WICHITA, Kan. — Madison Chock and Evan Bates have been the best American ice dancers for years.
Best in the world, too.
They only served to underscore that fact Saturday, when they won their fourth consecutive title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and sixth overall, which matched the record held by longtime standard-bearers Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
Chock and Bates followed their sublime rhythm dance with a winning free dance, totaling 223.52 points to easily outdistance second-place Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. Caroline Green and Michael Parsons finished third.
“It means honestly the world,” Bates said. “The U.S. championships is always an event that we hold near and dear to our hearts. I think it’s because it’s the competition that we grew up coming to every January, watching every year on TV as kids. It’s what made us fall in love with the sport. There’s something incredibly magical about this event.”
Earlier in the day, two-time defending U.S. champion and reigning world champion Ilia Malinin scored 114.08 points for his short program to take a big lead into Sunday’s free skate. Andrew Torgashev was 20 points back in second and Jimmy Ma in third.
The pairs championships also will be decided with their free skate Saturday night.
Chock, who was dealing with a food-related stomach bug all week, joined Bates in a rollicking rhythm dance set to music from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s on Friday night. Chock and Bates had 92.16 points, putting them nearly 10 points ahead of second-place Carreira and Ponomarenko heading into the free dance.
With Chock still dealing with her illness Saturday, they still padded their lead, and confirmed their status as favorites not just for the upcoming world championship in Boston but also the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
“Maddie has had a tough couple of days. Wasn’t really able to fuel much,” Bates said. “She’s so tough. She’s never not going to go out there and not give it her best. It took all the little energy that she had. I just tried to give the love and support to her.”
Carreira and Ponomarenko finished with 210.79 points for their second consecutive silver medal, while Green and Parsons took bronze after they had been tied on 82.13 points with Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik after the rhythm dance.
“This dance field is so strong,” Carreira said, “that we’re really proud to be on the podium.”
In the men’s short program, Malinin, 20, nailed multiple quads. He opened with a quad flip, breezed through a triple axel, then hit a quad lutz in combination with a triple toe loop.
“I felt really good with my skate today,” he said. “I still have work to do on the quality of my skating.”
Malinin thinks he could be better.
“I don’t even think of Ilia as competition anymore because it’s not something I think I can achieve,” said Ma, who likened the jumping dynamo to retired Olympic champion Nathan Chen. “It’s just an honor to be friends and compete with two people who can be considered GOATs in their own way.”
In the pairs competition, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the defending U.S. champions, had 77.19 points in their short program to take a big lead over Emily Chan and Spencer Howe. Kam and O’Shea’s score was nearly four points better than their best international score, setting them up for what could be a coronation later Saturday.
Chan and Howe, the 2023 silver medalists at nationals, scored 69.10 points to land in second, but they were less than a tenth of a point ahead of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov. The reigning silver medalists scored 69.03 for their short program.
U.S. Figure Skating also confirmed its three-woman lineup for the world championships in March. Amber Glenn, who won her second straight national title Friday night, will be joined by U.S. silver medalist Alysa Liu and reigning world silver medalist Isabeau Levito, provided she is healthy enough to compete. She did not compete at nationals due to injury.
If Levito can’t perform in Boston, she would be replaced by newly minted U.S. bronze medalist Sarah Everhardt.
