Last Updated:September 05, 2025, 12:46 IST

Emma Aalto and Millie Colling will become Finland’s first same-sex ice dancing team after a rule change, inspired by Skate Canada, aiming to boost inclusivity in figure skating.

Emma Aalto and Millie Colling in action (Credit: Jussi Nukari/Helsingin Sanomat)

Two young women are set to make history in Finland as the country’s first same-sex ice dancing team, a breakthrough moment for inclusivity in figure skating.

Nineteen-year-old Emma Aalto of Finland and 20-year-old Millie Colling of England will compete together in Finnish domestic competitions after the national skating federation revised its rulebook earlier this year.

Instead of requiring teams to consist of a “man” and “woman,” the federation now categorizes partners simply as “Skater A” and “Skater B.” The change was made after Aalto and Colling submitted a request to skate together.

“Now we are allowed to compete in domestic events in Finland… We’re the first and only junior-level team to do that,” Colling told Reuters.

Inspired by Canada’s Lead

The pair’s request drew inspiration from Skate Canada, which in 2022 became the first federation to eliminate gender requirements for ice dance partnerships at the national level.

Aalto and Colling hope Finland’s move will encourage other countries and, eventually, the International Skating Union (ISU) to adopt similar reforms.

“We hope that maybe change will happen just gradually, maybe,” Colling said in an interview with Reuters.

“We have dreams,” Aalto added.

For now, however, no international rule change is on the horizon.

Politics and Progress

Former ice dancer Kaitlyn Weaver, a three-time world medalist and member of the ISU’s Ice Dance Technical Committee, confirmed that the topic has been discussed but not formally proposed.

“We have to treat this in a way where there’s an education piece, there’s an understanding, as opposed to putting it forward and then it getting shot down,” Weaver explained.

Weaver noted that the global political climate has complicated the push for inclusivity.

“My concern really is, as the world is shifting into a more conservative – and it’s not just happening in the States, it’s happening around the world in certain places – my number one priority is safety of the athletes,” she said, referencing the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. as an example of shifting winds.

From Friendship to Partnership

Aalto and Colling first met two years ago while skating individually and quickly bonded as friends.

Their partnership gained momentum after they saw former Olympic ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis (the 2022 Olympic gold medalist with Guillaume Cizeron) perform together in a gala event advocating same-sex partnerships in the sport.

“I was like, oh, this is amazing. I hoped one day maybe this will be possible,” Colling recalled.

Ice dancing, unlike pairs skating, emphasizes musical interpretation, rhythm, and precise footwork rather than jumps and throws, making it particularly suited for same-sex competition.

“There isn’t a huge physical advantage to being a man,” Colling noted.

(with Reuters inputs)

Siddarth Sriram

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More

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