At the 2026 Olympics, Ghost, Sunset Blvd, Other Musicals Prove Popular With Figure Skaters

There was not just one, but two programs set to Ghost the musical at the Winter Olympics in Milan.

February 20, 2026 By Diep Tran

Sports and theatre usually don't go together. Granted, there are exceptions: Rocky the musical, NFL players who love Broadway—and the Winter Olympic games. At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, figure skaters have been using all kinds of music to show off their artistry. Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate did a Minions-themed program. Japan's Yuma Kagiyama skated to Turandot as performed by the Washington National Opera, and earned an Olympic silver medal in the process. There were four different programs set to the music from Dune.

But there's another property that's been surprisingly popular with Olympic figure skaters: Ghost The Musical—the Bruce Joel Rubin, Dave Stewart, and Glen Ballard show that ran for just four months on Broadway in 2012. Well it's seemed to have found an afterlife in Milan as the basis for not just one but two figure skating programs. First, pair skaters Emily Chan and Spencer Howe skated to a Ghost medley, with the voices of Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy helping the pair take seventh place (watch their program in the video above).

In the women's program, Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia also skated to Stewart and Ballard's score for Ghost in her free skate, taking ninth place (though we think she should get extra points for her costume, which references the Ghost Broadway poster).

But it wasn't just Ghost. Kazakhstan's Sofia Samodelkina skated to the 2024 West End-Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard. Her beautiful jumps, Andrew Lloyd Webber's score, and Nicole Scherzinger's rendition of "With One Look" helped propel Samodelkina to 10th place. See a version of the routine that Samodelkina performed last year below.

In her free skate, 18-year-old Ruiyang Zhang from China skated to Lea Salonga's voice and Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, and Richard Maltby, Jr.’s score for Miss Saigon (always a popular choice for figure skaters). She placed 19th.

Though it was Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas that helped musical theatre make headlines in Milan. When she was about to perform her show program in the team event February 6, her music (a medley of songs from The Lion King stage show and films) didn't start playing. Schizas had to request a restart. Schizas' Lion King program helped Canada place fourth in the team event; unfortunately, in the individual women's event, Schizas placed 25th and she wasn't able to advance to the free skate.

Stephen Sondheim also made an appearance at the Olympics when Belgium's Nina Pinzarrone skated to Susan Boyle's rendition of the late Broadway master’s "Send in the Clowns," from A Little Night Music. She placed 13th.

So in other words, if you are a fan of musicals (particularly Ghost), you are in good company at this year's Olympics.

READ: When a Stage Director Trades Broadway for the Olympics