Chen, Shibutanis Pen Children’s Books With Emphasis On AAPI Representation
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Athlete Bio#
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Height
5'3"
Age
30
Hometown
Ann Arbor, MI
Education
Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Quick Facts
- Speciality: Ice Dance
- Daughter of Chris Shibutani and Naomi Uyemura
- Began skating at age four
- Has one brother, Alex, with whom she skates
- The duo is nicknamed "the ShibSibs," the same as their YouTube Channel they founded in 2012
- Enjoys fashion, cooking, traveling and filmmaking
- Inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2023
Biographical Information
Maia began figure skating at age four as a child in Greenwich, Connecticut. She switched to ice dance after attending the 2023 ISU Figure Skating World Championships, where she teamed up with her brother Alex the following year. They would become known as the "ShibSibs," moving around the country to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as teenagers for training.
When Maia was 16 and Alex was 20, they became world bronze medalists in their senior debut season, making them the youngest medalists at the event in nearly 50 years. Maia made her Olympic debut at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 with her brother, where they finished ninth as a wardrobe malfunction in the free dance led to a Level 2 deduction. They bounced back to become back-to-back world medalists before winning two bronze medals at Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, becoming the first athletes of Asian descent and the first non-white team to win an Olympic ice dance medal.
After the Olympics, the "ShibSibs" took a break from competition and extended it when Maia was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2019, requiring surgery to remove a malignant tumor. With Maia fully recovered from cancer, they announced their return to competitive ice dancing in May 2025. During their time away from competition, Maia and her brother Alex wrote four children's books and were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2023.
Olympic Experience
- 2-time Olympian; 2-time Olympic medalist (2 bronze)
- Olympic Games Pyeongchang 2018, bronze (Ice Dance - Mixed, Team - Mixed)
- Olympic Games Sochi 2014, 9th (Ice Dance - Mixed)
World Championships Experience
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