Mikhail Shaidorov works with Shae-Lynn Bourne ahead of new season
Kazakhstani figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov is preparing for the new season. The 2026 Olympic champion has shared footage from his on-ice training and revealed that he had been working with acclaimed Canadian choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne on his new short program.
Shaidorov noted that this marks an important stage in his preparation and a valuable experience for him.
«Getting ready for the new season. So grateful for the chance to work on the ice with Shae-Lynn Bourne for new SP. It was an amazing experience,» the athlete wrote on Instagram.
Working with Bourne could prove to be one of the key elements of Shaidorov’s preparation for the new skating season. She has worked with leading skaters and is considered one of the most respected figures in world figure skating.
Bourne choreographed programs for Olympic champions Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen. She also worked with world champions Ilia Malinin and Evgenia Medvedeva. The figure skaters who have worked with Bourne include Kaori Sakamoto, Shoma Uno, Cha Jun-hwan, Yuma Kagiyama and other prominent athletes. In 2020, 2023, and 2025, Bourne won the Best Choreographer award at the ISU Figure Skating Awards.
During her competitive career, Bourne competed for Canada alongside Victor Kraatz. After retiring from competition, she became a choreographer for elite figure skaters.
According to the ISU, Shaidorov made history as the first figure skater to land a triple Axel-quadruple toe loop combination and a triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow combination in competition. These combinations became a defining part of his technical repertoire and distinguished him among the world’s elite men’s singles skaters.
Now Shaidorov’s key objective is not only to maintain his technical difficulty but also to develop the second component of his skating — presentation, choreography, and the overall cohesion of his programs. This is why working with Bourne is an important part of his preparations for the new season.
