The World Championships hoodie was designed by Czech skater Natalie Taschlerova

The World Championships are over, but the stories keep coming :)

Skaters are leaving Prague wearing the tournament's cool merch — hoodies featuring a special logo. The design was created by Czech ice dancer Natalie Taschlerova.

She told me that she had always dreamed of being involved in organizing the home World Championships somehow. When the organizing committee reached out to her for advice on "what gifts to prepare for the participants," she knew right away: it had to be a hoodie.

I wanted the gift to be something people would actually use after the tournament. I know from experience: there's nothing better than a good oversized hoodie. It comes in handy on a flight, at practice, or on a walk.

We chose the style, material, and color — and then they asked me to come up with the design.

For the light gray version, I chose pink laces and a heart with a skate on the back. For the dark version — white accents and an image of Prague Castle, also with a skate, of course.

I'm really happy that these hoodies will now spread around the world, and skaters will take a little piece of our Czechia with them.

The hoodies in the photos are modeled by another ice dance team — Lithuanian skaters Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius.

P.S. For those worried about the Taschler siblings: Natalie and her brother are not retiring — they will be preparing for the new season.