Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a Tribute

by Lynn Rutherford

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness
    John Keats

Evgenia “Genia” Shishkova (12/18/72-1/29/25) and Vadim Naumov (4/7/69-1/29/25), both born in what was then Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Russia, were among the 60 passengers and four crew on board American Airlines 5342 when it collided with a U.S. Army helicopter, exploded on impact and plunged into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport. Their son, Maxim “Max” Naumov, fourth in the U.S. senior men’s division for three years running, survives.

The couple, who married in the summer of 1995, won the 1994 world pair title. For nearly three decades, they lived and taught figure skating in Connecticut and Massachusetts. They, along with their students Jinna Han, 13, and Spencer Lane, 16, had participated in U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp held in Wichita, Kansas following the 2025 U.S. Championships. 

Vadim Naumov and Maxim Naumov at 2025 U.S. Nationals.

Just three days before their deaths, Max -- who always seems to save his best performances for nationals -- pulled up from seventh after the short program in Wichita to fourth overall with a solid free skate including two triple Axels. The couple’s last public words are forever memorialized on Instagram:

"Once again, Maxim made us all proud, getting on to the podium at Nationals after 7th place in the short. This beautiful and emotional performance is a result of a team work. Huge thanks to Serhii and Irina Vaypan and of course to Adam Blake for his wonderful choreography of a classic! Maxim has earned his place in the team of 4 Continents."

I’m glad Genia and Vadim were able to reach out to Max one final time. In 30 years of attending the U.S. Championships, most often as a member of the media, the purest, most joyful reaction from a skater and coach I ever witnessed was Max and Vadim embracing after they learned he had won the 2017 men’s novice title.

Fitting, too, that Genia and Vadim included their colleagues at Skating Club of Boston. Raised in the Saint Petersburg style with a career-long coach, Lyudmila Velikova, they prized artistic and technical contributions from others. By all accounts, they were strict and disciplined with students, but also giving and kind.

"(They) just had a really profound impact on the club," Blake told WCVB5 in Boston. “Not only that, they were just really, really wonderful people …. With as much work they put in as athletes to become world champions, they put in just as much work to inspire young athletes of the future."

After news of the crash hit the internet late on Wednesday and a friend confirmed that Shishkova and Naumov were aboard the doomed flight, I spent half the night revisiting their competitive career on YouTube. Judging from the many posts grieving their loss and reaching out to Max, I had a lot of company.

There was so much to appreciate: their quick, light movements. Inventive lifts, including one with a flip-up entrance. Uncanny unison in side-by-side spins. Superb spiral sequences, then a required element in the pairs’ short program.  And, of course, what Canadian commentators called “that Russian speed.”

“Doesn’t (Shishkova) remind you of Ludmila Belousova Protopopov?” Dick Button said during their free skate at the 1996 world championships in Edmonton, Alberta, comparing Genia to the elegant two-time Olympic pairs champion. “Petite, gentle, quiet, very blonde, very stretched.”

Skating to classics including Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, with choreography straight out of the Mariinsky Ballet, rarely was either skater caught in anything less than impeccable position. Naumov treated his partner with sensitivity and respect, lifting her with ease and setting her down gently.

But for all of their success, which included three national titles, five European Championship medals and a win at the 1995/96 ISU Champions Series Final, Shishkova and Naumov were unlucky and, I think, under appreciated.

After placing fifth at the 1992 Albertville Olympics, it was expected they would ascend to the top of the Russian pairs’ ladder and compete for Olympic gold in Lillehammer in 1994. Instead, two all-time great pairs – the supremely romantic Katia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, and the flamboyant Natalia Mishkutionok and Artur Dmitriev – reinstated, and took gold and silver at those Games. Shishkova and Naumov were edged out for bronze, losing a 5-4 judges’ split to Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler of Canada.

At the 1996 World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, the pair sat third entering the free after Shishkova fell on a triple toe loop in the short. They sparkled in their free skate to Minkus’ Don Quixote, flying around the ice, their only flaw being a two-footed and under-rotated triple toe from Shishkova. When the nine judges’ marks were tallied, they had four first-place ordinals, plus a third place and four fourth places. Two teams ahead of them also had errors, but somehow, Shishkova and Naumov placed fourth, off of the podium.

I still remember the confused gasps from the knowledgeable Edmonton crowd when the placements flashed up on the jumbotron. On the ABC broadcast Button was as puzzled as everyone else, saying, “Oh! I thought, with that one exception, they were a rather brilliant pair.”

After that, their career lost steam. The following season, they placed fifth at the European Championships, off of the podium for the first time. In 1998, they were not selected for Russia’s European or Olympic team, and they retired from competition.

In the 1990’s aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, opportunities in their hometown of Saint Petersburg were scarce. They settled into coaching jobs at the International Skating Center in Simsbury, Connecticut, where Naumov was director of figure skating from 2011-2016. Among their students was future U.S. and world pairs champion Alexa Knierim, whom they introduced to the pairs discipline in 2010.

"They made a positive impact on me as well as everyone in the skating world," Knierim told Chicago ABC7. "Everybody adored them. They were a very kind loving couple."

In 2017, they moved to Skating Club of Boston, where they continued to inspire and teach the next generation of U.S. figure skaters. Their skill was evident in the rapid ascension of Lane, who began skating just three years ago and was already intermediate men’s champion of the Eastern section.

“He had all of his triples, and not just that, but this natural grace and beauty and understanding of ice and speed and his positions were just so gorgeous,” Ellen Schran, a choreographer and daughter of 1956 Olympic champion Tenley Albright, told reporters.

By melancholy coincidence, Skating Club of Boston lost five skaters, plus several coaches, officials and family members, in the 1961 crash of Sabena Flight 548 on its way to the world championships in Prague. The club’s magnificent facility in Norwood features a permanent memorial to those souls. Doug Zeghibe, CEO and executive director of SCOB, said Shishkova and Naumov, as well as Lane, Han and their mothers Christine Lane and Jin Han, who also perished, will be similarly honored.

“Skating is a very close and tight knit community,” Zeghibe told Boston.com. “These kids and their parents, they’re here at our facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven days a week. It’s a close, tight bond. And I think for all of us, we have lost family.”

Button, the two-time Olympic champion and longtime dean of figure skating commentary, also died on or about January 29^th at age 95. I like to imagine that, as Genia and Vadim ascended to paradise hand-in-hand, Button was nearby, saying, 'Oh, that judging in Edmonton was absolutely unnecessary and uncalled for. Really second-rate. You should have won.'

Ilia Malinin Interview

2025 U.S. National Championships

Wichita, KS

20 - 26 January 2025

Malinin Scores Triumphant Third Consecutive U.S. Title

by Liz Leamy

Ilia Malinin, the 2024 World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist, ISU Grand Prix Final victor in 2023-24 and 2024-25, two-time U.S. titlist in 2023 and 2024 and 2022 U.S. silver medalist, laid down the proverbial golden hammer in characteristic style as he triumphantly claimed his third consecutive U.S. title at the U.S. Championships this week.

Malinin, who was also a resolute first in the short program at this event, locked in the gold medal in an extraordinary free skate in which he reeled off six quads with quickness, command and ease, along with superb spins, exciting footwork and a huge back flip, among other notable things, for which he earned a whopping 331.31 total, numbers that catapulted him ahead of the rest of the competition by nearly 45 points. (44.82 to be exact)

Skating to ‘I’m Not a Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse, Malinin earned a 219.23 for his dazzling performance, receiving a 128.18 technical element score and 92.05 component score.

“I felt that it was definitely a pretty good performance and I think I have definitely improved a lot since the Grand Prix Final,” said Malinin, who trains with his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, both of whom were Olympic singles contenders, in Reston, Virginia, as well as with Raphael Arutyunyan. “I’m definitely happy with all the progress I’ve made at this competition, but now I can use that time to take everything that I’ve learned from my performances and really try to develop them and get it as perfect as I can before Worlds.”

Andrew Torgashev, the 2023 U.S. bronze medalist who trains in Irvine, California with Raphael Arutyunyan, claimed silver in stellar fashion, maintaining his second-place standing in the short with an adrenalized free skate to ‘Scheherazade’ by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for which he was awarded a 191.55 and 286.49 total.

In this high-powered program, Torgashev reeled off a quad toe, quad toe-double toe, triple loop, triple Axel, triple Axel-double Axel sequence, triple Lutz-1/2 loop-triple Salchow and triple flip with power, height and ownership, skills and efforts which also generated a huge standing ovation from the super-enthusiastic Wichita crowd.

“It’s validating whenever you’re on the podium and it makes it seem like your hard work has been worth it,” said Torgashev. “It can inspire confidence and definitely gives motivation to keep training and keep pushing on.”

Camden Pulliken, the 2024 U.S. bronze medalist who was fourth in the short, claimed the bronze medal with his stellar free skate to ‘Outro’ and ‘Solitude’ by M83 for which he was awarded a 164.16 and 252.92 total.

Pulliken, who also placed fourth in the free skate at this event, executed a triple Lutz-double toe, triple Axel-1/2 loop-3 Salchow, triple loop, triple Axel, triple Lutz-double Axel sequence and triple flip as well as solid spins and compelling footwork.

“I think that sitting on the podium for the second time is super validating. I was happy to be here in Wichita and it was a great city that has hosted us,” said Pulliken, who trains in New York City with Alexander Johnson where he also works as a full-time finance industry professional. “So it was a great time being here.” 

Efimova and Mitrofanov Capture U.S. Pairs Crown

by Liz Leamy

Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov, the 2024 U.S. silver medalists who work with Olga Ganicheva and Alexei Letov at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, clinched the U.S. title in remarkable style in the pairs free skate event held in Wichita this past Saturday with a superb free skate program to Serge Lama’s ‘Je Suis Malade’ for which they earned a 142.87 for a 211.90 total.

This memorable performance, which resulted in Efimova & Mitrofanov catapulting right to the top final position after having finished third in the short program, was defined by power, skill, artistry and drama.

The two, who have only been skating together since 2023, reeled off a soaring split triple twist, side-by-side triple toes, a huge throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow, high-powered lifts and an interesting left forward outside death spiral, among other notable things, with great strength, command and ease.

“This is our second Nationals and I am very proud of us that we made it on top of the podium,” said Efimova. “It’s my dream right now for our [whole] team and community. I really wanted to do it for them because they do so much for us, our coaches, our parents, our skating club and everyone. I’m just really happy it turned out this way and I want to say thank you to them.”

Mitrofanov further elaborated.

“It was always a dream of mine to be able to stand on a podium and so today it’s very surreal. That’s the best way to put it right now,” said Mitrofanov. “I definitely want to thank my coaches, the club and our family. It wasn’t just us winning tonight, there was a whole community. For us right now it’s that we didn’t just win, but also the community.”

Katie McBeath & Daniil Parkman, another relatively new pair team who had only joined forces back in 2023, were another golden story to emerge out of this event with their impressive jump from fourth place in the short to second overall with their stellar free skate for which they were awarded a 127.65 and 190.57 total.

This powerful team, who trains with Jenni Meno-Sand, Todd Sand, Brandon Frazier and Christine Binder at Great Park Ice & Five Point Arena in Irvine, California, earned the event’s second-highest marks for their performance to Josh Groban’s ‘Per Te’ that was defined by an extensive array of top-grade elements as well as engaging artistry.

In their program, the duo reeled off a huge split triple twist, a rock-solid triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, huge throw triple loop, incredible fluid lifts and an innovative choreographic sequence, among other things, with all the called elements being marked at the optimal level four.

“It’s feels absolutely amazing,” said McBeath. “It has been a dream to be on a National podium and it came true today, so I’m very happy about that.”

Parkman agreed.

“It feels kind of unexplainable because some things were tough in the season, but with the support of our coaches, clubs, Great Park Ice & Five Point Arena and each other’s support, we are here. Thank you. Thank you very much everybody.”

Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea, the 2024 U.S. gold medalists, 2023 U.S. bronze medalists and 2024-2025 ISU Grand Prix finalists who lead the 12-entry competitive roster in the short, wound up with the bronze medal in the final standings for their valiant and courageous free skate to ‘Stand By Me’ by Ben E. King as performed by Florence and the Machine and ‘Concealed Passion’ by Audiomachine for which they earned a 112.38 and 189.57 total.

While their program featured an array of showstopping lifts, dramatic death spiral and outstanding combination spin, there were some glitches, including a missed a throw triple loop, throw triple Lutz and triple jump sequence and tumble as they finished their final lift.

Still, it was still more than clear that Kam and O’Shea, who train with Drew Meekins, Bruno Marcotte and Sandy Straub in Colorado Springs, were all about a top standard in regard to their rock-solid skating foundation, technique and general execution and alignment, something that transmitted powerfully among to the Wichita InTrust Bank Arena crowd, who cheered for them loudly throughout their entire program.

“Even though we didn’t have the best performance that we wanted to tonight, we are definitely still so blessed to be up on a podium with these amazing athletes we got to compete with,” said Kam. “They’re all so amazing.”

O’Shea concurred.

“We fought really hard tonight, but you know we’re going to use it as motivation,” said O’Shea. “To see the state of U.S. pairs continue to grow and push forward by amazing athletes, we consider ourselves very blessed to be on the podium.”

Like Efimova & Mitrofanov and McBeath & Parkman, Kam & O’Shea have only been together for a relatively short period of time, as their first season competing together was back in 2022.

Chock and Bates Score Sixth U.S. Title With Stunning Jazz-Themed Free Dance

by Liz Leamy

Madison Chock & Evan Bates, the powerhouse American dance duo who are the 2023 and 2024 World champions and five-time U.S. titlists, reigned supreme in the dance event at the U.S. Championships in Wichita on Saturday, claiming their sixth U.S. title with a 223.52 total, outdistancing the remainder of the 15-team roster by more than 13 points.

Notably, Chock & Bates were awarded a 131.36 for their compelling interpretation of the iconic jazz classic ‘Take Five’ by Dave Brubeck in which they executed their elements with command, flow and expertise.

The duo, who train in Montreal with Marie France-Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer, were awarded high grade of execution marks for such elements as their stunning rotational lift, choreographed twizzles and intricate footwork sequences, among other things.

For Chock & Bates, skating at the U.S Championships is always an experience that means a great deal to them.

“It honestly means the world to us. The U.S. Championships are always an event that we grew up coming to every January and watching every year on television as kids,” said Bates. “It’s really what made us fall in love with the sport. There’s something incredibly magical about this event and we hold it in very high regard.”  

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko, the 2024 U.S. silver medalists and 2023 U.S. bronze medalists, clinched their second consecutive U.S. silver medal in this discipline for their engaging free dance to ‘Carmen’ for which they earned a 127.93 and 210.79 total.

Covering the ice with tremendous command, posture and grace, Carreira and Ponomarenko reeled off a stunning straight-line lift, beautifully extended twizzles, an artful rotational lift and high-tech step sequences featuring well-executed turns and steps, among other things.

Donned in dramatic red and black costumes, Carreira and Ponomarenko told the fascinating, yet tragic story of Carmen with their skating, efforts that resonated big with the audience, something that also meant a great deal to both of them.

“It’s a really special event and it’s always fun to skate at home,” said Ponomarenko. “This dance field is so strong and we’re really proud to be on the podium and to be part of the competition.”

The two also elaborated on their intensive work in regard developing to their Carmen program.

“We had a huge training block of six to seven weeks where we did a lot of enhancements and really worked on the potential we believe it has,” said Ponomarenko, who, along with Carreira, train in London, Ontario with Scott Moir and Madison Hubbell. “So we’re still working in the right direction and I think we took a huge step today. We just have to keep working hard filling in the little nuances and skating to the best of our ability.”

Rachel Green & Michael Parsons, the 2022 Four Continents champions and four-time U.S. medalists, clinched bronze in this event, scoring a 123.24 in the free dance for a 205.37 total.

This powerhouse team, who train in Canton, Michigan with Charlie White, Tanith White and Greg Zuerlein, racked up high scores, stepped up from fourth in the Rhythm Dance to third due to their memorable performance to ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ by Arvo Part as performed by Angele Dubeau and La Pieta and ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ by Douglas Dare.

Their outcome at this main event represented a significant step for this team, to say the least, who had finished fourth at the 2024 NHK Trophy and sixth at the 2024 Cup of China last fall.

“This National Championship is the culmination of a huge amount of work that Caroline and I and our entire team have put in,” said Parsons. “This is just confirmation that the work that we put in and the dedication that we have to ourselves and to each other is paying off. We couldn’t be happier. We’re just taking it all in and we’re so thankful.”

Malinin Takes Commanding Lead in Men’s Short Program

by Liz Leamy

In characteristic style, Ilia Malininm, the 2024 World champion and 2023 and 2024 U.S. titlist, skated a magnificent short program in the men’s competition that featured two quads as well as a triple Axel to earn a 114.08 and catapult him right to the top of the 18-entry men’s field by more than 14 points.

Right from the start, Malinin, 19, hooked the crowd at the InTrust Bank Arena in Wichita with his riveting performance that was highlighted by soaring quad flip, triple Axel, quad Lutz-triple toe, high-octane footwork featuring his signature Raspberry move and a high-energy connecting steps.

“I felt really good with my skate today,” said Malinin, who also received a huge standing ovation from the crowd. “I felt like I was able to express myself and perform to my maximum capability.”

Andrew Torgashev, the 2023 U.S. bronze medalist, scored the second-best marks of the competition, a 94.94, for his exceptional interpretation of ‘L’Enfer’ by Stromae that was defined by power, musicality and energy and featured a high-octane quad toe, rock-solid triple Axel and nice triple flip-triple toe.

For Torgashev, 23, who trains in Irvine, California with Rafael Arutyunyan, it was all about doing his best.

“I’m really happy with my performance and how good my skate was today,” said Torgashev. “I would like to continue training, continue skating at this level and continue improving.”

Jimmy Ma, the dynamic 29-year old who hails from Great Neck, New York and has competed at 11 U.S. Championships to date with his highest finish having been fifth in 2023, clinched third with a 91.91 score for his stellar performance to ‘Mexican Phonk’ by Nueki and Tolchonov that was a big hit with the crowd.

Ma executed such notable elements as a huge quad toe, triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe with great strength, power and command as well as exciting spins and edge-of-your-seat footwork, all of which he enjoyed doing, especially in front of such a lively audience.

“I had a lot of fun with it,” said Ma about, who trains in Norwood with Alexei Letov and Olga Ganicheva. “The legs were listening, my mind was clear and I’m just glad people had fun with it.”

Ma also acknowledged the skills and accomplishments of his peers at this competition as well as those at events he has been in over the last number of years.

“It’s an honor just to be able to skate and compete and be friends with people who are great in their own way,” said Ma. “They inspire me to try and push my whole body to its limits and try to also offer something that’s unique unto myself.”

For these skaters, as with so many at all levels, everything ultimately comes down to the day to day training and trusting that process in competition and other showcase events.

“I think it comes down to training,” said Torgashev. “You know, it’s the everyday training and grinding away at it, being very smart and consistent in the approach to everyday training.”

Glenn Garners Solid Win in Women’s Showdown to Take Second Consecutive U.S. Title

by Liz Leamy

Amber Glenn, the 2024 U.S. titlist and 2024-2025 ISU Grand Prix Final champion, triumphantly skated away with top honors in the U.S. Championship women’s free skate, claiming her second consecutive U.S. title in golden style.

Earning the highest marks of the event, a 145.88 for a 216.79, Glenn’s program to ‘I Will Find You’ by AudioMachine and ‘The Return’ by Clann was stellar, with its main highlight being her signature showstopping move, a huge triple Axel. 

Catapulting to first, from third in the short, Glenn landed all but one of her jumps, and cleanly executed her spins, footwork and connecting steps with notable attack, power, command and strength while at the same time expressing the intrigue and emotion of the music in optimal fashion.

“Today I tried to attack everything I could,” said Glenn, who trains with Damon Allen and Tammy Gambill in Colorado Springs. “I’m very proud of my mental fortitude and the progress I’ve made and I hope to continue with the consistency throughout the rest of the season.”

Alysa Liu, the 2019 and 2020 U.S. champion who had catapulted to first place in the short program among the deep 18-entry field in exhilarating fashion the day prior to make for a stunning comeback following a two-year academic hiatus, clinched silver with a 138.97 free skate score to render a 215.33 total.

In the final tally, Liu’s marks also put her in close proximity of Glenn, as her total score was approximately one and a half points short of that total score.

For Liu, however, it was all about getting out there and skating.

“This just feels really crazy to me,” said Liu, who trains with Philip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in Lakewood, California. “I didn’t really have any expectations for myself placement wise, just program wise, so I felt really good throughout this experience.”

Liu, who had only again taken up skating last summer, emerged as a major comeback story of this competition due to her flawless short program in the initial round of this event and then her electric free skate to Donna Summer’s ‘MacArthur Park’ which was as big a hit with the audience as it was with the nine-member official panel.

In this edge-of-your-seat program, Liu executed all of her triples with power, quickness and confidence, all the while interpreting Summer’s celebrated 70s disco anthem with infectious spirit, understanding and enthusiasm.

Sarah Everhardt, the fourth-place finisher at last year’s Nationals who is reputed to be one of the sport’s most exciting up-and-coming stars, claimed the bronze medal with her action-packed program to Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird.’

Earning a 136.64 and 207.36 total, Everhardt executed high-powered triple jumps that were defined by excellent height, air position and beautifully held landings as well as high-voltage spins and other notable things.

“It’s amazing to be on the podium [with Amber and Alysa] and to see that I’ve made it to this level,” said Everhardt, who is from Haymarket, Virginia and trains with with Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov in Reston, Virginia. “It’s an amazing feeling.”

For all these talented and driven athletes, the real victory was just as much about the power of the group dynamic as it was about in terms of just doing their best, something that was more than apparent when they were all seen walking into the press conference together after the awards ceremony chatting, smiling and having fun together.

“I’m just really grateful to be on a podium with these two lovely ladies and I can’t wait to go to new events with them,” said Glenn. “I was just so proud of this group of women seeing the camaraderie backstage and seeing the supportiveness.”

Another leader of this elite group, Bradie Tennell, the two-time U.S. champion from Cary, Illinois who had placed second in the short, was fourth with a free skate score of 128.71 and 199.94 total.

Skating to Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ and ‘Nessun Dorma’ as performed respectively by Vanessa Mae and Jackie Evancho, Tennell reeled off her signature textbook-like triple jumps, spins and footwork in solid fashion, although she had stepped out on a few of her jump landings.

Tennell trains with Benoit Richard and Jeremy Allen in the New York metropolitan area.

Along with the memorable performances of all the top contenders, it was ultimately the stellar skating quality of the entire women’s field that emerged as the major takeaway of this event as it reflected the renowned gold-star standard of American figure skating in a clear manner, something that all of those on hand at the InTrust Bank Arena appeared to very much honor, uphold and appreciate.

Chock and Bates Take Resounding Lead in the Rhythm Dance

by Liz Leamy

Madison Chock & Evan Bates, the 2023 and 2024 World Champions, 2022 Olympic team gold medalists and five-time U.S. titlists, soared to first in the Championship rhythm dance competition in triumphant fashion, taking a more than a 10-point among the 15-entry roster with a 92.16 due to their arresting rendition to a medley number-one American hits dating from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Chock, who wore a stunning red dress and Bates, who donned a grey suit with a white shirt and tie, once again, showed up for the proverbial party, racking up big marks for their mesmerizing horizontal cartwheel lift, terrific twizzle sequence and smooth and easy step sequence, among other notable things.

For this uber-accomplished American team, regarded to be some of the most iconic skaters in modern-day skating and who famously married in Hawaii last summer, it’s all about continuously raising the bar.

“We’re really big on self improvement and just trying to find every little iota of improvement that we can find within ourselves,” said Bates in a media press conference last August at the annual U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood. “We feel the programs are fresh for us, which is something we really value a lot.”

Chock & Bates train with Marie France-Dubrieul, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer in Montreal, where they also reside.

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarkenko, the 2024 U.S. silver medalists and 2023 U.S. bronze medalists, clinched second with their emotionally charged program to music by Etta James and Little Richard, for which they were awarded an 82.86.

The duo, who train with Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz in Canada, wowed onlookers with their stellar rotational lift, innovative choreographic rhythm sequence, intricate midline step sequence, engaging Paso Doble pattern step sequence and other outstanding elements.

“We feel pretty good about our skate today,” said Carreira. “I felt kind of cautious about it, but we’re still happy with the outcome and I think it was a good performance.”

Ponomarkenko agreed.

“We trusted our training and trusted each other and made it through,” said Ponomarenko. “We’re looking to have a better skate overall in the free with confidence.”

Moreover, the duo covered the ice in silk-like fashion, flowing over it with energy, quickness and speed, while at the same time, demonstrating amazing body lean and command of their skating.

For Carreira & Ponomarenko, the goal in this portion of the competition was to just do their best.

“This is a very complex program that is very high energy, so we’ve worked on making sure we’re matching our arms and refining the little moments that make the overall program look very nice and clean,” said Ponomarenko.

Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik, the 2023 U.S. National fourth-place finishers, claimed third with their dynamic disco-infused short dance to a Bee Gees medley featuring the iconic 70s hits, ‘Jive Talkin,’ ‘Staying Alive’ and ‘Night Fever’ for which they earned generated an 82.13.

Donned in purple sequin, gold and black costumes, the duo, who trains in Novi, Michigan, did such notable elements as a lightning-like rotational lift, high-powered midline step sequence and lively choreographic sequence in which the crowd clapped in tandem with each one of their steps and movements.

“I think we’re pretty happy with our performance today,” said Zingas. “This season has been a season of growth and a lot of learning for us again so we’re happy to be here and worked really hard in the time that we had since our last competition. I think that showed, as well as how much we enjoyed this program and this dance style.”

Kolesnik concurred.

“I enjoyed every second of it, the crowd was crazy, we went crazy and I was happy with everything,” said Kolesnik.

The team, who only have been skating together since 2022, are coached by Igor Shpilband, Natalia Deller, Adrienne Lenda and Pasquale Camerlengo.

In this event, Zingas & Kolesnik tied in total segment points with Caroline Green & Michael Parsons, who also had scored an 82.13, eeking out third by roughly two-tenths of a point tiebreaker based on the technical element scores.

Alysa Liu Soars to Top of Leaderboard in Women’s Short Program With Stellar Comeback Performance

by Liz Leamy

Alysa Liu, the 2019 and 2020 U.S. champion, made an indelible mark in the women’s short program competition at the U.S. Championships Thursday night, earning the highest marks, a 76.36, among the field of 18 entries, to in turn position herself for a third consecutive National senior title.

Liu’s electric performance to the stirring piece, ‘Promise’ by Laufey and Dan Wilson, was lyrical, high energy and compelling and featured such notable highlights as a triple flip-triple toe, triple Lutz, double Axel, high-velocity spins and fluid footwork defined by big curves and body movements.

At the conclusion of this performance, Liu received a loud standing ovation from the crowd, something that was especially poignant considering she has been absent from the competitive circuit since 2022 upon having decided to attend college full time at the University of California in Los Angeles at that point.

“I was really excited to present my short program on this big stage,” said Liu, who also lives in Richmond, California and trains with Philip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in Lakewood. “Nationals is such a big competition and I was just anticipating doing my best short program here. I was emotional from the very beginning to the end and I really loved that and I felt very connected to the ice.”

Bradie Tennell, the 2021 and 2018 U.S. champion from Cary, Illinois, scored the second-biggest marks of this competition, a 71.23, for her dramatic presentation of Ronan Hardiman’s ‘Cry of the Celts’ and ‘Lord of the Dance’ which also had a big effect upon the high-energy Wichita crowd, who gave her a loud ovation upon its conclusion.

In her characteristic style, Tennell reeled off her elements with terrific ease, power and tenacity, with highlights being a lightning-quick triple Lutz-triple toe, triple loop, double Axel, high-velocity spins and fluid footwork, among other things.

“It was really exciting for me to do this program because it’s come along way since the beginning of the season and I have such joy when I perform it,” said Tennell, who is coached by Benoit Richard and Jeremy Allen in the New York City metropolitan area. “It’s a very energetic and fun program and it’s different from the things I’ve done before, so it’s very fun for me to skate and especially in front of a crowd, so I was excited to give a good performance tonight.”

Tennell was also happy about the prospect of being back competing at this celebrated event after having missed it last year due to an ankle injury.

“I was very excited to skate here again after missing last year,” said Tennell. “I was just kind of feeling a lot of emotions today because last January, January 26^th of last year, was my second surgery for my ankle, so it’s not even been a full year yet and it’s just a little surreal to be back at Nationals and skating.”

Citing last year’s situation as an example of life’s many different, but ultimately tool-building experiences, Tennell has once again, valiantly positioned herself as one of the sport’s veritable leaders and is in close range of capturing another U.S. title at this event, which is exciting.

“I think every year, we all kind of evolve, change and grow as people,” said Tennell, when asked about being back in medal and title contention at Nationals in tandem with Liu by a reporter at the post-competition press conference. “We’ve both grown in different ways but I would say we’re both competitors and have a very healthy respect for each other and what we do and we’re both here because we love it.”

Tennell also elaborated on the importance of the love of skating and how, for her, it serves as a base power source in both the sport and in her life.

“I think we both connect on that aspect of the joy of skating,” said Tennell, upon being asked about her journey in the sport in relation to Liu at the post-event media conference. “That’s what makes competition fun, right?”

Amber Glenn, the reigning U.S. titlist and 2024-2025 ISU Grand Prix Final champion from Plano, Texas was third in the standings for her riveting interpretation of Janet Jackson’s ‘This Time,’ for which she was earned a score of 70.91.

Another major favorite with the Wichita crowd, Glenn flew around the ice with the speed, presence and strength of a premier world contender, knocking such stellar elements as a soaring triple flip-double toe, electric triple loop, high-octane spins and a fast, intricate footwork sequence, among other notable things.

Although she stood up her signature thrilling triple Axel, it was two footed with a q call, however, which did an effect on her technical score.

Still, Glenn’s program was exceptional as she told members of the media at the post-event press conference that she is looking forward to skating full out in the pending free skate event.

“I did not feel the attack or adrenaline going out there today,” said Glenn, who trains in Colorado Springs with Damon Allen and Tammy Gambill. “I do feel like I will be able to give that attack tomorrow in the free skate and not hold back as much as I did today. I want to try and go full out.”

Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea Dominate Pairs Short Competition

by Liz Leamy

Kicking off this year’s U.S. Nationals in commanding style, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the reigning U.S. champions, prevailed in the pairs short program skating to a resounding lead with a 77.19 to catapult them to the top of the 12-entry leaderboard by nearly eight points.

Skating to the stirring ‘Rain in Your Black Eyes’ by Ezio Bosso, the duo, who trains in Colorado Springs with Drew Meekins, Bruno Marcotte and Sandy Straub, executed a split triple twist, side-by-side triple Salchows, a throw triple loop and stunning level four lift in which they covered the entire rink length with ease, fluidity and mastery, among other memorable things.

The team, who were 2024 ISU Grand Prix finalists, also commanded the ice from the moment they took their starting position all the way to the conclusion of their performance and earned big applause from the lively Wichita InTrust Bank Arena audience.

For Kam and O’Shea, it was a moment to remember.

“We did a program we’re proud of today and we were proud to go out there,” said O’Shea.

His partner agreed.

“I think we’ve made our skating more focused and narrowing down our thoughts in our production, we’re more together so that we just become more one instead of just Ellie and Danny,” said Kam.

Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, the 2023 U.S. silver medalists who train with Alexei Letov in Boston, earned the second-highest marks of the competition, a 69.10, for their breathtaking performance to Ed Sheeran’s ‘Give Me Love.’

Flying around the ice with the stealth and speed of world-class contenders, Chan and Howe earned big marks from the nine-member judging panel for their split triple twist, throw triple flip, amazing level four lift and intriguing death spiral, as well as other elements.

For the duo, it just was all about doing their job.

“We’re really happy with our training and wanted to give everything that we had out there,” said Chan. “We felt that in terms of energy there were some things we could definitely do better but overall, we’re really happy with our presentation today.”

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, the 2024 U.S. silver medalists, racked up the third-best scores of this competition, a 69.03, for their electric performance to ‘Ameska’ and ‘Uccen’  by the Taalbi Brothers, putting them just seventh-tenths of a point behind Chan and Howe, to set an exciting stage up for the free skate showdown.

Although they had a slight misstep on their side-by-side triple toes, this dynamic team scored stellar marks for their split triple twist, throw triple loop, level four lift, step sequence and combination spins, along with other things.

According to Efimova and Mitrofanov, who train in Boston with Olga Ganicheva and Alexei Letov, they were happy with their performance.

“Overall we’re really happy with our presentation today,” said Mitrofanov. “We were really working on our emotions, not just in terms of technical and we were able to go out there and show that.”

Von Felton Makes a Bit of History While Winning Junior Women Gold

by Lynn Rutherford

Mired in seventh place after falling on her triple axel, triple toe loop combination in Wednesday’s short program, Sophie Joline von Felton had little to lose in her free skate. She would go for all of it: a quadruple salchow, and two triple axels.

“I love making history,” the 16-year-old, who trains at Skating Club of Boston, said.

Some three-and-a-half minutes later, she had done just that, becoming the first U.S. woman to land a quad salchow in competition.

“I feel amazing, because I trained hard for it,” she said. “I skated (the program) with the axels, and without axels, many times. At first, it didn’t work out. Then, it got better and better. I started skating clean programs. I’m so happy my hard work paid off.”

Stepping on to the ice as the final skater in the penultimate group, Von Felton trailed short program leader Skylar Lautowa-Peguero by nearly seven points. She made up ground with the first three elements in her Romeo & Juliet free: a triple axel, quad salchow and triple axel, double toe loop combination.

The opening salvo added some 30.08 points to her score, including three bonus points, and she went on to land five other triples, including a triple flip, triple toe loop combination in the program’s second half. She won the free skate with 131.82 and amassed a total score of 188.84 points, just 0.84 more than Lautowa-Peguero.

The technical panel added a “q” to the quad, meaning they thought it might be exactly a quarter-turn short. A “q,” though, does not lessen the jump’s 9.70 base value.

“No (U.S. woman) had ever landed a quad salchow at nationals or ever,” Von Felton said. “It’s okay it had a q, but the next time hopefully it works out clean.”

Under coaches Alexey Letov and Olga Ganicheva, the Swiss-born skater has made history before. Last year, she became the first woman to land a triple axel at the U.S. Championships in the junior event.

Early this season, Von Felton was hampered by inconsistency. She won gold at a Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia, but as a last-minute addition to a second Junior Grand Prix in China, she placed 13^th. All this changed as she prepared for Wichita.

“Actually, the last week (before the U.S. Championships) I skated only clean programs,” she said. “So I was a little shocked not to be able to do that in the short here.”

Lautowa-Peguero, too, had a superb free skate. Performing to “Inspiration” by Florian Christl, the petite 12-year-old showed seven precise, clean triple jumps, several done with both arms overhead, including a triple loop, double axel, double axel sequence.

The youngster was one of the most well-balanced skaters in the event, achieving Level 4 for all three of her spins and impressing judges with her choreo sequence. Her program component score of 53.59 led the field, and she placed second in the free with 124.06 and second overall with 188.

“I feel so good that I actually put two programs together and they were strong,” Lautowa-Peguero said. “I had a rocky season before this competition. I went through some things that I never went throughbefore. (At one competition) I popped three times in my long and stepped out of my combo in the short. I was feeling down. The next competition I got back up, but (next time) I did the same thing; I popped three times in the long and stepped out of combo in short.”

Lautowa-Peguero, who splits her training time between Hackensack, New Jersey and Newburgh, New York, buckled down with coaches Larisa Selezneva and Patch David, as well as mom Julia Lautowa, a six-time Austrian champion, with an eye on making her mark in Wichita.

“I worked really hard before this competition,” she said. “I started doing a lot more run-throughs, and I felt better about myself. All of my hard work paid off – I skated two clean programs at nationals, and I feel excited to keep going and have more opportunities in the future.”

Jessica Jurka, fifth after the short program, performed a charming, creative free skate choreographed by Stephanie Chace Bass to “Three Card Switch” from the Good Omens album by David Arnold. With seven triple jumps, including three in combination, it scored 176.23 points and lifted her to third place and the bronze medal with 117.74 total.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs this season, and I’d definitely have to say that this is an up program for me,” Jurka said. “I gave all I could today.”

The 15-year-old, who trains with Stephanie Kuban in Colorado Springs, Colorado, paid special attention to the details: refined hand and arm movements, positions in spins and a high split jump. Her triples were high, and she held her landings.

“That’s one of the things I like most about my skating,” she said. “My jumps are flowy and soft. It’s not an athletic type of program, but more like beauty and grace in it. I worked very hard to get it like that.”

Born in Lima, Peru, Jurka is a 2023 recipient of the Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Fund Promising Award of $10,000. She is an ambassador for young skaters in Ecuador, where she has taught youngsters the value of working hard to achieve your goals.

Emilia Nemirovsky, second after the short, claimed the pewter medal with 175.30 points. Her free skate, choreographed by Zuzanna Parchem to selections by Eternal Eclipse and Nicholas Britell earned 112.41 points and included four triple jumps and two Level 4 spins.

“I think it was OK,” the Detroit-based skater said. “I kind of lost in the second half but I was determined, so that’s all that matters.”

Like Jurka, Nemirovsky’s jumps were high, effortless and softly landed. The 15-year-old attributes this not only to skating coaches Julie Berlin, Parchem and Garrett Lucash, but to Ken Kashubara, head coach of the Sport Heaven Track Club.

“When I was younger, I did track and gymnastics, so I built a lot of muscle,” said Nemirovsky, whose favorite track events are the 100 meter and 200-meter sprints. “I think that definitely helped to get the power in the jumps I landed today.”

Junior Man Lorenzo Elano Wins First U.S. Medal, and It's Gold

by Lynn Rutherford

Consistency won the day for Lorenzo Elano, who placed second in both the short program and free skate to earn 202.65 points and win the junior men’s crown in Wichita, Kansas on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t my best performance, I’ve done way better in practice,” an ebullient Elano said after his free skate, set to a Philip Glass medley including “Mad Rush” and “The Hours.”

“Honestly, coming off of the ice, I wasn’t sure about how my score was going to be,” he added. “I’m really happy with my first national medal.”

The 17-year-old from Chicago arrived at the U.S. Championships a bit under the radar, never having competed at a Junior Grand Prix. He did win a silver medal at a junior “B” event in Nice, France in October – his first-ever international event -- followed by gold at the Midwestern Sectionals in November. 

Elano’s confidence was momentarily shaken when, after opening with a strong triple lutz, triple toe loop combination, he fell on his second jump, a triple flip. He recovered with a triple loop and second triple lutz combination in the program’s second half, and gained the event’s highest PCS marks, 69.45.

“I’m glad I kept going, because I had a pretty rough start,” he said. “I kept doing what I do best. I’m really glad that I didn’t leave as many points as I could have on the table.”

The skater partly credits his music with helping him overcome the miscue. Glass, the influential minimalist composer and pianist, was also a favorite of 2022 Olympic champion Nathan Chen, who performed his free skate to a Glass medley during the 2020-2021 season.

“My coaches (Jeremy Allen and Denise Myers) brought it up to me, and Tommy Steenberg choreographed it,” he said. “I felt like I connected with it really well. It helped me get through some of the rough spots in the program.”

Third after the short, Aleksandr Fegan won the free skate and the silver medal with a speedy and near-clean rendition of Igor Stravinsky’s “Firebird,” highlighted by some fine spins. He notched 131.35 in the free and 201.64 overall.

“I thought it was pretty decent,” the 15-year-old from Little Falls, New Jersey, who trains in Hackensack under Roman Serov, said.

“I was pretty happy with myself, because five minutes before I went on the ice, my leg started to hurt really bad, and I wasn’t sure I could compete. And I’m just happy I was able to skate as well as I did today.”

Fegan, also the 2024 U.S. junior bronze medalist, is only the latest in a long list of U.S. medalists who have chosen to perform to music from the Russian ballet.

“I thought it fit me well, so I decided to test my abilities on it,” he said.

The fast-paced selection served to highlight Fegan’s spinning ability, among the best of the event.

“I’m always (working on) spinning,” he said. “For me, I like spins, and I like to focus on getting Level 4’s and having them well executed.”

Patrick Blackwell, who led by more than six points after Tuesday’s short program, fell four times in the free, including a tumble on his opening quad toe. Still, the Boston-based skater landed two triple axels and maintained his vigor throughout his performance to Gabriel Saban’s “Smoke and Mirrors,” choreographed by Adam Blake. It gave him the bronze medal with 195.77 points.

“I chose (this music) because I like to categorize myself as a very enthusiastic, open, super-aggressive person, energy-wise,” he said. “I wanted something very energetic to show that, rather than polish. While I'm working on adding polish, energy is my strong suit right now.”

His 118.04-point free skate here did not approach Blackwell’s personal best at the Czech Junior Grand Prix early this season, where he landed his quad toe and gained 152.14 points.  Several injuries, including a recent broken thumb, impacted his preparation for the U.S. Championships.

“I think I had higher expectations of myself, just because of how I came away from my Junior Grand Prix,” he said. “Pressure wise, I think (the pressure at nationals) is about the same. Mainly for me, I had (put) more pressure on myself …. But the main takeaway was the experience of doing my first nationals, ever. I still find it a valuable lesson, even though I had my struggles.”

Fifth after the short, New Jersey skater Kirk Haugeto skated a creative and ambitious program set to music from the 1981 Christopher Bruce ballet “Ghost Dances” that gained third place in the free skate with 121.86 points. His 184.29 total earned him the pewter medal. 

The evocative selections, most famously performed by ice dancers Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay in the early 1990’s, inspired the young skater.

“I love the ballet, it’s a very good story,” the 15-year-old said. “The story is like you’re coming back, and no matter what people drive you to -- no matter how far people put you down -- you can rise up and show greatness.”

Haugeto attempted a triple axel early in his program but fell. He did it, and the other six triple jumps in program, with both arms overhead, ala 2016 U.S. champion Adam Rippon.

“I do all of my jumps that way,” he said. “I kind of like it. It’s fun.”

Skylar Lautowa-Peguero Takes Junior Women Short Program

Patrick Blackwell First in Junior Men's Short Program

Reagan Moss & Jakub Galbavy Lead in Junior Pairs Short Program

Ilia Malinin Looking to Make Another Lasting Mark in Wichita

by Liz Leamy

(19 January 2025) Ilia Malinin, the illustrious 2024 World champion and 2023 and 2024 U.S. gold medalist, is geared up and ready to make another lasting mark in Wichita at the U.S. Championships that will be held at the InTrust Bank Arena January 20^th-26^th.

The 20 year-old skating sensation, who lives in Vienna, Virginia and trains in nearby Reston, Virginia with his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, both of who were Olympic and World singles contenders in the 1990s, as well as Raphael Arutyunyan is amped to continue his remarkable skating journey at this celebrated annual sports event next week.

Malinin, who, last December, captured his second consecutive ISU Grand Prix Final title in Grenoble, France after having claimed the same coveted finish in 2023, has been on a golden mission in regard to building his skills and artistry at an astonishing level, having famously executed all seven quads, at this most recent celebrated global event.

“I’m trying to create this whole new entertainment for people watching the sport. I think that’s one of my main things,” said Malinin in a pre-Nationals media teleconference. “It’s emotional to me just knowing that [several years] back, I was technically just a jumper, but now I feel like a lot of people, more and more, are starting to appreciate what I can bring in terms of artistry and creativity. I think that all the work that I put in for all those years is what I’m just proud of.”

This season, Malinin has earned big props all around in noting the high scores he has racked up for artistry as well as for his renowned technicality in competitions this season so far, with him skating to ‘Running’ by NF for his short program and ‘I’m Not a Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse for his long program, both which are pieces designed by Shae Lynn Bourne, the 2003 Canadian World dance champion with Victor Kraatz.

“It was a really fun time this year, especially just having both pieces of music which are different from what I’d usually pick,” said Malinin.

Meanwhile, Malinin described his short program music as something very meaningful to him.

“It was the song I’ve been listening to for over three years now on repeat, so it’s just something that I wanted to try and fit my own emotions into the piece,” said Malinin.

Malinin then went on to say how his free program is something he feels as very interesting and was also one that he very much enjoyed learning in tandem with Bourne.

“She’s one of the best, so she was able to put a really good long program together,” said Malinin. “I think it’s one of my favorite long programs I’ve ever done with her. I’m able to put all my emotions into it and really just feel like myself when I’m doing that program.”

Malinin also elaborated about the beauty of skating, likening it to an art.

“In my opinion, I think it is an art,” said Malinin. “Everyone has their own way of viewing art and there’s always different artists and people who have their own vision of a ‘perfect’ image of a painting, and so everyone has their own unique style of skating.”

As he gets ready to skate in Wichita next week, Malinin also expressed excitement at the prospect of competing in such an iconic American destination.

“I’m really excited to go to Wichita. I hear that it’s the original place for Pizza Hut [too]. I’m really looking forward to seeing that and I think it’s going to be a fun time,” said Malinin. “It’s really fun to travel to all the different places, see new states, meet new people and see how much they enjoy figure skating.”

Amber Glenn Excited to Compete at Nationals

by Liz Leamy

(19 January 2025) Amber Glenn, the reigning U.S. champion and 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final gold medalist who has been on a remarkable trajectory in the domestic and global skating realm over the past several years, is as amped as ever to compete at the 2025 U.S. Championships in Wichita.

Citing this main annual event, regarded to be one of the most highly anticipated showdowns of the sports world every year, as one she is very much looking forward to, Glenn seems optimally poised and prepared to indeed clinch a second consecutive U.S. title, especially based on her results this past season.

This past fall, Glenn, known for her incredible energy and stunning jumping acumen (as she is one of the only women in the world able to execute a clean and rock-solid triple Axel) dominated the ISU Championship Grand Prix circuit, scoring first at the Grand Prix de France and Cup of China that were held in November prior to clinching the Grand Prix Final crown in Grenoble, France last December in which she outdistanced a formidable field of premier world skaters, including Kaori Sakamoto, the three-time Japanese World champion in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and 2022 Olympic bronze medalist.

Last January, Glenn, who grew up in Plano, Texas and trains in Colorado Springs with Damon Allen and Tammy Gambill, triumphantly claimed her first U.S. title in Columbus, Ohio in valiant style, catapulting to the top of the formidable American women’s field with technically loaded back-to-back short and long programs, among other things.

Glenn, 25, who is also the 2021 U.S. silver medalist and 2023 U.S. bronze medalist, is excited to continue her exhilarating journey as she prepares to compete at the U.S. Championships next week, which will be held January 20^th through the 26th at the INTRUST Bank Arena in downtown Wichita.

“I am feeling very excited. This is my ninth senior U.S. Championships and I’m going as the top lady which is a position I’m very fortunate to be in,” said Glenn in a pre-Nationals media teleconference last week. “I want to have a good time and see everyone.”

Glenn also expressed excitement at the prospect of competing amongst a roster of so many exceptional skaters, which also includes two other U.S. champions, Alysa Liu, the 2019 and 2020 U.S. champion and Bradie Tennell, the 2018 and 2021 U.S. titlist as well as the many other talented and accomplished contenders who will be there.

“These [skaters] have accomplished great things and then we also have these newcomers who are doing great,” said Glenn.

Glenn, who will skating to Janet Jackson’s high-octane ‘This Time’ for her short and to Audiomachine’s moving ‘I Will Find You’ and ‘The Return’ by Clann for her free skate, also talked about her mindset this past season and how she had garnered such great strength from her years of experience leading up to this juncture in her life.

“As I came into my own, I really did some reflection on who I am. Along with that came [the realization of] deciding to skate and how I wanted to skate not for the scores, but for myself,” said Glenn. “I would really say I came into my own in the last couple of years and luckily I had a lot of good resources and a lot of good tools. I asked for help, so I was able to get here and I’m now doing what I never thought I’d be doing.”

As Glenn continues her remarkable journey, she expressed her gratitude in terms of being part of this event to help further build exposure and excitement about the sport, saying that when she first started, she had been very much inspired when the U.S. Championships had been held near her home in Dallas, Texas, in 2003.

“That’s when we started getting into skating and it snowballed,” said Glenn. “I think the National Championships could do the same thing in Wichita by having people come out and experience figure skating.”

2024 Grand Prix Final

Grenoble, FRA

4 - 10 December 2024

Malinin Free Skate, What went Wrong?

One of the more surprising programs at the Grand Prix Final was Ilia Malinin's frees skate.  Surprising, but for the wrong reason, with all seven of his jump elements called with missing rotation.  When the protocol was posted we were all in shock.  Was it really that bad?

Making use of a new higher performance camera at the Final, we photographed Malinin's free skate with 24 Mpixel images - equivalent to 11K video resolution, if such a thing existed - 25 msec temporal resolution, and a 1/1250 shutter speed.  We captured part or all of his jump elements, and have used that to compare analysis of the photographic record to the calls given for each of the jump elements. To do this we measured the line of flight of the jump and the angle of the blade with respect to the line of flight, taking into account perspective correction.  We also measured the time in the air for each quad.

For each jump element we provide next the call and the result of our measurements.

Images of the jumps can be found in the following YouTube video.

4Fq	4F< - just past quarter - 0.68 sec
4Aq	4A - less than quarter - 0.80 sec
4Lz<	4Lz< - just past quarter - 0.70 sec
4Lo<	4Lo< - very close to << - 0.63 sec
4Lz< + 1Eu + 3S	4Lz< + 1Eu +3S - just past quarter - roughly 0.68 sec
4Tq + 3T	4T< + 3T - very close to 4T<< - 0.63 sec
4Sq + 3A + SEQ	4S< + 3A + SEQ - very close to 4S<< - 0.58 sec

By our analysis Malinin was robbed of points on the 4A and gifted points on the 4F, 4T combination and the 4S sequence.  The difference in base value points is enough to erase most of his lead in the event.  Depending on what the judges would have done for GoEs with the correct calls he might well have ended up second overall in the event; however, we can only guess at what the judges would have done and make no prediction on what his final score would have been.

One can also, of course, question whether the calls for Kagiyama were equally flawed.

We did the same analysis for Kagiyama's jumps and found no differences between our analysis and the official calls.

So why were Kagiyama's jumps all fully rotated and Malinin's not?  To answer this we measured the height of the jumps for both skaters.  While the height of Kagiyama's jumps were what one typically sees for quads and triples and his past performances, Malinin's jumps in the Final free skate were distinctly lower than other performances, except for the quad Axel, which was near his usual height for that jump.

For whatever reason, in the Final, Malinin did not achieve the time in the air that he usually does, and thus could not complete the rotations in the lesser time available.  We also note that as the program progressed, the time in the air for the quads decreased after the first 4Lz, being less than 0.6 sec by the end of the program.  The average time in the air for Kagiyama's three quads was 0.71 sec.

[In contrast, in the short program, the time in the air for Malinin's triple Axel and quads averaged 0.71 sec.]

Another takeaway from this, though the sample is small, is that it appears when jumps are fully rotated the technical panel gets it right, but when jumps have missing rotation technical panels make numerous errors.  For Malinin's free skate the accuracy of the calls was 3/7 = 43%.  We attribute this to the inadequate capabilities of the replay system used by technical panels, a subject we have discussed in depth in the past.

Finally we observe that these jump examples suggest that determining the missing rotation in a jump might be better determined by an accurate measurement of the time in the air together with the average rotation rate.  We note that quads with < are about 0.7 sec in the air or less and quads near << are about 0.6 sec in the air or less.  Comparison with clean examples elsewhere have quads with less than one-quarter missing rotation in the air 0.7 sec or greater.  Clean examples of Malinin quad Axels have 0.8 sec in the air or greater.

Common Air Time for Missing Rotation, for Quads other than Axel
(Give or take a few tenths of second, depending on average rotation rate.)

David Sanchez Interview

Senior Report

Junior Report

French Team Press Conference

Senior Preview

Junior Preview

The Raspberry Twist, What Is It?

Revised 13 December 2024:  Following the Grand Prixs we obtained a new camera that allows us to study elements in detail with nearly three times the temporal resolution as previously.  We got to use this camera at the final to revisit this element.  The text has been updated accordingly.

The raspberry twist is a signature move for Ilia Malinin. It is a dramatic jump used as a connecting move in both the short program and free skate. But what is it?  So much is happening, and is so unexpected, it is hard to say looking in real time.

While included in both programs the executions differ slightly.  In the short program the pattern is counterclockwise and the jump is exited with several turns and steps.  In the free skate the pattern is clockwise and the jump is exited with steps into twizzles on the right foot. In both programs the jump is executed in the same place on the ice.

The following YouTube slideshows provided stop motion images from Malinin's two programs at 2024 Skate America, the short porgram at the Grand Prix final.

Skate America

Grand Prix Final

The jump entry begins with steps and turns ending with a LFO to LBI three turn.  The skater then sets the right foot, pivots on the right toe and rides the LBI edge for much of 1/2 of a rotation, and finishes the initial half rotation on the left toe [the amount of each varies with execution].  He then takes off from the left toe while the right leg kicks back and up.  There is no turn or step onto a forward edge. Kicking the leg propels the skater into a lateral position nearly parallel to the ice.  There are then 1 1/2 rotations in the air.

The pre-rotation is not a part of cheating the jump as pre-rotation is in other cases.  Rather, riding the LBI edge to mostly forwards with the right leg back puts the skater into a position that allows the right leg to be kicked back and up to change the air orientation.

The jump lands on a LBI edge.  The free foot toe is quickly put down on the ice.  In the short program the exit consists of double threes on the left foot, a step from LBI to RFI [a Mohawk], a RFI to RBO three turn, then a hop and tap from RBO onto RFI [a falling leaf].  In the free skate the exit instead has the free foot put down on its edge and then the skater rotates one half rotation on widely spaced two feet.  He then steps into twizzles on the right foot.

Putting the free foot down rather than gliding out of the landing is driven by the fact the lateral air position causes the weight of the skater to be forward of the left toe on the landing.  Putting the right foot down is necessary to prevent the skater from falling forward on the landing.

So what does all that make this jump?

Even though it has 1 1/2 rotations in the air and takes off from the left toe this is definitely not an Axel.  It does not have the same entry motion as an Axel and never gets on a left forward edge.  Nor is the free leg motion that of an Axel.

As it starts on a LBI edge and the initially free right toe contacts the ice, it might be considered a variation of a flip jump; however, the right foot doesn't really tap the ice, but rather provides a pivot point to ride the LBI edge for 1/2 rotation.  Also in a flip the entry leg leaves the ice first followed by the tapping leg.  In this case that is reversed. But fundamentally, not being a tap jump this isn't a flip either.

The other jump from a back inside edge is the Salchow [long ago once also known as a toeless flip], and many skaters today use the nominally free foot to assist in the take-off without a tapping motion.  In that case, the foot assisting the Salchow leaves the ice first and then the entry foot, as we see here.  So of all the listed jumps, the raspberry twist might be described as a one foot double Salchow with a one-half pre-rotation, a lateral air orientation and loose air position. 

Since the rules allow jumps to be landed on either foot and judges don't seem to care about pre-rotation, this could be considered a listed jump with a 2S base value.  But since it is executed after all other jumps elements, whether it is or is not is irrelevant to the scoring.

But wait, there's more. The take-off from the toe while kicking the free leg is also the take-off for a flying camel spin; but instead of laying out parallel to the ice and landing into a camel spin, the skater inserts 1 1/2 rotations and then exits the landing without executing a spin.  In a flying camel there is 1/2 rotation in the air and the skater lands on the right foot and commences the camel spin.  In the raspberry twist an additional rotation is added, with a bent right leg.  The bent right leg precludes landing on the right leg.

Whatever you call it, though, it is a spectacular moment in each program.

Loena Hendrickx: “My love of the sport is just too big to quit”

by Tatjana Flade

Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx has made history more than once and is the most successful skater from her country. She is a European Champion, two-time World medalist, Grand Prix Final medalist, Grand Prix event Champion … However, there is more to her career than just medals. Loena had to overcome many challenges on her way to the top and she is a role model for young skaters from all over the world.

The off-season was busy for Loena with shows for example in Japan, Canada and a visit in Paris during the Olympic Games – including some roller skating around the Eiffel Tower. Obviously, the preparation for the new season and the work on new programs continued nevertheless. Hendrickx revealed her new music in July: For the Short Program, she picked the jazzy “Black and Gold” by Brenna Withaker and for the Free “Believe” by Madilyn Bailey. Her long-time choreographer Adam Solya once again created these programs for her.

The process of creating a new program takes some time from the selection of the music to fine-tuning every detail. “Jorik was already searching music before Worlds and was putting on different kind of styles on the ice,” Loena said about the Short Program. “We immediately liked the song, the kind of style as well. It's also a style that I've never done before, but it's also not as crazy as last year because that was really a different style.”

The editing of the music plays an important part as well, to enhance it and to make sure it perfectly suits Loena’s skating. Hendrickx and her brother and coach Jorik as well as Solya have been working together with music designer Hugo Chouinard from Canada. It is not always easy when everyone is in a different time zone like this April, when Loena was in Europe, Jorik attended a camp in Australia and Chouinard was at home in Canada.

For her Free Skating, the European Champion was looking for a softer, more lyrical style this time. “For the free now I want to put more attention on my skating skills because the Vogue program was a lot with the arms and it took away a bit of my skating skills,” she explained. “The attention was really on the vogueing. In the free program we want to show to everyone that I don't have to hide my skating skills behind the choreography so that's something we want to focus on.

“It's the feedback from the audience, from skating people. They were telling me that I try to hide myself behind the choreo because my programs are full of choreo. However, that is what makes a program way harder to skate. If you don't have so much choreo, a free program is easier to skate. With a lot of choreo, it's harder for your condition, the breathing. I think many people in the audience don't really know this part because they think I try to hide my skating skills. But that's not what it is, it's just to make my program even harder. So now I just want to show them something else. This is what I like to do from the beginning on - I just tried to go out of my comfort zone, show them that I'm not only a skater who can skate on one type of music.

I want to show as well that I'm very open for any style.”

Winning the European title was a big goal that Hendrickx achieved last January. “I think I was living towards this goal for two years now because last year Europeans (2023) I didn't accomplish my goal,” the 24-year-old commented. “So this year I really felt that I really had to go for it. Living two years towards one goal is just very tiring for my body. Also mentally it was very hard and I started the (past) season with a lot of hesitations because the summer wasn't easy for me. I lost a lot of jumps and I lost the confidence and I was training and training and it didn't happen so there was a few moments that I was hesitating if I ever could come back to my level but because of the love of the sport I just never gave up. I just continued and continued and then I had on my mind - if the first competition didn't go as I was hoping then maybe it's just over but then I did a very good first competition. First Japan Open and then also Skate America so I was like, okay I still got it.”

When there are problems and difficulties, it is important to analyze what caused them in order to avoid them in the future. Loena believes that she was not used to do so many shows which eventually led to her struggling in training.

“Now I know what I have to do when I'm at the shows. At that moment I was like okay I'm doing shows and I will fully live my life and enjoy everything. I will eat whatever I want and just do whatever I want. No I just know that that it's not like that. If you still want to be in shape the next year you have to pay attention to everything even in the off –season,” the European Champion noted.

“If I just train in the off –season, then I can eat whatever I want but not when the training load is much less than normally. It's not that I was gaining a lot of weight but my muscles went down and the fat went up - so it was a bit the same level of weight but it was in a different way. So I think that was the thing when I started (full training) I gained muscles again and then that's when I became heavier and I had to lose weight again, lose the fat and it was hard but I I managed to do it. I also heard a lot of people who were doing the shows that they also struggled with this and that they now know how to deal with it.”

“Then Europeans came and I accomplished my goal,” Loena continued. There was a new challenge before the World Championships as the skater suffered from a hip injury. She won the Short Program and eventually finished fourth.

“Actually Worlds was beyond my expectations because the week before I was hesitating to come because I couldn't train,” Hendrickx noted. “I wasn't ready at all for it but I just wanted to be there and enjoy the competition and then I skated my short and didn't know what happened at that moment. That was great, it was just mind -blowing also for me because it was just not what I expected as I really had a hard time going into Worlds. With the injury I didn't have enough practice but I knew for a short program it's still okay. I've had all the practices before so it's not that I didn't work for it. However, if you didn't do run-throughs, the short program is still easy to do clean. So I was sure that I could do a good short program but I didn't expect it was that good and then because of that I got a lot of hope. However, I knew in the back of my head that it would be impossible to do a good free program. I think after all I can be very happy and I'm very proud of myself that I still accomplished to be fourth because before I wasn't even sure if I could go.”

Even with all the success she had, Hendrickx stays motivated to train hard and to continue to compete at the highest level.

“I think my love of the sport is just too big to just quit and I cannot imagine a life without skating, without training at the moment”, she shared. “Sometimes it's hard because I'm getting older, my body is getting older as well, everything is harder. When I was much younger I didn't have to warm up and I could do triples on the ice immediately but everything changed. Now I really have to warm up to be able to do just double jumps. That's just how it goes when you're getting older. Everything is more sore and you don't feel your body if it's not warmed up.”

In the past few years figure skating has started to change with more young women and less tiny teenagers at the top. The ISU has gradually raised the minimum age to 17 for senior-level competitions and Russia that used to put out every year a new wunderkind has been banned since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Among the top ten women at the 2024 World Championships, seven were 18 years or older and three of these seven (Kaori Sakamoto, Loena Hendrickx, Amber Glenn) were over 20.

Hendrickx is happy about this development. “I think it's nicer to watch it because they're real women and for me I also admire them more because at the moment now I know how hard it is,” she pointed out. “When I was young, I didn't realize it. It didn't matter if there was a 16-year-old girl or a 24-year-old girl, for me was the same. But now I'm getting older and I just know and I also feel how hard it is and that's why I also admire it more. I also think you can really see all the experience they have and you can see the difference between a less experienced skater and an experienced skater.”

Looking ahead, Loena has set new and different goals for herself. “For me the main goal for next season is that I just want to enjoy the competitions more,” she said. “I want to try to put less pressure on myself because I did accomplish almost everything I want and I think it's hard to accomplish even more. Of course, I still want to be at the top, but I think I've accomplished already so much that I just have to enjoy the sport more. I want to be more like Jason (Brown). He used to feel like ‘I have to be at the top of the US’ and ‘I have to go to worlds and this and that’. And now he's open -minded about it and just wants to enjoy and it works. So that's what I want to do for next year and still get good results.”

For now, Loena Hendrickx has been assigned to the ISU Grand Prix events in Angers, France and in Helsinki, Finland.

U.S. Elite Set for Skate America

by Liz Leamy

Ilia Malinin

Ilia Malinin, the reigning World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist, 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final victor, 2023 and 2024 U.S. titlist and 2022 U.S. silver medalist, is looking to make a bold mark at the 2024 Skate America Championships that will be held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas next week.

Malinin, in his characteristic golden style, is poised to once again deliver the goods in the men’s showdown at this celebrated annual event that will be held from October 18th through October 20th and represents the kick-off of six Grand Prix competitions held all around the world from October to November and concluding with a final in December in Grenoble, France.

For this remarkable 19 year-old athlete who lives in Vienna, Virginia and trains in Reston, Virginia with his parents, Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, both of who are former World and Olympic contenders, the primary goal is to do his best and continue evolving on all levels.

“The competition is between myself and I see it as I’m on my own and not against anyone else,” said Malinin in a pre-Skate America media teleconference. “I really try to focus on myself and there’s always a lot more work to do in everything and I always have that mindset where I try to be better and better.”

Certainly, this mindset has been quite effective for Malinin who, over the past few years, has racked up an incredible list of world and national titles with his remarkable library of explosive and lightning-quick quads, including a quad Axel (of which he has made history with) as well as for his electric skating style and compelling series of programs.

“I always tell myself ‘you’ve got to trust the training’ and then ‘you’ve have to trust what your coaches say and make sure you attack everything 100 percent,’” said Malinin.

Malinin, meanwhile, said he is super excited to compete at Skate America next week.

“I’m just very excited to be going to Skate America next week,” said Malinin. “I’ve been training really hard and working really hard on improving the programs and improving all my abilities so I’m ready for the Grand Prix series.”

This season, Malinin plans to skate to ‘Running’ by NF for his short and ‘I’m Not a Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse for his free program, both of which were choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne, the Canadian World dance champion and renowned ice artisan and which is he amped about.

“I’m really satisfied with the programs and really enjoy skating [them,” said Malinin.

Clearly, the creative connection between Malinin and Bourne is an effective one.

“Working with Shae-Lynn, it’s pretty incredible,” said Malinin. “From the first time I worked with her, it was pretty obvious I really enjoyed the process and being able to collaborate with her during the programs.”

Malinin further elaborated on their collaborative dynamic when creating programs. 

“I’ve always had ideas of my own and she has hers,” said Malinin. “So when we do the program, we kind of play around with things until they look cool and feel comfortable for me.”

Notably this season, Malinin plans to feature a back flip in his free skate, an element that was ratified by the ISU in a recent ruling to be allowed in competition.

“It does add another big surprise to the program and gives the same energy as if I were to add a quad jump,” said Malinin. “When I first did it in Sun Valley [last summer], it was pretty magical.”

Malinin, who had been involved in gymnastics from ages three to eight, said he has been in the habit of doing back flips for a while.

“When I was younger I first had gymnastics experience from three to eight years old and it became muscle memory,” said Malinin. “It’s definitely something that keeps me chasing. It’s always on my mind to give ways to level it up in the future, adding a twist or some crazy combination.”

Conclusively, Malinin talked about the inspiration he got from having performed at the celebrated Dreams on Ice show in Japan this past summer as he has a philosophy of approaching each show and competition ‘one event at a time.’

“At the beginning of the summer, I went to Dreams on Ice which was pretty cool,” said Malinin. “I’m just taking it one event at a time.” 

Chock and Bates

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the 2023 and 2024 World champions, three-time World medalists, five-time U.S. titlists and 2022 Olympic gold medalists in the team event are the lead U.S. dance couple entering Skate America.

“We’re extremely excited about kicking off our season at Skate America,” said Chock. “It’s become somewhat of a tradition of the season and we’ve been working really hard on our new material, crafting it over the springtime amidst all the travel and busy schedule.”

Clearly, Chock and Bates seem to be as masterful at managing time as they are with their skating especially in considering how effectively they have been navigating some major events that have taken place in their lives over recent months while also maintaining an intensive training on-ice schedule.

Notably, two major life events Chock and Bates have experienced over the past several months include their dazzling wedding that was held in Hawaii in June and the fact they were awarded the 2022 Olympic U.S. Figure Skating Team gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games in July.

In tandem with these life-changing experiences, this remarkable and radiant duo has all the while maintained a steady training regimen in which they have been able to continue to build, evolve and further raised their already stellar skating standard.

Since winning a second consecutive World Championship title in Montreal last March, Chock and Bates have been working as hard as ever to keep raising their bar both technically and artistically to further indicate why they have achieved such astounding success in their competitive careers to date.

Essentially, for Chock and Bates, the primary goal is to share the experience of their skating with others through their programs, which always been consistently compelling, fresh and innovative each season since they achieved premier national and world status starting in the 2011, when they first started skating together.

“We’re really excited about the programs we crafted that we did with our team in Montreal and cannot wait to share them with everyone,” said Chock. “We just feel like we’re so inspired and just feel like we’re really finding new things about our skating that we have been looking for and wanted to work on. So, it feels really great to keep finding that improvement and self growth, so that’s what’s keeping us going.”

For the Rhythm Dance this season, the duo will be skating to a lively music medley of selections from the 50s, 60s, and 70s such as the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ theme, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees and ‘Last Dance’ by Donna Summer, among other classic pieces.

“There’s so much music to choose from and so many different ideas that we had. So we ended up doing a medley and really trying to showcase the evolution of dance as we see it and kind of touching the American culture aspect of where these dances came from,” said Bates. “We’re trying to stay true to this era and it has been really fun for us.”

Chock and Bates also gave big props to their music editor, Hugo Chouinard, for formulating this program’s memorable audio composition.

“We have to give a big shout out to the music maestro, Hugo, because he’s created a really cool, fun and energetic mix of tunes from those three decades,” said Bates.

For the free dance, Chock and Bates will be skating to JuJu’s vocal version of the famous jazz classic, ‘Take Five’ by Dave Brubeck.

“It’s a very moody and jazz-inspired kind of theme,” said Chock. “We were very inspired by the idea of Lady Luck and making your own luck and how it kind of goes into this American dream of your will of creating your own luck as well. It’s kind of like using your luck to your own benefit.”

In regard to costumes for the free dance, Chock and Bates said they were inspired by the art deco design, structural beauty and spirit of the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty.

“We were inspired by the idea of the American dream and what could be more inspiring than the Empire State Building and all of its art deco facets as well as the beauty of the Statue of Liberty,” said Chock. “It’s really about the seamlessness, spontaneity and creativity of jazz as music and Lady Luck and that whole energy.”

For Chock and Bates, it’s all about expressing their love of skating and also life itself through their on-ice narratives, something they view as the heart and soul of all that they do and that requires great dedication, energy and work.

“We’ve been so fortunate to have longevity in our career, but it also poses a challenge where you want to come out with fresh material every year,” said Bates. “We take pride and joy in crafting new elements year after year.”

Isabeau Levito

Isabeau Levito, is the 2024 World silver medalist, 2023 U.S. Champion, two-time U.S. bronze medalist and 2022-2023 ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist.

Regarded to be one of the most balletic and enigmatic skaters in the sport today, as well as one of its fiercest and most formidable contenders, Levito has been steadfastly preparing for the new season and has been especially amped up ever since she scored silver at the 2024 World Championships, that is for certain.

This talented and driven 17 year-old Mount Holly, New Jersey native, in fact, has been as focused as ever since that time, as she has been rigorously training all aspects of her skating in terms of her technicality and artistry at the Igloo Ice Rink in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is about a 15 minute drive from her home.

“I’m excited to start the season and I feel well trained,” said Levito. “I feel very excited going into Skate America.”

Levito, who plans to skate to ‘Moon River’ the compelling Henry Mancini piece from the ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ classic film soundtrack for her short, and then to ‘Liebestraume’ by Franz Liszt for her free skate program this season, said she is feeling as confident as ever due her stellar results at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal last March.

“Being the World silver medalist definitely came with some confidence,” said Levito. “I’m just excited to skate my best.”

Levito further elaborated on each of her programs.

“I feel very classy and I really love it,” said Levito about her short program.

Levito then spoke about the inspiration for her free skate.

“When we listened to the music, I thought of the Primavera statue in Sanremo, Italy, and it’s very stirring,” said Levito, referencing the breathtaking Primavera (spring) symbol of liberty statue created by Tuscan artist Vincenzo Pasquali in Sanremo between 1924 and 1926 that is located on the famous seafront waterfront promenade of this famous locale known as the ‘City of Flowers.’ “I really like the concept of this program. The choreography is very statuesque where I hit a lot of poses and it’s kind of like a statue coming to life.”

Ultimately, for Levito, it’s all about building and moving forward with all things related to skating.

“I want to just keep building up my accomplishments and live up to what I did last season too,” said Levito.

Summer Sizzler Event a Golden Showcase Headlined by America’s Premier Skaters

by Liz Leamy

(27 August 2024) America’s premier skaters, including Ilia Malinin, the 2024 World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist and two-time U.S. titlist, Madison Chock & Evan Bates, the 2024 and 2023 World titlists, 2022 Olympic Team Event gold medalists and five-time U.S. champion, Isabeau Levito, the 2024 World silver medalist, 2023 U.S. titlist and two-time U.S. bronze medalist, Jason Brown, the nine-time ISU Championship Grand Prix medalist, 2015 U.S. champion, seven-time U.S. medalist and 2014 Olympic Team Event bronze medalist and Amber Glenn, the 2024 U.S. gold medalist and two-time ISU Championship Grand Prix medalist, along with many more of the country’s top contenders in singles, dance and pairs, all convened at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts this August to participate in its first annual Summer Sizzler.

This unforgettable show was held Thursday August 15th as part of the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp at the Skating Club of Boston and drew more than 2,000 spectators, most of who had traveled amidst torrential rainy weather to cheer on the remarkable work and skills of this incredible group of athletes.

For U.S. Figure Skating, this event represented a benchmark moment being that it marked the first time ever in which participants of the Annual Champs Camp had performed their programs and skills in front of a live audience in a show format.

“I’m really excited to get to perform my program and have some audience feedback,” said Brown, whose dramatic short program to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ which he plans to use for the 2024/25 season was a big hit with the crowd. “We love the sport, we love to perform.”

In addition to Chock & Bates, Malinin, Levito, Glenn and Brown, this show’s roster also featured Alysa Liu, the 2022 World bronze medalist and two-time U.S. champion, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the 2024 U.S. titlists, Maxim Naumov, the 2020 U.S. junior champion and 2024 U.S. fourth-place finisher, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, the two-time U.S. Championship medalists, Starr Andrews, the 2022 Skate Canada silver medalist, Jimmy Ma, the nine-time U.S. Championship contender, Logan Higase-Chen, the 2024 U.S. junior ladies champion, Josephine Lee, the 2024 U.S. silver medalist and the Skating Club of Boston’s Theatre on Ice Overture of Boston Team, among other notable performers.

Photo courtesy of Janet Liu and Skating Club of Boston

For the athletes, this event served as a vital part of the whole week-long Champs Camp experience, in which they had also participated in an extensive series of on and off-ice training sessions and seminars with their coaches and U.S. Figure Skating officials and committee members to help further optimize their skating and programs going into the 2024/25 competitive season.

“We’re all benefiting from the support we get at Champs Camp,” said Chock, whose gorgeous 2024 gala program with Bates to Melody Gardot’s ‘Once I Was Loved’ was also a rousing hit with spectators. “It’s a great opportunity for everyone to keep learning and growing.”

Bates echoed similar sentiments.

“I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we got here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really inspiring,” said Bates. “I mean, maybe it is a touch of nostalgia, just the fact that we’ve grown up with Champs Camp every August. “There’s something about that, like you know, back to school, feeling the end of the summer and getting new programs vetted among all the other exciting stuff.”

These athletes also expressed palpable excitement about the fact that Champs Camp was held in Boston, the site of the 2025 World Championships.

“I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the environment here and really get to know the people here and see just how [everything] might look in the bigger venues,” said Malinin, who wowed the crowd with his dramatic 2024 season gala program to NF’s ‘Hope.’

Note: Amber Glenn skated to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire,’ her 2023/24 gala program, while Isabeau Levito performed her 2024/25 short program to ‘Swan Lake,’ both of which were also memorable as well as terrific hits with the audience.  

Performing at the 2024 Summer Sizzler were:

• Patrick Blackwell
• Sofia Jarmoc & Luke Witkowski
• Jimmy Ma
• Jinna Han
• Annabelle Morozov & Jeffrey Chen
• Sophie Jolie Von Felten
• Skylar Lautowa Peguero
• Eva Pate & Logan Bye
• Josephine Lee
• Ian Somerville
• Logan HigaseChen
• Starr Andrews
• Theatre on Ice Overture of Boston Team
• Ashley Cain
• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarkenko
• Alysa Liu
• Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov
• Maxim Naumov
• Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea
• Amber Glenn
• Jason Brown
• Isabeau Levito
• Ilia Malinin
• Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Prior to the show several of the performers took questions from the media on various topics.

On Champs Camp and the Summer Sizzler Show

Brown:  “It’s been so fun [Champs Camp]. The whole point of it is to show our programs and get feedback from the judges. It was a lot of different work with so many moving parts. I’m really excited to get to perform my program and have some audience feedback. I mean, we love the sport, we love to perform.”

Chock:  “We’re all benefiting from the support that we get at Champs Camp. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to keep learning and growing.”

Bates:  “I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we got here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really inspiring. I mean, maybe it is a touch of nostalgia, just the fact that I mean, I can say we’ve almost grown up with Champs Camp every August. There’s something about that, like you know, back to school, feeling the end of summer and getting the programs vetted amongst all the other exciting stuff.”

Glenn:  “Champs Camp is kind of the first time that all of us come together and we only get a few opportunities a year to do that, so it’s been great to see everyone.”

Levito:  “I love seeing everyone, the athletes and U.S. Figure Skating staff and all of the people. It’s great.”

Malinin:  “I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the environment here and really get to know the people here and see just how [everything] might look in the bigger venues.”

On their skating, training and new programs as they head into the 2024/25 season:

Malinin: “What’s motivating me this season is wanting to kind of push my limit again and not only with technical ability, but also in artistry and creativity and trying to really go for all aspects of skating this year.”

“I think I’m just trying to explore all types of genres and to try to go to somewhere outside to really just see what I can accomplish and whichever ways fit me best and is the most comfortable for me to perform.”

Chock: “We’ve just hit the running as soon as we got back from the tour and started making new material, so I think we’re in a very good place for this point in the season and we’re really happy with the programs. I think we started a little earlier knowing that we had something big on the calendar for June.” (Chock and Bates got married in June.)

Bates: “We came right back (after the Worlds tour) and tried to make the most of each day and get our choreography done earlier in the spring knowing that we had the wedding.”

Chock: “For us, it’s the connection. We want to keep fostering on the ice and optimizing our speed and the efficiency of our movement.”

Bates: “I think we like to go to the drawing board and try to pick the music and concept and try to just not retrace our steps a little bit. So picking music this year feels a lot different that what we’ve done at least in the past year or two and was a big priority for us. So we feel like the programs are fresh for us, which is really something that we value a lot.”

Bates: “We’re really big on self improvement and just trying to find every little iota of improvement that we can find within ourselves.”

Glenn: “My short program (to Janet Jackson’s ‘This Time’) is very fun. It’s very sassy. It’s something I’m absolutely thrilled about. It’s very different from what you might expect when you think of figure skating, especially in women’s singles. And the free skate (to music by Sound Machine) is something I’m really looking forward to. It’s a beautiful, mesmerizing piece that starts off kind of quiet and builds into this huge finish. I feel like it’s very exciting and theatric. Our goal was to just be able to put out a great performance in general, along with some very difficult technical content.”

Levito: “[My programs this year] are both music that I love very much and I just enjoy skating to these types of music. I decided to skate to something I just l love very much for this season.”

Brown: “I’m skating to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ (for the short). I competed it at two events last year and didn’t give myself enough time to train it. So we decided to go a different route for the (2024) U.S. Championships (with his memorable ‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’ free skate), but it’s a piece of music that I still really loved and I wanted to see if I could still use it and see it through in a different way, so we kind of reimagined it as a short program.”

Brown: “I’m still doing what I love and still getting to perform in front of crowds and improving and chasing goals and dreams. I keep wanting to explore different styles of music. That’s a very big motivator. I always trying to improve my lines and challenge myself and that’s really the biggest factor now and then using this season almost as a guide in some ways of how to manage next season.”

On the 2024 Summer Olympics

Malinin: “Watching the Olympics, it was a very cool event. I was very inspired by a lot of the events, watching gymnastics, it was a pretty amazing event and even skateboarding. I like to ride around on my skateboard. I wish I was as good as them, but it’s just very fun to watch them, you know, do a lot of cool tricks. And of course, the new addition of breakdancing. I really enjoyed it. I mean, a lot of the competitors, I really like their own style and they always have something unique they bring, which is kind of why I take inspiration from breakdancing. They find their own style and I try to incorporate that in my skating.”

Chock and Bates (who had received their gold medal for the 2022 Winter Olympic Figure Skating Team event at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics earlier in August.)

Bates: “We brought both sets of parents, aunts and uncles on both sides, my brother and his family and my nieces. We had a huge group and it was, I mean it was amazing and it was better than we could have imagined. We were [part] of the whole team, back together for the first time in two years and just the whole atmosphere in Paris was incredible.”

Chock: “We were also so inspired by the Summer Olympics, just seeing all the athletes in different venues and being at the Olympics fully in spirit was incredibly infectious.”

Glenn: “There was so much [with the] behind the scenes and characteristics to different people and different stories and I felt so much more invested than ever and it made me excited. It made me just all the more motivated and excited to try and make it to Italy.”

 (The 2026 Winter Olympics are slated to be held in Milano/Cortina, Italy.)

USA and Japan Received Olympic Team Medals for 2022

by Tatjana Flade

(8 August 2024) The end of an (almost) endless story.

Finally, on August 7, 2024 the time had come at the Champions Park in Paris at the Summer Olympic Games: Two and a half years after the Olympic figure skating team event in Beijing the skaters from team USA received the gold medal and the Japanese athletes were awarded the silver medal. The Russian team, competing under the acronym of ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), became the bronze medalists. However, the IOC did not invite them to Paris citing organizational reasons and the fact that the ROC has been suspended (because of the war of aggression in Ukraine). This award ceremony in Paris is meant to be the conclusion of the doping drama around former Russian wunderkind Kamila Valieva that kept the figure skating world busy for more than two years.

Photo courtesy of IOC

The final decision was made by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, the highest and final authority in sport.

The CAS had to rule several times on the appeals of several parties in this case. These various appeals have protracted the proceedings. The CAS rulings can only be appealed on the grounds of formal errors, so the appeals are now exhausted and the result will remain as it is.

The athletes from the USA and Japan were able to enjoy this moment, for which they had to wait so long through no fault of their own.

"We all wished to be able to celebrate this medal together as a team, so it was really great that we were all able to come here and share this moment together,” the ISU press release quoted Nathan Chen (USA), who now has two Olympic gold medals from the individual and the team event. 

“As skaters we're all individual athletes, we skate alone, we do medals alone, we do all this alone, so to be able to have a moment like this where we're actually collectively together as a team, we've been training and competing and knowing each other so many years, so we're all family at this point in time,” he continued.

"These last two and a half years have been very long,” said Japan’s team captain, ice dancer Tim Koleto. “In the situation in Beijing we were unable to have family and friends come in person to watch us compete and celebrate this moment with us, so it's such a super special moment to be able to celebrate alongside family and friends and our other competitors. To do it in front of the Eiffel Tower is something even in my wildest dreams I didn't imagine."

Team USA consisted of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, ice dancers Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue and pair skaters Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier. They all had come to Paris. Only Chock/Bates are currently still competing.

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of Diane Eggert

Team Japan members were Kaori Sakamoto, Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Wakaba Higuchi, pair skaters Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara and ice dancers Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto. All but Uno, who had other commitments, were present in Paris.

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of IOC

Cause and Effect

Initially unnoticed, the saga began in December 2021. Kamila Valieva, then 15 years old and the top favorite for Olympic gold, had tested positive for the banned substance Trimatezidine at the Russian Championships on December 25, 2021. The substance is found in a heart medication. Doping athletes take the drug primarily to be able to train longer and with greater endurance. The testing laboratory in Stockholm, which was responsible for the evaluation, delayed the analysis of the urine sample from Russia due to a lack of personnel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as was later reported. In any case, the Russian federation, Valieva, the ISU and the IOC only found out about the positive test on the night of February 7-8, i.e. after the end of the Olympic team event in Beijing. Valieva had already competed in the short program and free skating events on February 6 and 7 and had won first place for her team (a total of 20 points).

Normally, the award ceremony would have taken place on February 7 in the evening on the so-called medal plaza near the main press center in Beijing. However, as the competition continued the next day with the men's short program, one of the federations involved asked for the award ceremony to be moved to the next day. The IOC complied with the request, but while preparations were underway and the teams were about to set off from the Olympic Village, it was suddenly announced that the award ceremony would be postponed. Within a couple of days, it leaked out that the reason for the delay was a case of doping and that Kamila Valieva was involved. Due to her young age, the name should not have been made public, but someone leaked it to the media.

An unprecedented back and forth began. As is usual after a positive test, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA suspended the skater. Valieva appealed against this, as she still wanted to compete in the individual event. RUSADA lifted the ban, the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, the IOC and the ISU appealed to CAS, which allowed Valieva to compete. The skater argued that the banned substance had entered her body unintentionally through contamination, as her step-grandfather took the drug and she had drunk from the same glass. In the short program, the young Russian skated to first place with a flawless performance, but in the free program she fell apart and came fourth. Every training session and every walk through the interview zone turned into a gauntlet in which some journalists threw aggressive questions at the young girl. Valieva did not give any comments.

The IOC did not want to hold the team victory ceremony until the case had been resolved. The Americans appealed against this to the CAS in Beijing, but the appeal was rejected. The 2022 Olympic Games ended without a medal ceremony for the teams and the moment was irretrievably lost. Not only the Russians were penalized, but also the teams from the USA and Japan, even though they had nothing to do with the matter. It was a huge disappointment. At least the Americans and Japanese could have got silver and bronze - it wouldn't have been the first time that medals had to be swapped after the results had been changed.

The Valieva case went through all instances. The RUSADA disciplinary commission initially acquitted the skater of the accusation of deliberate doping and only stripped her of the 2022 Russian national title. WADA, the ISU and RUSADA itself (!) lodged an appeal against this and the case was retried. CAS finally ruled on January 29, 2024 that Valieva was guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and imposed the maximum penalty - a four-year ban with retroactive effect from December 25, 2021.

The defense had changed the "grandfather thesis", now it should have been a dessert that the grandfather had prepared. But the man refused to testify before the CAS and there was no evidence that he had actually taken or even bought this prescription drug. It is still not clear who administered the Trimatezidine to Valieva and how it got into her system. The CAS even considered the skater's statement that she had not deliberately doped to be credible, but she could not conclusively prove what had happened.

The New Result

Following the final CAS ruling, the ISU recalculated the results of the team competition and deducted Valieva's 20 points. This left the USA in first place with 65 points ahead of Japan with 63 and Russia (ROC) with 54 points (instead of the original 74). There were protests against this not only from the Canadians, who remained in fourth place with 53 points. Team Canada and many others argued that the ISU could not simply deduct Valieva's 20 points, but that the skaters behind her should each move up one place and receive one more point. Canada's Madeline Schizas, who was third in both the team short program and free skating and had earned 16 points, should therefore receive 18 points. This would put Canada into the bronze medal position with 56 points. In the individual competitions, in the event of a disqualification, the athletes behind them all move up one place. After Valieva's subsequent disqualification at the 2022 European Championships, for example, second-placed Anna Shcherbakova was crowned European champion, Alexandra Trusova took silver and Loena Hendrickx bronze.

However, the ISU argued that this rule (ISU Special Regulations Rule 354, para 4) did not apply due to the special nature of the Olympic team competition. The legal experts had established this. So nobody moves up, only the accumulated ranking points are lost and, according to the ISU, this is the only decision that is compatible with the CAS ruling. A different calculation could affect teams that were not involved in the case. More detailed information on this could not be found. The rules of the Olympic team competition published by the ISU do not mention the case of disqualification of a participant. The obvious explanation is that the team competition is about the overall performance of the team and not the individual performances. This means that Valieva's points are deducted in full, but the other individual performances do not receive more points.

Both the Russian and Canadian teams appealed against the ISU's recalculation to the CAS. While the Russians wanted to be placed first again, the Canadians demanded the additional points and thus bronze. CAS dismissed both appeals on July 25 and August 2, 2024 respectively and confirmed the ISU's final result. The reasons for the ruling were not yet available.

The Americans and Japanese, who had already been confirmed as gold and silver medal winners, reacted with joy and relief. Skate Canada announced that it was disappointed with the CAS ruling, stood by its own athletes and congratulated the teams from the USA and Japan. The Russian federation thanked its supporters and emphasized its opinion that the Russian team was the strongest in Beijing. The Russian athletes are happy that they retained bronze. "Yes, it's bronze, but with a golden glow," wrote team captain Nikita Katsalapov. "Considering everything that has happened, this is also a victory for us and one that is important for all of us." The Russians' overall performance was better than that of the Canadians, even without a female competitor, you have to admit.

Nevertheless, a bitter aftertaste remains in the Valieva case after the conclusion of all proceedings. The career of a young, highly talented athlete has been destroyed and there are still too many unanswered questions as to what really happened. Even the CAS was unable to answer these questions. Maybe one day it all will come to light.

Sources for further reading

Full decision of CAS from January 29, 2024

Rules Olympic Team Competition 2022

ISU Statements regarding the recalculation of the Team Event

From January 30, 2024