Preview of the 2025 U.S. National Championships, and Recaps of Canadian Nationals and the FISU World University Games
It’s been a busy week in figure skating, and it’s about to get even more hectic as we approach US Nationals. In this episode, we’re covering what happened at Canadian Nationals, the FISU World University Games, and previewing what’s to come in Wichita, Kansas in the US!
Canadian Nationals
In an even thinner than expected field for men’s competition, Roman Sadovsky came through and won his second national title. Both programs may have been flawed, but he looked more focused and calm than we’ve seen in quite some time. He’ll be headed next to Four Continents with Wesley Chu and Aleksa Rakic, who both had to withdraw from Nationals. Coming in for silver was the artistically gifted junior, Anthony Paradis — whose name should be burned into our collective memory as, if he can get a few more jumps, he might become a bigger threat internationally when he goes senior.
Maddie Schizas took a big risk by debuting a new free program at Nationals, and it paid off — giving her a third National title. In second was a stellar Sarah Maude Dupuis, who looked better than ever. Rounding out the podium was Katherine Medland Spence, who is on a bit of a roll following her win at Warsaw Cup.
Both the pairs and dance competitions went nearly as expected in terms of who placed where. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps took the pairs title again, though had a rough free skate that nearly dropped them behind a very strong showing from Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud.
Piper Gilles and Paul Porrier grabbed their expected gold in dance with an astronomical score that gave us a little pause, but they looked radiant in both programs regardless. The divine Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha skated two exceptional programs to land the silver, and Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer took their second national bronze in a row.
FISU World University Games
The mens field here was stacked, and delivered some extraordinary performances. After a near-flawless short program, Yuma Kagiyama had a more shaky free skate — but still held onto the top spot. Daniel Grassl was consistent throughout and grabbed silver. Coming in for bronze, Juhnwan Cha skated what may have been his best free skate of the season to date and moved up from 5th to 3rd.
The women’s field also featured a stellar line-up, with the gold being won by Japan’s Rion Sumiyoshi. This well-earned victory comes not-too-long after her missing the World team, but keeps her very much in the conversation for Four Continents. In second was Mone Chiba, who led after the short but came up a bit short in the free skate. In third, a strong showing from Sofia Samodelkina from Kazakhstan edged out Japan’s Hana Yoshida.
US Nationals Preview
Men’s Competition
It goes without saying that this competition is Ilia Malinin’s to lose, since no one else competing can touch his level of difficulty. Barring a major disaster, he will take gold. The rest of the field is far more up-in-the-air — especially with Jason Brown withdrawing. We expect good things from Andrew Torgashev and Jacob Sanchez, who have both been having great seasons so far. Also, keep an eye on Max Naumov, Daniel Martynov, and maybe even Camden Pulkinen. Also, never count out Jimmy Ma!
Pairs Competition
Reigning National Champs Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea are your definite favorites coming in, but we don’t quite know what to expect from Emily Chan and Spencer Howe — who have been as high as 5th in the world before. Also, coming off a solid first half of the season, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov cannot be counted out. Also, we’re excited to see the Nationals debut of Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy!
Women’s Competition
Similar to Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn is a resounding favorite — especially after the withdrawal of Isabeau Levito. However, this field is deep and could provide a lot of surprises. We’re welcoming Alyssa Liu back to Nationals, as well a Bradie Tennell. The younger competitors Sarah Everhart and Elyse Line Gracey have both shown they are threats this season as well. This will be interesting, for sure.
Dance Competition
Unless there’s a major upset, Madison Chock and Evan Bates will take this easily with Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko following for the silver. The bronze, however, is anyone’s guess! It could be last year’s third ranking US team, Emily Bratti and Ian Sommerville. Or we could see the rising Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik snatch it from their hands! Then again, would we be entirely surprised if Green and Parsons made a bit of a comeback and took it? Anything is possible!
Chapters
0:00 — Intro
0:57 — Canadian Nationals 2025
1:57 — Canadian Men’s Competition
6:32 — Canadian Women’s Competition
11:01 — Canadian Pairs Competition
15:53 — Canadian Ice Dance Competition
21:41 — FISU World University Games
21:45 — FISU Men’s Competition
28:19 — FISU Women’s Competition
33:12 — US Nationals Preview
33:27 — US Men’s Competition
38:35 — US Pairs Competition
41:43 — US Women’s Competition
49:34 — US Ice Dance Competition
58:16 — Gold in our Hearts
59:55 — Outro
