by Matteo Morelli | Photo by Aoran Liu

China hosted the 2026 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, welcoming athletes to the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, famous for hosting events during the 2008 Summer Olympics and the ice hockey competitions at the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

With fifteen ice dance teams taking the ice, ten countries were represented at the event, which ended with a full U.S. podium: gold was won by Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, silver by Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, and bronze by Oona Brown and Gage Brown. The last time Four Continents featured a full U.S. podium was in 2005, when the event was won by Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, followed by Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, and Lydia Manon and Ryan O’Meara.

Event Recap

First international gold medal for Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who brought the United States back to the top of the Four Continent Championships podium after the gold won by Madison Chock and Evan Bates in 2023.

Competing at this event for the third time, Zingas and Kolesnik led on both segments, earning 79.97 points for their rhythm dance and new personal bests of 122.89 points for their free dance and 202.86 points overall.

“We have been looking for an international gold for the last few seasons now and to get it at an ISU Championship event, it feels amazing”, Zingas said.

This season has been full of successes for them, including their first Grand Prix Final attendance and a silver medal at Nationals, which earned them their first-ever ticket for the Winter Olympic Games.

“U.S. Nationals is such a special event and it carries so many emotions and especially this Nationals, I think especially for us, qualifying for the Olympic team was the highlight of our career and a dream realized”, Zingas shared.

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons finished in second place with a total score of 194.72 points. They were second after the rhythm dance with 78.66 points and had the third-best free dance with a score of 116.06 points, for a combined total that secure the silver medal.

This marked their second Four Continents medal in four appearances. Their first, back in 2022, was the most successful one, with them winning the event.

“We are really proud in particular of the risks we have taken creatively this season”, Green shared. “I think there is a lot of ourselves in the free dance in particular, and to be involved in that creative process is something that we hold really close to our hearts and so to be able to deliver the skates like we wanted to at this event means so much to us”.

The ice dance field in the U.S. is incredibly competitive, and the top teams reflected on the significance of a full American podium at this event.

“I think it speaks to the strength of US ice dance that we are all on the podium here after the Rhythm Dance”, Parsons admitted. “It is such a deep field, including all the international athletes here as well. We are really, really proud of what we and our whole team have done”.

Oona Brown and Gage Brown finished in the bronze medal position with 190.78 points, after placing third in the rhythm dance with 74.24 points and second in the free dance with 116.54 points. All of the scores were new personal bests for them.

This was not only their first time ever in China, but also their first Four Continents appearance and medal.

“We felt like we were very happy for our first Four Continents to have a place on the podium, and we are really proud of the two programs that we put out”, Oona Brown said.

Canada’s Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer finished just off the podium. They were followed by three teams that will be heading to the Winter Olympic Games in Milan: Australia’s Holly Harris and Jason Chan in fifth place; Hannah Lim and Ye Quan in sixth; and Japan’s Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita in seventh.