By Gina Capellazzi, Team FSO website administrator
Photos by Robin Ritoss
The 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts proved to be a monumental outing for Team USA as they took home the world title in three out of the four disciplines for the first time in the history of World Championships. While they did not obtain the title in the pairs’ discipline, the two U.S. teams were successful in another way.
Pairs
Days after Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov won their first U.S. title, the pair from Boston learned the devastating and tragic news that six members of their Skating Club of Boston community were killed in a mid-air crash over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Like they did at the Four Continents Championships a few weeks early, Efimova and Mitrofanov held up photos of their fellow skaters, Jinna Han, and her mother, Jin Hee Han; Spencer Lane, and his mother, Christine Lane; and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, after their short program and free skate at the TD Garden. Not only did Efimova and Mitrofanov pay tribute to the skaters lost with their performances, but the two skated in front of many friends and training mates from the Skating Club of Boston as the training facility is only 20 miles outside of downtown Boston.
“It (Skating Club of Boston) feels like a family. It’s a very tight community, and we’re all blessed to represent the Skating Club of Boston and train there, and have so many people support us. Probably half of the crowd was from the Skating Club of Boston, so we were very, very thankful, and it means everything to have their support, to be honest,” Mitrofanov said.
After the short program, Efimova and Mitrofanov sat in ninth place. Despite a few small mistakes on their side-by-side jumps at the beginning of their “Je Suis Malade” free skate, the two recovered well to have the fourth best free skate of the event. Their free skate score of 135.59 was a personal best free skate score, and they finished in sixth place with a score of 199.29, which was a personal best total score.
“It means everything, all the hard work that we’ve been putting in, it’s been paying off,” Mitrofanov said.
Meanwhile, fellow Americans, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, were not sure they were even going to be able to compete in Boston. O’Shea injured his foot during an off-ice jump on Saturday, just days before the World Championships but was cleared by U.S. Figure Skating to compete in Boston.
“We overcame a lot this week,” O’Shea said, noting that his foot was pretty bruised and swollen.
When asked if he ever thought he would not be able to compete, O’Shea said he never allowed that option to enter into his head.
“I know its our duty to make sure that we talk to U.S. Figure Skating, stay safe and keep Ellie’s safety the first priority along with my own, so we worked with doctors and worked through that process and proved on Monday that we were capable and ready,” O’Shea explained. “It’s definitely a bit of a scary process. It was a lot of emotions and thoughts, and this week, we felt like we had to put the blinders on and just focus on doing the best we could do.”
Kam and O’Shea sat in fifth place after the short program. In their “Stand by Me” performed by Florence & the Machine free skate, Kam and O’Shea had mistakes on their throw jumps, including a fall on the throw triple flip. They earned a free skate score of 126.77, which was seventh in the segment. They finished seventh overall with a score of 195.38 and claimed their best result at a World Championships.
“It was honestly not a perfect performance out there this week, but I think we were very proud of the work that we did to accomplish what we did this week,” O’Shea told the media after the free skate.
Efimova and Mitrofanov’s sixth place finish and Kam and O’Shea’s seventh place finish added up to be a combined placement of 13 points, which means Team USA pairs will have two spots at the Olympic Winter Games next year in Milano Cortina. Team USA pairs will also have the opportunity to earn a third spot at the Olympic Qualifying Competition, which will be held in Beijing, China, Sept. 17-21, 2025. Team USA pairs do have three spots for the 2026 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
“To be able to give another team an opportunity is huge for us,” Kam said. “We were one of the teams that got a chance to go to Worlds our first season because other teams worked hard and got those three spots. So I’m really happy that we have the chance for U.S. pairs to keep growing and it is something to be really proud of.”
Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara regained the world title they first won in 2023, finishing less than a point ahead of Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, who won the free skate. Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii earned their second World bronze medal.
Women
Last March, Alysa Liu shocked the skating world when she announced she was returning to skating and was planning to compete in the 2024-2025 season. Liu had retired from skating after winning the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships.
This season, the 19-year-old won two Challenger Series events — Budapest Trophy and Golden Spin of Zagreb, finished sixth at Skate Canada International, finished just off the podium at NHK Trophy and the Four Continents Championships, and won the silver medal at the U.S. Championships. While those accomplishments would be enough for someone who had not competed in more than two years, the greatest moment of all in Liu’s comeback season was her winning the World title in front of a sold-out crowd at the TD Garden in Boston. The feat marked the first time in 19 years that a U.S. woman has won a World title.
In first after the short program, Liu executed seven clean triple jumps and earned level fours on her spins and step sequence in her “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer free skate. The crowd grew louder with every element and started standing before she finished her final layback spin. She earned a personal best free skate score of 148.39, which was first in the segment, and a total score of 222.97 to win the title.
“It means so much to me and kind of everything that I’ve been through my last skating experience, my time away, and this time around, I’m so happy. I’m mostly glad that I could put out two of my best performances,” Liu said.
2024 World silver medalist Isabeau Levito was on a bit of a comeback this season herself. After competing at Skate America in October, Levito missed most of the season due to injury. She returned to competition in February, competing at the Road to 26 Trophy, the test event for the Milan Olympics. She was cleared to compete at the World Championships just a few weeks prior to the event.
“Seriously, after my injury, after Skate America, I really thought my season was over,” she admitted. “To be honest, the injury kind of traumatized me a little bit, but I’m so grateful for everyone who helped me, and for my federation for believing in me and supporting me to make it here.”
In third after the short program, Levito fell on her triple flip-triple toe combination in her “Liebestraum (Reve d’amour)” by Franz Liszt free skate. Her triple Lutz was also slightly under-rotated. She earned a free skate score of 136.51, which was fifth in the free skate. Levito dropped to fourth overall with a total score of 209.84.
“When I fell on the first jump, I wanted it to be over and stop the program,” she said. “But I think I finished the rest of the program really well, and I’m proud of myself for doing that.”
Levito also said the triple Axel is definitely on the list of things she wants to do, but since she needs to stay injury free for the Olympic season, she’s not sure when it will happen.
“It will happen sometime in my life,” Levito said.
While Team USA teammate Amber Glenn has found consistency with her triple Axel this season, the two-time U.S. Champion fell on the element in her short program in Boston, which resulted in a 9th place finish in the segment.
“I’m obviously very disappointed right now. It’s always hard to come back after a fall, ” Glenn said after the short program.
In her “I Will Find You The Return” by Audiomachine free skate, Glenn was able to land her triple Axel. Her only mistakes were a slightly under-rotated triple Lutz and doubling her planned triple flip. She earned a free skate score of 138.00, which was fourth in the free skate. She earned a total score of 205.65 to move up fourth spots to finish fifth overall, her best finish at the World Championships.
“I’m proud that I was able to keep my composure,” Glenn said after the free skate. “I’m upset I messed up my easiest jump. I just rushed a little bit. I’m happy I ended on a successful note.”
Glenn also told the media that she hadn’t been feeling the greatest all week, noting that it has been a tough month and a half since Nationals. In addition to the plane crash that killed 28 members of the figure skating community, Glenn also lost her grandmother and her dog.
“I’ve been dealing with a lot mentally but I’m happy I was able to put out a good performance,” she said. “I’ve also been dealing with a lot of grief and loss so I’ve had a tough time.”
Liu’s first place finish and Levito’s fourth place finish added up to be a combined placement of fipoints, which means Team USA pairs will have three spots at the Olympic Winter Games next year in Milano Cortina. They will also have three spots at the 2026 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
“Go Team USA, that’s kind of all I can say. I’m so proud of both Isabeau (Levito) and Amber (Glenn) for putting up such great performances and such a great fight,” Liu said of retaining the three spots for next year’s Olympics and World Champions.
Three-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto, who was fifth in the short program, took the silver medal following her fun “All That Jazz” from Chicago free skate. Her teammate, Mone Chiba, earned bronze, her first ISU World medal.
Dance
For many of the U.S. competitors, this was the first time they had the opportunity to compete at a Worlds in their home country. But not for six-time U.S. Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates. The two claimed the bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships, which took place in the same arena in Boston.
This time in Boston, Chock and Bates claimed their third consecutive World title and made history by becoming the most decorated U.S. ice dance team at the World Championships. They also became the first ice dance team to win three consecutive world titles since Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov won four straight from 1994-97. Chock and Bates’s “Take Five” free dance earned a score of 131.88, which was just shy of a season’s best. Their twizzles, dance spin, curve and rotational lifts earned a Level 4. They claimed the gold medal with a total score of 222.06, which was a season’s best score.
“I’m just elated. It was unbelievable. It almost felt unreal and the performance went by so quickly,” Chock said following the free dance. “I felt like we really just flowed through everything with ease and flow, and were present for each moment.”
“(Winning the World title) It means beyond words. I can’t really describe it, but I’m just so grateful for our performances and the home crowd and the moment at the end,” Bates added. “It feels a 100% better than last time.”
For Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons skating at a home World Championships was a new experience.
“Performing on home ice is not something we get to do very often, but this feels amazing,” Carreira said following the rhythm dance.
The 2025 World Championships marked Carreira and Ponomarenko’s third World Championships. In sixth after the rhythm dance, the two pulled up to fifth place with their passionate “Carmen” free dance, which earned a score of 123.37. Their twizzles, dance spin; curve, straight line and rotational lifts, earned a Level 4. They earned personal best scores for all segments of the event and their fifth place finish (204.88) marked the highest placement at Worlds for the team.
“It was really good. I’m happy with what we put out there. We are very excited,” Carreira said after the free dance.
“We came here with a job to do and we did it,” Ponomarenko added.
For Green and Parsons, the 2025 World Championships marked their return to the ISU Championship event after missing the event last season. In seventh place after the rhythm dance, just four points behind Carreira and Pononmarenko, five elements in Green and Parsons’s “”Dance Me to the End of Love” free dance earned a Level 4. Their captivating skate earned a free skate score of 114.96, which was eleventh in the segment, but their overall score of 192.47 put them in ninth overall. This marked the second time the team has placed in the top ten at the World Championships. They finished 6th in 2023.
“The biggest takeaway is we’re back,” Parsons said. “We put down two skates we are really proud of. Neither were perfect, but when are we ever perfect?
“I feel so good. Any time we get to skate in front of a crowd like this, we’re so incredibly blessed and lucky,” Green added.
Chock and Bates’ first place finish and Carreira and Ponomarenko’s fifth place finish added up to be a combined placement of six points, which means Team USA pairs will have three spots at the Olympic Winter Games next year in Milano Cortina, as well as at the 2026 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won their second consecutive World silver medal, while Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson took the bronze, the first World medal for Great Britain since 1984 when Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean won the title. Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, last year’s World bronze medalists, missed the podium by less than a point.
Men
Since winning his first World title in Montreal, Ilia Malinin has been unbeaten. So he came into Boston as the heavy favorite to claim his second consecutive World title.
But after the short program, Malinin only had a three point lead over 2024 World silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan. In his “I’m Not a Vampire” free skate, Malinin was attempting to complete seven quadruple jumps. The 20-year-old landed his quadruple Axel and five more quadruple jumps, including the quadruple loop, which had been giving him trouble this season. However, his quadruple Axel and a quadruple toe were called under-rotated, and he doubled his planned quadruple Lutz. He also did a backflip at the end of his program, which had the audience screaming. Looking a little nervous in the Kiss and Cry, Malinin breathed a sign of relief when his free skate score of 208.15 and his total score of 318.56 was enough to claim his second World title.
“I feel very relieved that I was able to put out that performance the way I tried,” Malinin said. “It wasn’t what I planned to and of course, there’s a few minor things that I can keep improving, but overall I feel pretty confident and I’m really happy for landing the quad loop finally this season.”
Despite the mistakes, the crowd at the TD Garden rose to their feet before Malinin finished his final spin.
“The energy in the arena was impressive,” he said. “It was so wild and chaotic and it really just helped me get through the rest of the program.”
While Team USA’s Jason Brown was injured during the last World Championships in Boston, the TD Garden holds a special place in the 30-year-old’s heart. Eleven years ago, Brown performed his “Riverdance” free skate inside that same arena, bringing the crowd to its feet before the end of his program. Shortly after, video of his skate garnered more than four million hits and it became an iconic program of Brown’s.
“In 2014, it was really the first time in my career that I felt that overwhelming sense of love and support,” Brown recalled. “I felt it growing as I went through junior and as I competed at the U.S. Championships as a senior. But after that 2014 U.S. Championships, I felt a support and reception of the crowd that still warms my heart. It is something that was kind of a once in a lifetime moment.”
Looking to create another moment in the TD Garden, Brown, who sat in 12th place after the short program, bounced back to finish in eighth place overall. His “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Arvo Paert earned a free skate score of 180.68, which was actually fourth in the free skate. He also had the highest program component score of all the men (92.31) and earned a total score of 265.40.
“I’m still processing my performance,” Brown said. “I was just focused on staying calm, staying in the moment, trusting myself and my training.”
Making his return to Worlds since the 2023 season, U.S. silver medalist Andrew Torgashev was in eighth place after the short program. However, his Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” free skate did not go as planned as he fell on two quadruple toe jumps and struggled with some of his other jumps. He earned a free skate score of 125.52 and a total score of 212.79 to finish in 22nd place.
“I’m a little upset and frustrated right now,” Torgashev told the media after the free skate. “I don’t know. There’s nothing I could have done differently to prepare for this. I just got on the ice and couldn’t feel my skates. I felt a lot of pressure.I have been training so hard and I’ve been trying so hard all season to compete with the best, I just didn’t have enough focus, enough mental strength today.”
Malinin’s first place finish and Brown’s eighth place finish added up to be a combined placement of nine points, which means Team USA pairs will have three spots at the Olympic Winter Games next year in Milano Cortina, as well as at the 2026 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan took home the silver medal. It marked the first time that a Kazakh male skater has won a world medal since Denis Ten won bronze in 2015. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama took home the bronze.
