The stars were out at the Maverik Center on May 14—literally. The 2026 Stifel Stars on Ice tour, featuring several U.S. Olympic figure skaters, came to West Valley City for a one-night performance. It’s the same ice where the U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held Jan. 5-10, 2027. 

Among those performing were gold medalists Alysa Liu (who won both a team and individual Olympic gold in Milan, Italy this year), Amber Glenn, Ilia Malinin, and pairs skaters Evan Bates and Madison Chock. They all delighted a small crowd of invited guests in a warm-up session held for the media. 

Liu, Glenn and Malinin shared similar messages during short interviews with reporters; this exhibition was for fun and for the crowd, not for judges. It was easy for them to differentiate between the Games and this tour.

“Performing not competing: I’ve done a lot of shows and a lot of competitions, and I kinda view them the same way, but in shows we have a little bit more fun cuz there’s no rules,” Liu said. “There’s show lighting (spotlights) and there’s show numbers for Stars on Ice, and you get to skate with other athletes and not against them, so it’s really cool.”

“It’s definitely such a different atmosphere,” Malinin said. “Being around here with all these other skaters, we’re all just such an amazing family. Getting together to perform for a crowd without the judging but just for the general love and passion for the sport. We love it.”

“I was inspired by Sarah Hughes’ performance here in 2002,” Glenn said, “so it really is a full circle moment being here in Utah. I hope I can inspire young skaters like she inspired me.”

Their evening performance featured jumps, flips, spins and the athletic moves fans are used to seeing in figure skating, but also some dance numbers and a few other surprises. The atmosphere was relaxed and welcome after the grind they experienced leading up to and during the Winter Olympics earlier this year. They want the sport to remain fun and not so intense.

“I really hope that the Games being here in the U.S. can be a great experience for anyone competing,” Glenn said. “There are many things that I think about, but one of them will be trying to make it a safer place for the athletes. There's a lot that goes into the events at the Olympics and a lot of times the cameras and the fanfare, it can get a bit extreme. We saw that get to some of the athletes in Milan, and I think we really need to consider athletes’ mental health.

“In reality, we just need to go out there and skate our very best and meet our goals. We need to stop treating it as if it’s life or death. I get that that’s the job of some people but there needs to be human compassion in those moments. We’re not actors, we’re not movie stars, we’re not performing for cameras, we’re performing for judges and the audience and for ourselves. We definitely need to consider people’s well-being before TV entertainment.”

Liu and Malinin agreed that figure skating should be for more than just medals and accolades in the press.

“Honestly, just not being afraid to be different,” Malinin said. “That’s something that I always put out as a message to all my neighbors and everyone who supports me in the skating world. Don't be afraid to stand out, don’t be afraid to be different. Really embrace what feels natural to you and share that to the world. As figure skaters, we all skate differently, we all perform differently. We all have incredible abilities that are different. It’s very important that everyone has that open mind, so that they can appreciate the whole environment of figure skating. It’s so diverse and so unique.”

“I don’t want to just inspire skaters,” Liu said. “I want people to go after what they want to go after. What I value the most as an athlete is sportsmanship, and as long as that is taught, I think everything will be good. I learned that you’ve really got to stay present, you’ve really got to enjoy everything. I really love life no matter where I am. I loved it two years ago, a year ago, and I love it now. You’ve really just have to find something you enjoy all the time. You’ve got to see the good in things. You have to get to know yourself to enjoy it.”

All three of them had been to Utah before, but not for some time. They said the Maverik Center venue for the nationals next year and the Winter Games in 2034 was nice, though maybe a bit smaller than many arenas where they’ve performed. Liu said, “it will be intimate.”

And each said they were looking forward to another experience—trying dirty soda. Liu said she was “ready for my Swig. My friends called me and said I had to try it and I will, though I really don’t like soda to be honest.”

What they and their fellow skaters did give the audience was a taste of Olympic stardom, achievement, and perhaps inspiration for others to make their own dreams come true, both on and off the ice.