BOSTON — As the United States gears up for a momentous Olympic year, it boasts a team of figure skaters richer in talent and accolades than any in recent memory. The recent triumph at the World Championships, with the U.S. garnering three titles for the first time, has set the stage for what could be an unprecedented haul of medals at the Milano-Cortina Games. In the 2022 Beijing Games, the U.S. claimed two golds and a bronze, and the country hasn’t outperformed that since securing four medals on home soil in Squaw Valley in 1960.
Gracie Gold, a two-time national champion and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, shares the collective enthusiasm: “It’s happening, and it’s happening really quite a lot for the U.S.,” she remarked. “I’m feeling super optimistic. I think everyone’s feeling optimistic. Who wouldn’t be?”
The momentum is underscored by Ilia Malinin, who clinched his second consecutive men’s title as the World Championships concluded in Boston, with fans proudly displaying U.S. flags in appreciation of his quad-laden performance. Adding to the American triumphs were Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who captured gold in ice dance, and Alysa Liu, who marked her entry with a historic world women’s title—the first for her country in nearly two decades.
Reflecting further optimism for the Americans, rising stars Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn finished fourth and fifth, respectively, securing three of the top five spots in the women’s category. “Go Team USA. That’s all I can say,” Liu exclaimed. “I’m so proud of both Isabeau and Amber for putting up such great performances and such great fight. They were really fun to be with this week.”
While the U.S. pairs didn’t make it to the podium, with Japan claiming the top two positions, efforts by Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, alongside Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, pave the way for potentially sending a third pair to the 2026 Games, a feat last accomplished in 1994.
Nathan Chen, who chose to step back from competitive skating after his 2022 gold in Beijing, speculated that the U.S. might have secured golds in every discipline at the worlds if Brandon Frazier and Alexa Knierim were still competing. The pair claimed the world title in 2022 before also stepping away from the sport. “But it’s really cool, yeah. It’s great to see the U.S. in this position, especially being at home,” noted Chen, who remains active in skating shows and is focusing on medical school applications. “There’s a lot of excitement, you know? There’s so much energy.”
Historically, the U.S. reached its Olympic pinnacle in 1956, with five medals in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, during a period when only three events were present. The addition of ice dance in 1976 and a team competition initiated in 2014 have expanded the potential medal count to 15 in the Milano-Cortina event.
The United States, despite fluctuations in men’s, women’s, and pairs categories, has consistently achieved success in ice dance since Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto earned bronze in 2006. Meryl Davis and Charlie White epitomized this excellence with gold in the 2011 Moscow world event, repeating two years later. Since 2015, an American duo has always graced the world’s ice dance podium.
As Bates and Chock secured gold in Boston, Bates reflected on the enduring strength of U.S. ice dance: “We’ve had a U.S. team on the world podium for a pretty long while. And to have Ben and Charlie in the building and hear from Meryl over text, it means a lot, and I think the pipeline of U.S. ice dance teams is incredibly strong, seeing how the teams did this week.”