At 21, Ilia Malinin has already done something no one else on Earth has done: land a quadruple Axel in competition. The Virginia native, known as the "Quad God," is Team USA's best shot at men's figure skating gold, and he'll carry that weight into the Olympics alongside Andrew Torgashev and Maxim Naumov.
Torgashev, 24, earned his second consecutive silver at nationals with a free skate that mixed powerful jumps with creative choreography—the kind of performance that catches judges' eyes. But Naumov's path to the team carries a different gravity. The 24-year-old lost both his parents and coaches, Olympic pair skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, in the 2025 D.C.-area plane crash. He's continued training anyway, chasing a lifelong Olympic dream with his parents in mind.
The women's team is built on resilience
Amber Glenn has done something only Michelle Kwan managed before her: win the U.S. national title three years running. The 26-year-old Texan is known for her athleticism and for speaking openly about mental health struggles, pushing the sport toward greater inclusivity. Alysa Liu, 20, represents a different kind of comeback. She stepped away from competitive skating as a teenager, then returned to win World Championships gold in 2025—the first American woman to do so in nearly two decades. Her high-difficulty jumps and unguarded personality have made her a fan favorite.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxIsabeau Levito, just 18, is the youngest on the team but carries herself with a maturity that's caught everyone's attention. She won the U.S. title at 17 and took world silver the following year, a trajectory that suggests she's just getting started.
Pairs and ice dance: stories of persistence
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea won bronze at nationals, but O'Shea's journey is the headline. He's 34 and has been skating for three decades—this Olympics represents the culmination of a dream he's carried since childhood. Spencer Howe and Emily Chan round out the pairs roster. Howe enlisted in the U.S. Army in late 2024 and competes as part of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, balancing elite sport with military service.
In ice dance, Madison Chock and Evan Bates are the heavy favorites. Three-time Olympians and three-time world champions, they just won their seventh national title. They've built their reputation on storytelling—using choreography and costumes to turn the ice into a stage. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik have climbed fast since pairing up in 2022, taking silver at nationals this year. Zingas represented Cyprus as a singles skater before switching to ice dance; Kolesnik is from Kharkiv, Ukraine. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, partners since 2014, spent years navigating the wait for Carreira's U.S. passport, driving across the border from Canada to train.
The team is ready. What happens next depends on how they skate.
