by Matteo Morelli | Photo by Liji Chen

Figure skating returned to the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, which hosted the 2025 Olympic Qualifier event, also known as Skate to Milano (or, informally, the Chinese Nebelhorn). Skaters and teams competed to secure the last available quotas to take part in the next Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, filling all the slots that weren’t allocated at last season’s Wolds in Boston.

The ice dance competition saw 19 teams fighting for the four available spots. The winners of the event, by a comfortable margin, were Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius. They were followed by Holly Harris and Jason Chan of Australia, with Spain’s Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov in third place. The last spot was allocated to China, after a free dance that saw an incredibly narrow margin between fourth and seventh positions, and several teams moving from their rhythm dance standings.

Event Recap

Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius succeeded in earning the Olympic quota for Lithuania, leading in both segments of the event and winning with a 15-point margin over second place. They can finally forget about their mistake at the last World Championships in Boston, which cost them the qualification to the Olympic Games and required them to compete at this event in Beijing.

With this achievement, the Lithuanian team can now fulfil their Olympic dream together, giving Ambrulevičius his first Olympic appearance and allowing Reed to experience a second Olympic Games after she competed at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Although it was to be assumed that they were the team to win the event, both were still incredibly emotional after confirming their spot, showing how much this qualification means to them, particularly after all that Reed went through to obtain Lithuanian citizenship.

They shared that they entered the event knowing that this goal was achievable and that they felt ready for it. They also added that this journey has really brought them together in ways they never even imagined, which shows what a strong bond they’ve built throughout their years as a partnership.

Holly Harris and Jason Chan earned a spot for Australia, finishing in silver medal position with a stable second place finish in both rhythm and free dance and collecting new personal bests across the board. Four years ago, they failed to qualify for the Olympic Games, so this opportunity feels like a redemption for them.

They shared that they entered this event fully determined to qualify, with a lot of work being done over the summer to ensure that they were fully prepared to achieve their objective. They shared the podium with training mates Reed and Ambrulevičius, whom they have been training with for some years now at the Ice Academy of Montreal.

In third place, Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov won a second spot for Spain. They were fifth after the rhythm dance, with a new personal best, and fourth after the free, however their combined points allowed them to earn the bronze medal and the access to the Olympics.

Their reaction when finding out that they qualified showed how pleased they were with their achievement. They shared that, when they started, they would have never imagined to be where they are now, acknowledging how much they are growing in such a short time since they joined SK Ice Dance International in Madrid.

The placements from fourth to seventh were incredibly tight, with just 1.2 points between them.

In fourth place and also earning an Olympic quota were Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu of China, despite finishing sixth in the rhythm dance and fifth in the free. Shiyue and Xinyu have already competed together at the past two Winter Olympic Games.

Sweden’s Milla Ruud Reitan and Nikolaj Majorov missed qualification by just a quarter of a point. They were third after the rhythm dance, with a new personal best, but ended sixth in the free dance and fifth overall. This left them quite disappointed in the Kiss and Cry, where they had to wait for a while for their score to be announced, however they still have a chance to earn a spot as they are the first substitutes in case of any spot becoming available. This might be the case with Finland currently owning two spots, but with Yuka Orihara’s Finnish citizenship status not yet confirmed, their National Olympic Committee (NOC) might decide to release the spot for another country to access, thus giving Sweden the chance to enter the competition in Milano.

Mariia Ignateva and Danijil Szemko of Hungary closed in sixth place, with a seventh-place finish in the rhythm dance and a third-place finish in the free dance; they were followed by Japan’s Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita, who dropped from fourth to seventh place.

Ice Dance quotas to Milano-Cortina

With the Skate to Milano event completed, all 23 ice dance quotas for Milano-Cortina are now confirmed. These are the current allocations (as of 21 September 2025):

3 spots per NOC: Canada; United States.
2 spots per NOC: Czech Republic; Finland; France; Great Britain; Spain (1 from Worlds in Boston + 1 from the Olympic Qualifier).
1 spot per NOC: Italy; Georgia; Germany; South Korea; Lithuania (Olympic Qualifier); Australia (Olympic Qualifier); China (Olympic Qualifier).

A standby list will be created and based on the results from the Skate to Milano event. This will be used to allocate spots that might become available if countries do not use their quotas.