by Matteo Morelli

The 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships is ready to kick off in Wichita, Kansas.

At last year’s Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned the title for a third consecutive time (and fifth time overall), confirming their leadership not only at national, but also at international level. Also securing a third consecutive title were Leah Neset and Artem Markelov, who this year leave the junior field to step up to senior.

The Medal Hunt: Senior Ice Dance

The senior field will see fifteen teams competing for the highest spots available, with a lot of potential contenders fighting the earn a medal.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates enter their thirteenth Nationals, where they always medalled and already collected five titles, of which three are the last consecutive ones. With this season’s World Championships to take place in Boston, USA, this experienced team will aim to win a fourth consecutive title and enter Worlds as the team to beat, also strong of their second consecutive Grand Prix Final title they won in December. Last year, they entered Nationals with flu-like symptoms and, despite of a second-place finish in the free dance, they managed to retain their national title, benefitting from the large score gap they had from the rhythm dance.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were the team that managed to upset Chock and Bates in last year’s free dance at Nationals, where they ended up winning the silver medal, going up from the bronze they won the year before. This season, they won a bronze medal at the Cup of China Grand Prix and a silver medal at NHK Trophy, continuing their progression towards the top rankings in the world.

A lot of the teams at the event have competed at this season Grand Prix series, and will want to put up their fight in this competitive national field.

Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were the bronze medallists from last year’s Nationals, where they managed to move up from fourth place after the rhythm dance to third in the free and overall, winning a medal in their first appearance at the national championships and earning the opportunity to go to Worlds in Montreal. This season, they won an important bronze at Grand Prix de France, their first Grand Prix medal.

Leah Neset and Artem Markelov are the reigning World Junior Champions and three times junior champions at US Nationals. In their first year as senior skaters, they ended in fifth place at Skate America and sixth at Grand Prix de France, and will want to show how much they are already on the fight for the highest spots in the national rankings.

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons were fourth at NHK Trophy and sixth at Cup of China. This will be their fifth nationals: so far, they won a silver medal in 2023, and ended fourth in the other ones.

Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik started the season with a bronze medal won at Nebelhorn Trophy, to then end fifth at both Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy Grand Prix. Last year, they ended sixth at nationals and were offered the chance to compete at the Four Continents Championships, where they finished in fourth place.

Oona Brown and Gage Brown collected silver medals at both Lake Placid Ice Dance International and Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. They competed at Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy Grand Prix, where they finished sixth and eighth respectively.

Eva Pate and Logan Bye won bronze medals at Lake Placid Ice Dance International and at Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. They have also competed at two Grand Prix events, with a ninth place finish at Grand Prix de France and a seventh place finish at Finlandia Trophy.

The Medal Hunt: Junior Ice Dance

Eleven junior teams will be competing at this year’s nationals, with new junior national champions to be crowned after a three consecutive years domination by Neset and Markelov. The list of contenders include three teams that won medals at this season’s Junior Grand Prix events.

Elianna Peal and Ethan Peal are the bronze medallists from last year’s nationals. This season, they won gold at the Junior Grand Prix of China and bronze in Thailand, resulting in their qualification to the Junior Grand Prix Final, where they ended in sixth place.

Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen won silver at the Junior Grand Prix of the Czech Republic and bronze in Slovenia, resulting in becoming the first alternates at the Junior Grand Prix Final.

Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin also won a silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Thailand, and a bronze in Turkey.

Event info: Teams have official practices from Monday, January 20.

The junior rhythm dance kicks off on Tuesday, January 21, from 9:10pm (CST), and the free dance will be taking place the next day, January 22, from 8:22pm.

The senior rhythm dance is taking place on Friday, January 24, from 4:12pm (CST), followed by the free dance on Saturday, January 25, with groups 1 and 2 from 11:50am (CST) and group 3 from 2:38pm (CST).