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U.S. figure skaters ride historic success into national championships

Recent U.S. figure skating eras have, largely, been defined by one discipline at a time: the women’s singles champions of the 1990s and early 2000s, the ice dance boom of the late 2000s and early 2010s (not forgetting Evan Lysacek) and then Nathan Chen in the last two Olympic cycles.

This week’s Prevagen U.S. Championships, however, are shaping up to be a showcase of the world’s best skaters in three of the four disciplines.

Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn and ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates are not only defending national champions, but each also won the most prestigious international competition so far this season at December’s Grand Prix Final.

The Final marked the first time ever that U.S. figure skaters claimed gold in three of the four events at one of the three competitions that gathers the world’s best — Olympics, World Championships and Grand Prix Final.

How to watch the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships on NBC Sports and Peacock.

Malinin and Glenn became the first Americans to sweep the singles titles at one of those events since the 1996 Worlds (Michelle Kwan, Todd Eldredge).

Not bad timing with the Milan Cortina Olympics now 13 months away.

This week in Wichita, Kansas, there is a strong chance that every defending national champion could repeat, which was last done in 1984.

Ilia Malinin eyes U.S. Championships three-peat

Malinin, the 20-year-old “Quad god,” won his last seven competitions dating to December 2023.

In his most recent victory, the D.C. area native became the first figure skater to land all six types of quadruple jumps in one program (two were deemed under-rotated but not downgraded).

Malinin took the scoresheet of that program — which he deemed the “perfect layout” of jumps, though all received negative grades of execution — and slapped it on the back of a sweatshirt.

“That was just a personalized piece for me,” Malinin, who has his own merchandise stands at competitions, said of the hoodie. “Just as a memory of first time going for all these seven quad jumps (total, six different ones) in one program. Of course, it wasn’t what I wanted as a program in general, but I think that was definitely the first start of this.”

Malinin can win the U.S. title with far less jump difficulty if he so chooses. He prevailed last year by a resounding 29.85 points despite a flawed free skate.

The likely drama in the men’s competition — and maybe in all four events — will be who rounds out the team for March’s World Championships. A committee selects the roster based significantly, but not wholly, off nationals results.

Jason Brown, the 2023 and 2024 U.S. silver medalist, will miss nationals due to equipment issues. Brown, 30, has not announced whether he still hopes to be placed on the three-man world team.

His absence this week ratchets up the competition for those spots. Andrew Torgashev, Jimmy Ma and Junior Grand Prix Final champion Jacob Sanchez are the No. 2-4 seeds in the field by best score this season.

Ilia Malinin plans to do a backflip at Skate America after figure skating officials made it legal for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Amber Glenn hopes for repeat of breakthrough

Glenn began 2024 with one senior victory to her name — at a regional competition to qualify for the 2019 U.S. Championships.

Then she won her first senior national title in her ninth try last January. Then came her first international titles on any level this fall — four victories in four starts, actually.

That included beating the world’s top skaters at the Grand Prix Final. It marked the biggest international title for a U.S. women’s singles skater in 14 years.

At 25, Glenn is now 11 years removed from winning the U.S. junior title in at Boston’s TD Garden, sharing the ice with skaters who made the Sochi Olympic team that same week. In 2026, she can become the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s singles skater in 98 years.

First, Glenn’s focus is on returning to the Garden in March by making a third world championships team. She can also become the second-oldest U.S. women’s singles champion post-World War II after Mariah Bell.

“We have really started building back up with the amount of very accomplished and capable women in U.S. figure skating,” said Glenn, who has overcome physical and mental challenges. “I’ve seen a big change over the last couple of years. People are doing it healthier. People are happier. People are doing it in a way to where it’s not uncommon to see a girl in her 20s or that has been around for a while. We’re seeing a resurgence of longer-lasting careers.”

That includes those of two-time U.S. champions Alysa Liu (though still 19) and Bradie Tennell, both vying for the three-woman world team.

Isabeau Levito, the 2022 U.S. champion and 2024 World silver medalist, could have been the top challenger to Glenn. She is out with a foot injury but could still be put on the world roster.

The two women who have been closest to Glenn by best scores this season would be world championships rookies: Elyce Lin-Gracey (17, who trains with Glenn) and Sarah Everhardt (18, who is coached by Malinin’s parents).

Amber Glenn reflected on long-ago memories of Jason Brown and Ashley Wagner, plus recent ones with a local school class.

Madison Chock, Evan Bates can tie ice dance legends

Chock and Bates bid for a sixth national championship — 10 years after their first — which would match the ice dance titles record held by 2014 Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Chock and Bates had an eight-event win streak snapped at October’s Skate America (by Brits Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson). But they won their next two events, including the Grand Prix Final by the second-largest margin in history.

No couple in this U.S. Championships field has ever outscored Chock and Bates in full competition.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are the 2024 U.S. silver medalists. They were seventh at the 2024 World Championships and seventh in the Grand Prix Series standings this past fall.

The next four couples are more bunched: separated by a total of 6.21 points by best score so far this season. Three couples make the world team.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, ice dance partners for 12 years and three Olympics, can win a first global title at the world figure skating championships.

Ellie Kam, Danny O’Shea can bring stability to pairs

Pairs has been the least successful discipline for the U.S. over the decades with plenty of turnover. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea can become the first repeat national champs since Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir in 2013 and 2014.

Kam, 20, and O’Shea, 33, are already having a successful campaign. They became the fourth different U.S. pair to qualify for the Grand Prix Final in the last 15 editions. The Final took the top six in the world per discipline.

They also own the four highest total scores by a U.S. pair this season.

The U.S. can send two pairs to worlds. Other contenders include Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, Emily Chan and Spencer Howe and Audrey Shin and Balázs Nagy.

U.S. champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea eye rare international success for a U.S. pairs’ team.