ArcaMax

After winning two bronze medals at the PyeongChang Olympics this year, Alex and Maia Shibutani made history by becoming the first skaters of Asian heritage to medal in ice dancing. "It was really special, because there hadn't been a tradition of ice dance success for Asians," says Alex, 26. "Whenever we compete anywhere in Asia, we always feel adopted and embraced by the locals." Maia, 23, adds, "We got a strong sense of the audience's enthusiasm while we were competing in Korea. We felt such love." Fans may stay in touch with the siblings on Twitter via their joint account (https://twitter.com/ShibSibs), as well as their individual feeds (https://twitter.com/AlexShibutani, https://twitter.com/MaiaShibutani)

Q. Are you looking forward to competing at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing?

Maia: It feels really good to be asked that, because it means that people want to see more of us. But we've also learned that you also have to take time to appreciate the moment. We've worked so hard and it's so easy to be goal-oriented and quickly move onto the next thing. But, really, we've been building toward the PyeongChang Olympics for a long time, so at this moment, we're trying to just let everything that we've accomplished sink in.

Alex: It's really difficult to say. I said this in 2014: "Do you know where you'll be in four years?" and then it got misinterpreted by a reporter, who said, "Shibutatinis are considering retirement!" (Laughs)

Q. Most people will never get to watch the Olympics in person. You've competed at PyeongChang and at the 2014 Games in Sochi. How did they compare and contrast?

Alex: Every Olympics is different. The biggest emotional difference was that our first Games was a new experience. Sochi was pretty much designed to be an Olympics location. Everything was built from the ground up. We didn't really have an opportunity to go out and explore the culture. What we were there for was competing and we spent the majority of our time at the rink or the athletes village. We got out more in PyeongChang. Once we were done competing, we got to see some of the local places when we did interviews. One thing I noticed was that there are a lot of coffee shops in Korea. I know latte art was one of the things they boasted about and it was cool to see that.

Q. You made international headlines for bringing Team USA swag for the Korean group, BTS. Why did you pick them?

Maia: We compete in a sport with a high performance and entertainment value and so we appreciate other artists who do the same.

Alex: And KPOP does an amazing job of blending music, dance and choreography. It pays a lot of attention to details, which we respect a lot. The reason why we picked BTS was because we really appreciate that their influence is worldwide. Regardless of whether people understand the lyrics to their songs, music is a universal language. The way they utilize the internet and social media to connect to people all over the world is a large reason for their global success. The recognition they're receiving is really special to us as Asian Americans. And I know they're not Asian American, but to see them being embraced in America and all over the world is inspiring for us to see. We wanted to be able to show them our support in some way.

Q. For months prior to the 2018 Olympics in Korea, you both mentored students via video at the Jinbu Middle School in PyeongChang. What did you learn from them?

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