This first appearance was not improvised. On the Finnish side, the federation had already announced on January 9 a demo project led by the famous coach Anu Oksanen, built around former Helsinki Rockettes skaters and designed to show in concrete terms what a nine-skater synchronized skating team can look like.
In an Instagram post published on the eve of the gala, Helsingin Taitoluisteluklubi said the Prague version featured 11 recently retired Rockettes alumni, working on the program since January.
Prague, Synchro 9’s first stage
The immediate public reaction available so far has mainly come from official channels, but the message is consistent. Prague 2026-related accounts framed Synchro 9 as “the next generation” and a sign that synchro is evolving fast, fully in line with the ISU’s own narrative: a more compact, more accessible and more broadly presentable format.
The ISU also ties the project directly to its Olympic pathway, with Synchro 9 already included in the program for the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
The next step will come in Salzburg next weekend. The official 2026 Worlds site schedules a SYS 9 Demo on April 11, with three teams before the free skating segment.
After Prague, which served as a public launch, Salzburg now looks set to become the first real test of how the format lands inside synchronized skating itself.
The Synchro 9 program can be seen in the official Prague gala replay, from 58:40. Watch the video !
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