Reading recommendations for your post-Olympic withdrawal

If you need more figure skating, your local bookstore or library probably has you covered!

Just a small portion of my figure skating library

It’s been less than a week since the figure skating events at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan came to an end, and if you’re like me, you’re probably suffering from some form of figure skating withdrawal. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of skating to watch coming up soon, between the Junior World Championships next week, the senior World Championships later in March, ice shows and adult competitions.

But there’s also another good way to feed your figure skating needs: reading! (He says selfishly as an author of a figure skating book that will hopefully be on shelves at some undetermined point in the future). I’ve read dozens of books about skating in the past year, both fiction and non-fiction, and have some recommendations for those of you looking to fill your TBR with your new skating obsession.

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NON-FICTION

Outofshapeworthlessloser - Gracie Gold

Maybe you saw Gracie on NBC’s coverage of the Olympics and thought “wow, with a last name like Gold, I bet she has an interesting Olympic story to tell.” Oh, she does. Her memoir, released in 2024, is an unflinchingly honest look back at the difficulties she faced in her career, which saw her compete at the 2014 Games in Sochi, where she finished fourth in the individual event and was part of the U.S. team that won bronze in the team event.

Beautiful On The Outside - Adam Rippon

You probably saw Rippon during NBC’s coverage too, and his 2019 memoir details his journey in skating along with some of the homophobia he faced -- it’s amazing to see Alysa Liu skating with her dyed hair and then read about how USFS once asked Rippon to color his dyed blonde hair darker. The book is written in a snarky tone that will be familiar to anyone who listens to The Runthrough podcast regularly.

Welcome To My World - Johnny Weir

You definitely saw and heard Weir during the Olympics, as he’s become an unavoidable presence on NBC’s broadcast (even during commercial breaks, where promos for The Traitors ran nonstop). His memoir was released way back in 2011, so if you’re looking for the story on his post-skating celebrity and his rising star in the broadcasting world, you won’t get that. But what you will get is an honest look at his rise in competitive skating and how he felt he never quite fit in that world, even as he was winning national titles and competing at the Olympics in 2006 and 2010.

Pour ne pas Disparaitre - Gabrielle Papadakis

Once voice you didn’t hear during the Olympics was that of Papadakis, the 2022 gold medal winner in ice dance, because of this book, in which she tells her side of the story of her partnership with Guillaume Cizeron (who went on to win gold with a new partner in 2026) and her career in skating. Now, I have not actually read this book yet, because it’s in French, and my French isn’t nearly good enough to read an entire book. And Papadakis has specifically requested that people not use translation software to try and read it. But if you are fluent in French, I would highly recommend her story.

Bobek: The Wild One - Nicole Bobek

The 1995 U.S. Champion and 1998 Olympian released her memoir last year. The writing style often seems more like a podcast transcript than a true autobiography, but it’s fitting because the story is raw. Bobek holds nothing back about how she was treated during her competitive skating career, the tragedies she dealt with, then the ups and downs in her personal life in the more than two decades since her trip to represent the U.S. in Nagano in 1998.

Additional books that I’ve enjoyed and you should definitely check out: On Top of Glass by Karina Manta (a memoir from the first out queer woman to represent Team USA internationally), Spinning by Tillie Walden (a graphic novel memoir), Motion Dazzle by Jocelyn Jane Cox (a memoir about the intersection of childhood and motherhood from a former competitive pairs skater and ice dancer), My Sergei by Ekaterina Gordeeva (the heartbreaking memoir of a legendary pairs skater who lost her partner and husband at a young age).

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FICTION

The Favorites - Layne Fargo

You think the 2026 ice dance competition was dramatic? It’s got nothing on the career of Katerina Shaw. You’ll love the twists and turns of this Wuthering Heights retelling (which, even with its departures from the book, is a MUCH better adaptation than the recent movie). Told in dual narrative with a “documentary” framing and chapters from Kat’s perspective, the story covers the beginnings of her career all the way through its dramatic conclusion at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. And the paperback edition includes bonus chapters told from the perspective of Heath, Kat’s longtime ice dance partner, childhood friend, and sometimes lover. An absolute must-read for any figure skating fan new or old.

The Old Pair - Rachel Banks

A new release, this novel is a second-chance romance between two ice dancers who come together with Olympic dreams and are torn apart by forces greater than them, leading them to pursue those dreams separately before encountering each other again at the Olympics. I don’t want to give too much away, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to read an early copy of this, and I think most skating fans (or romance novel fans) will enjoy it as well.

Quite the Pair - Kathryn Kincaid

This is another one I got to read early (it officially releases today) and while the skating isn’t as big a component as in some of the other books on the list, it was refreshing to read a romance novel in which the romance isn’t actually between the two skating partners. FMC Isla Covington is a divorced pairs skater who is teaming up with a new partner -- and falls for his brother, in a fun dislike-to-lovers story (and the few people familiar with my book know I love that trope).

Finding Her Edge - Jennifer Iacopelli

Maybe you saw the TV series and decided based on that you don’t want to read the book. Maybe you didn’t even know it was a book (despite the fact that it was listed as being based on a book in the opening credits of every episode). Let me assure you that the book’s attention to the details of the skating world are much more accurate than the TV show’s. The drama is still there, but it’s grounded in a realistic skating story that is worth your time to read. Then you can sit back and enjoy Season 2 on Netflix for what it is (and for the record, I’m Team Freddie, and I bet you will be too after reading the book).

Crossing the Ice/Losing the Ice/Taking the Ice - Jennifer Comeaux

You know how Madison Chock and Evan Bates were the presumed gold medal winners in 2026, until their coaches took on Cizeron and his new partner, and coached both top contenders at the same time, which had to create friction between the teams and the coaches? Well, that real-life storyline might as well have been ripped out of this series, in which the coaches for pairs skaters Courtney and Mark welcome their top rivals, the brother/sister team of Josh and Stephanie, to the rink. Only, unlike in real life, in this book, Courtney ends up developing feelings for Josh, leading to a dramatic but enjoyable NA trilogy. The books are short, so I definitely recommend reading all three to get the full story. There’s also the “Edge” series from Comeaux, which I’ve been meaning to read and actually predates the “Ice” series, telling the love story of characters who play a supporting role in the later series.

Additional books that I’ve enjoyed and you should definitely check out: Skating the Line by Isabelle Martens, Jingle Blades by Tomi Tabb, The Centre Ice series by S.C. Kate, Unsteady by Peyton Corinne, Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass.