I’ll work to be a better teammate. I’m really fortunate to skate with Maia—we have a unique and special bond.”

Maia expressed understanding toward her brother’s actions. “When you aim for the top, there will be intense moments. But we understand each other, and we navigate through it together like siblings,” she said. “We continued practicing that day and supported each other after.”

The duo placed sixth at the NHK Trophy event in Osaka last Saturday and are set to compete again in January at the Finlandia Trophy in just two weeks.

Alex, 34, and Maia, 31, have been skating together for most of their lives, emerging as leading American ice dancers. They won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, are three-time World Championship medalists, and have participated in two Olympic Games, finishing ninth in 2014 in Sochi and third in 2018.

After the 2018 Olympics, they paused their competitive careers to focus on their studies and explore other interests.

Their hiatus from competition extended in 2019 when Maia was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her kidney. Following surgery to remove the tumor and a lengthy recovery process, they are now striving to return to competitive skating for the first time in seven years, with hopes of making the U.S. team for the upcoming Milan-Cortina Games.