Every four years, the world turns its eyes to Figure Skating. As the marquee event of the Winter Olympic Games, skating in the US specifically is known to be one of the most difficult sports to qualify for. Regardless, 16 athletes rose to the occasion and are in Milan now, ready to represent Team USA. These athletes, the vast majority of whom are attending their first Olympic Games, are poised for historic levels of success. Collectively, they are favored to collect a minimum of four medals this winter, marking the first time the U.S. has achieved that level of success in 66 years. And medals aside, they all have the ability to shatter records and attract attention not seen in decades.
The Women
Entering the Olympics on the back of a victory at the national championships, Amber Glenn goes to her first games. Backed with the famous triple axel jump, Glenn enters the Olympics with the potential for gold. In the short program at Nationals, Glenn skated to Madonna’s Like A Prayer and shattered the record for the highest score by four points. Yet before reaching this pinnacle, Glenn struggled with mental health issues and imposter syndrome. Her resilience and perseverance have taught her the skills she needs to challenge for Olympic gold, and given her the ability to help others overcome similar obstacles, as she is now known to do.
L to R: Alysa Liu (Silver), Amber Glenn (Gold), Isabeau Levito (Bronze), Bradie Tennell (Pewter) (Liv Klein)
Right behind her was reigning world and grand prix final champion, Alysa Liu. With a unique perspective and mindset, Liu enters her second Olympics, nearly four years after she announced her initial retirement. At age 16, Liu finished seventh at the Beijing Olympics, third at the world championships a month later. Following feelings of burnout and the fear of missing out on a normal life, Liu stepped away from the sport. Yet following a skiing trip, she realized how much she missed the adrenaline rush from skating and began restoring her elements. In March 2024, she announced her return, and only one year later, she won a world title and had surpassed her previous form. These experiences have given her the ability to relax into her skating and have unmatched consistency since she knows she has a life beyond the ice. Her unique style and infectious joy for skating will make her one of this year’s most beloved athletes.
Rounding out the team is Isabeau Levito. She enters these games with an outside shot at a medal and a classical skating style reminiscent of some of the most beloved US ladies in history. At age 18, she is the youngest member of the skating Olympic team, yet she has been on the national podium four times already and claimed the title in 2023. These Olympics have always been the dream event for her and her family. Her mother was born in Milan, and her grandmother lives approximately 13 minutes from the arena where the skating will take place. Isabeau, fluent in Italian, has expressed her excitement to explore an Italian Olympic Village and to have her family watch her perform this Month.
The Pairs
Heading into Nationals, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea knew they just needed to do their normal, and they would earn a ticket to Italy. And they did just that. Their world-class lifts, twists, and spins keep their scores consistently high and make them always enjoyable to watch. Ellie Kam has only been skating pairs for a few years, with this success occurring during her first attempt to make the Olympic Team, while O’Shea has been to four pre-Olympic Nationals but never made the team until now.
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe have had a rocky last four years. Through multiple injuries, attempted returns, and finally finding their footing this year, they have achieved their lifelong dream. After a rough short program at Nationals, they showed resilience and perseverance as they jumped four places in the standings and earned their flight to Milan.
The Ice Dance Teams
The veterans of this team, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, enter their 4th and 5th Olympics, respectively. They have been very clear about their goal to take home Olympic gold, and enter asslight favorites in a hotly contested event. At ages 33 and 36, they would become the oldest Olympic champions in ice dance history and the first for the United States in 12 years. They are known for their detailed storytelling, dynamic lifts, and incredible costumes that Chock designs. Out of all the disciplines, Ice Dance seems to take the most time for one to learn and perform effectively with a partner. But this is not the case for first-time Olympians Emilea Zingas and Vadim Kolesnik, who have been partnered for less than four years. Zingas was completely new to ice dance, having competed in singles beforehand. This young team skates with unmatched dynamism and power that only underlines their obvious potential.
One of the most anticipated teams of the past decade, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko attending the Olympics feels like fate. Anthony is the son of 1992 Olympic Champions Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko. In 2021, the team moved from Michigan to Ontario to train one of the most decorated ice dancers in history, Scott Moir. In order to stay on track for citizenship, Carreira, who was born in Canada, had to continue to live in Michigan and therefore drive over an hour and a half across the border to get to practice five days a week. Having received her passport late last year, Carreira and Ponomarenko can now bring their drama and intensity to the sport’s biggest stage.
The Men
Possibly the headliner of the entire Olympics, Ilia Malinin brings his athleticism and unmatched talent to Italy. Many people have heard about the famous triple axel, but Malinin is the first person to ever land a quadruple axel, which rotated a total of four and a half times in the air. As a young skater, he gave himself the nickname of “Quad God” and has lived up to the self-proclaimed title. As the two-time and reigning world champion, Malinin enters Milan having laid down a world record-shattering seven-quad free skate in December and has a clear path to the Olympic title.
Known for having high highs and low lows, Andrew Torgashev dismissed any doubts about him with an undeniable free skate at the US Championships. After a fall and fifth-place finish in the short program, he defended his silver medal with a margin of nearly 20 points. He has struggled before with pressure at events like the World Championships, and these Olympics will provide him with a chance to show mental strength alongside his incredible basic skating skills.
For the past year, the skating world has been dreaming of the Olympic games for Maxim Naumov. The bronze medalist and Olympic team member lost his parents, 1994 pairs world champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shiskova, in the American Eagle Flight 5342 crash. They were his coaches and inspiration throughout his career, and that has been no different since their passing. He said that one of the last conversations he had with his parents was about the changes they needed to make in order to make the push for the Olympic team, and now he gets to execute that plan while they watch from above.
This past weekend, Team USA defended its title from four years ago and claimed gold in the team event. Skaters Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin, Ellie Kam, and Danny O’Shea were the US entries and are now Olympic Champions! This week and next, the individual events will take place, and all of the athletes from the US will take the ice. Tune in to USA Network, NBC, or Peacock to watch the action!