01/11/26 03:08:00
Printable Page
01/11 15:07 CST World champ Ilia Malinin leads one of the strongest US Figure
Skating teams ever into inter Olympics
World champ Ilia Malinin leads one of the strongest US Figure Skating teams
ever into inter Olympics
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) --- World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of
Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure
Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics
in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive
favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's
gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice
Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday
night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa
Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national
title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter
Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin
said. "Hopefully go for that Olympic gold."
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the
all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the
24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late
parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas
when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and
crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last
conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to
follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
"We absolutely did it," Naumov said. "Every day, year after year, we talked
about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been
thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I
can't put this into words."
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four
years ago, but they finished fourth --- one spot out of the medals --- in the
ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the
years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal
at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Koklesnik also made the dance
team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who
became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came
through.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the
Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but
stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and
she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner
stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's
medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal
since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come
from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly
unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former
world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,"
said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver
medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and
Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her
citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the
Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators,
she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
"The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most
important milestones in an athlete's life," U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt
Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules,
there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account
as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
"Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, "and this is not the fun part."
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful
American team.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
|
