Who is Alex Shibutani? Meet the Olympian Behind the Viral Rant at His Sister

Olympic ice dancer Alex Shibutani found himself mired in controversy in October 2025 when video of his explosive rant directed at his sister and partner Maia went viral.

The pair has been skating together for more than two decades, making history on the international stage and winning championships at home along the way. But in the 11-minute video, Alex can be seen berating his sister, calling her an “idiot” in an expletive-filled rant as the two were practicing on the ice.

Alex apologized for the video in November, telling the Associated Press “I feel terrible about it.”

“I apologized to Maia right after our practice,” he said at the time. “The intensity of what we are trying to do and the standards that we have, the two of us, we both understand [my outburst] but it was wrong and I am committed to being a better teammate.”

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Keep scrolling to learn more about Alex Shibutani.

Alex Shibutani Is a 2-Time Olympic Medalist

Alex and his sister earned two bronze medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They helped Team USA secure a third-place finish in team figure skating, then beat out fellow Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue for third in ice dancing.

The two took a break from competitive skating later that year before extending it in 2019, when Maia was diagnosed with kidney cancer. After her surgery and recovery, Alex and Maia mounted a comeback in 2025.

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He Is Also a Professional Photographer

Photography is more than just a hobby for Alex — he has worked as a professional photographer, covering events like the Emmy Awards and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I find that photography shares many commonalties with skating,” he said in a 2021 interview with Leica Camera. “The duality of technique and artistry. The importance of mindfulness and being present to capture the moment. The sensitivity, vulnerability and generosity of sharing the work to evoke a feeling.”

Alex Has Been Competing With His Sister Since Before They Were Teenagers

The siblings, better known on the ice as the ShibShibs, began competing together when Alex was 12 and Maia was nine. Alex started as a single skater at age seven, competing in singles at the juvenile level before teaming up with Maia.

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Maia addressed the controversy around the viral video in November 2025 by telling the AP  “we choose each other every time.”

“When you are working toward being your best there are going to be intense moments,” she said. “For us, we understand each other and the process and we work through it together like siblings do.”

Alex and Maia Made U.S. Olympic History in 2018

Alex and Maia were both first-ballot inductees into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2023, and with good reason. Their performance at the 2018 Olympics made history, both in the United States and on an international scale. The duo became the first ice dancers of Asian descent ever to medal at the Olympics. They were also the first pair of siblings to share an ice dance Olympic medal and the first from the U.S.

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He Has Co-Written 4 Children’s Books With Maia

Alex and Maia have co-authored four children’s books, aimed to increase AAPI representation in media. Both were avid readers as children, but as Alex explained, they struggled to find books with characters they could relate to.

“Growing up, Maia and I didn’t have a middle-grade book that featured contemporary Asian-American protagonists,” Alex said in a 2021 interview with FanZone. “We wanted to tell an uplifting, fun, dynamic, exciting, throw-in-all-those-superlatives mystery adventure that we would’ve really enjoyed when we were kids.”