By Troy Schwindt
Reigning World champion Ilia Malinin captured his third consecutive Skate America title, while the two-time World champion ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured the silver medal at 2024 Skate America in Allen, Texas, on Sunday afternoon.
Malinin becomes the fourth U.S. men’s skater to win three straight Skate America golds. The two-time U.S. champion once again dazzled the crowd with his amazing artistry and athleticism, landing four quads — two in combination — and throwing in a spectacular backflip in his free skate to “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse.
The 19-year-old Virginia native posted a free skate score of 190.43 and an overall total score of 290.12 to secure the crown, the fourth-highest men’s score in the event’s history. He achieved Level 4 on two spins and Level 4 on his dramatic step sequence.
“I’m proud of my skate today and I’m happy I was able to push through this program with some of the mistakes that I made,” Malinin said. “I always remind myself that stuff like this happens and you have to move on and take it and use it to progress and improve.”
Malinin popped an intended quad loop into a double and then failed to cleanly land a quad Lutz. He responded by improvising, landing a quad Salchow in sequence with a triple Axel.
“It wasn’t what I wanted today, so after those few mistakes I just tried to regroup and to make a strategy of what I have to do so I just decided to go for that quad Salchow, and I went for it.”
A U.S. man has now won the Skate America gold eight consecutive years.
Maxim Naumov went the sci-fi route with his free skate to the Tron: Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk, stepping out of his quad Salchow but landing two triple Axels. The program kicked into high gear with Naumov’s step sequence, complete with lunges and flying moves.
The Boston-based skater produced a season-best free skate score of 143.27 en route to an overall total of 216.38 points and a seventh-place finish overall.
“It was technically similar to Nebelhorn,” Naumov, the two-time and reigning U.S. pewter medalist said. “Confidence-wise there’s definitely more. I did Salchow in both six-minute warmups and practices and everything was good, so the consistency is getting there but I’m still lacking a lot of confidence on the actual program run. It’s a natural progression so I’m feeling it will get better and better. I can’t say I’m super happy with it because I want to do more. But I’m feeling OK.”
Added Naumov’s coach and father, Vadim Naumov, “We are working on bringing up the intensity in practices, so they [replicate] more the competition. He has had so many injuries [including knee surgery in 2023], he is still building consistency with his quads.”
After taking a hard fall on a quad toe attempt in his short program, Lucas Broussard experienced lower back pain and elected not to try a quad or triple Axel in his “Four Seasons” free skate. Instead, he focused on his line, extension and all the in-between moves, to bring Vivaldi's classic violin concerto to life.
The Seattle skater wrapped up his second ever Grand Prix event (the first was 2023 Cup of China), posting a free skate score of 141.26 and an overall total of 206.57 points.
“All things considered, it went sort of well,” Broussard said. “I’m honestly surprised I got through the triple-triples. There was quite a lot of pain.”
Despite not having his normal repertoire of elements, Broussard received a rousing ovation.
“I never expected to get that much support without even a triple Axel,” he said.
Broussard, a senior at the Bush School in Seattle, brought his laptop and homework to Texas. The 18-year-old hopes to pursue STEM studies in college, with an eye to an engineering career. Broussard’s coach, Darin Hosier, plans training around his skater’s full-time academic schedule.
“It’s a lot of planning, a lot of periodization, and making sure that safety is first and foremost, because he has grown quite a bit in the last couple of years,” Hosier said of the 6'2" skater. “We do lots of drills, lots of strength training off of the ice. Lucas is a powerful jumper, a beautiful technician. He landed [his quad] beautifully at Cranberry Cup and in practices. He had to play it safe in the free today.”
Chock and Bates’s free dance, set to “Round Midnight” and “Take Five,” was inspired by film noir, and it certainly evokes images of those dark movies of the 1940s and '50s: smooth jazz, smoky rooms and late-night rendezvous. The five-time U.S. champions showed off a range of movements: languid and silky at the start, then snappy and upbeat for twizzles and steps. As always, the program highlights included the couple’s inventive lifts, especially a stunning opening rotational lift and a combination lift in the middle of the performance that scored more than 11 points.
Trailing by 5.68 points after the rhythm dance to Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, Chock and Bates cut the deficit both technically and in their components, winning the free dance with a score of 127.75 and an overall total of 205.63. Fear and Gibson, however, were able to hold on with an overall score of 206.38.
Chock and Bates’ free dance score of 127.75 Chock and Bates is the second-highest free dance score in Skate America history.
The silver marked Chock and Bates’ 19th Grand Prix Series medal. The United States has medaled in ice dance at every Skate America since 2009.
“I think that’s what we love sport,” Chock said of the team’s unaccustomed second place after the rhythm dance. “It’s so unpredictable. Anything can happen. It keeps us on our toes. It inspires us to keep learning and adapt in different ways and overcome small adversities which we are no strangers to and certainly not afraid of any adversity that comes our way. It’s an opportunity to for us to grow and get even stronger and build more mental fortitude, so this was a great opportunity for us to reinforce all the things that we learned and reevaluate going forward how we can be even better when we get back to Montreal. We are certainly proud of what we accomplished here at our first competition of the season, and this is a great starting point for us. We love our programs, we love our costumes, we love our team and the only way forward is up and forward.”
Reigning World Junior champions Leah Neset and Artem Markelov performed a mistake-free and emotional free dance to “My Love Will Never Die” by AG and Claire Wyndham, “Hold Your Breath” by Astyria and “Gloria Regali” by Tommee Profitt and Fleurie.
The Colorado Springs, Colorado-based team received solid marks throughout their program, including 13.78 points for their lifts. They placed fifth in the segment with a score of 109.70 and fifth overall with a score of 179.38.
“I feel really proud of this performance. It felt like we really got into it,” Neset said.
Markelov added, “We really tried to attack it.”
Annabelle Morozov and Jeffrey Chen, who teamed up earlier this year, showed promise in their Star Wars free dance, which was highlighted by Morozov’s attractive positions in lifts, particularly a dramatic closing lift with her balancing on Chen’s knee.
Morozov and Chen, who train in Canton, Michigan, were late substitutes Skate America. Tanith Belbin-White, one of the team’s coaches, got word late on the Tuesday before the event that her skaters were invited.
“I’m proud of how they handled themselves, especially under the circumstances,” she said. “They had the best attitude and wanted to make the most out of the experience as they grow in just the first few months of their partnership.
“They are both powerful skaters, they have equal parts athletic talent and emotional intensity. We will be working to highlight light; normally, it comes first in practice, and then with experience, it's shown in competition.”
The team posted a free dance score of 100.16 and an overall total of 166.73 points.
“It was a fight. It wasn’t our best,” Morozov said. “We made a lot of little mistakes everywhere, but I think we did what we could. I’m proud of us considering having only been together for less than six months and having just a few days notice before our first Grand Prix.”
For full results from 2024 Skate America, visit www.2024skateamerica.com.
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