Chock, Bates match U.S. record with sixth ice dance national title

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — 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 on Saturday, when they won their fourth consecutive title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and their sixth overall, matching the record held by longtime standard-bearers Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Chock and Bates followed up 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.

In the pairs competition, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov managed to hold their free skate together while their biggest rivals collapsed, allowing them to do one better than their silver medal from a year ago and stand atop the podium Saturday night.

Efimova and Mitrofanov scored 211.90 points for their program, set to “Je Suis Malade” by Serge Lama. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman also took advantage of mistakes by defending champs Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea and 2023 runner-ups Emily Chan and Spencer Howe to capture the silver medal after a marathon day at INTRUST Bank Arena.

O'Shea and Kam erred on nearly every big element — their triple toe loops, throw triple lutz and throw triple toe loop. Their triple salchow into an axel was deemed invalid, and they got no points at all for a final lift on which both skaters fell.

Kam and O'Shea wound up third with 189.57 points. Chan and Howe were fourth with 183.95.

Chock, who was dealing with a food-related stomach bug all week, nevertheless joined Bates in a rollicking rhythm dance set to music from the 1950s, ‘60s and '70s with her longtime partner on Friday night. Chock and Bates had 92.16 points, putting them nearly 10 points clear of second-place Carreira and Ponomarenko heading into the free dance.

With Chock still dealing with her illness Saturday, they still managed to pad their lead, and confirm 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, the 20-year-old Malinin did exactly what he's become known for: nailing 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, before adding: "I still have work to do on the quality of my skating.”

Imagine that: Malinin thinks he could be even 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.”

U.S. Figure Skating also began confirming its lineups for the world championships in March.

Amber Glenn, who won her second straight national title on Friday night, will be joined in the women's competition in Boston 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 a lingering foot injury.

If Levito is unable to perform in Boston, she would be replaced by newly minted U.S. bronze medalist Sarah Everhardt.

Chock and Bates will lead the podium finishers from nationals into the ice dance competition, where they will be trying to win their third consecutive world championship. Zingas and Kolesnik will serve as the alternates.

___

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympicsAP