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<\/a>A number of the competitors at the U.S. Championships had to leave directly from that event and head to Shanghai, China, for the Four Continents Championships. Some knew it ahead of time, like ice dancers Caroline Green and Michael Parsons<\/u><\/b>.<\/p>\nAfter the rhythm dance, FSO<\/i> asked the team about how they prepared for two competitions with such a brief turnaround time in between. Parsons said: \u201cA few more double run-throughs, but we\u2019re used to back-to-back competitions. We\u2019ve done back-to-back Grand Prixs before. We\u2019ve done this before, and so we know what we have to do. We have to take care of our bodies, recovering and staying focused. Not just, we finish the free dance here and yes, that\u2019s great! But, we finish the free dance here and we\u2019re right on to Four Continents.\u201d<\/p>\n
His partner agreed, with Green adding: \u201cWhen you have back-to-back events like that, it\u2019s really easy to get caught up in, oh, I have so many things to do. It almost gets this looming sense of, you\u2019re at the start line of a marathon, but I think we really try to break it down and do it almost like it\u2019s a series of sprints.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDay by day,\u201d Parsons agreed.<\/p>\n
Others didn\u2019t have advance notice, like Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik<\/u><\/b>, who were driving home to Michigan when they got the call that they were going to Four Continents. 2024 U.S. Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates had withdrawn from the event in Shanghai after battling illness at Nationals, and Zingas and Kolesnik, sixth place finishers in Columbus, were their replacements.<\/p>\nIncredible skates<\/h2>\n
Kicking off the second group of men in the free skate was Yaroslav Paniot<\/u><\/strong>. Skating to a medley of songs from the rock group Queen, the crowd loved Paniot’s free skate, which included Paniot landing a quadruple flip and quadruple toe-double toe combination. It was one of his best free skate since he won the pewter medal in 2021.<\/p>\n “I chose it (my Queen program) for a reason because I want it to be fun,” he said after his free skate. “The people were just with me there and I felt it. \u00a0That’s what helped me a lot. It really helps when a crowd is cheering for you and when they stand up.”<\/p>\n Paniot, who is skating to Prince for his short program, has previously skated to music from Elvis, the Bees Gees and Saturday Night Fever. After his free skate, FSO<\/i> asked why he likes upbeat programs.<\/p>\n “It (My programs) has to be fun for sure,” said Paniot. “I’m a serious guy by default so that’s why I don’t dare to choose some serious type of program because my poker face will be just stone.”<\/p>\n Paniot finished 7th overall.<\/p>\n Later in that same group, Jimmy Ma <\/u><\/strong>came out and had one of his best free skates this season. The free skate included a quadruple toe-loop and seven triple jumps. His only mistake was a stepout on the triple flip. He moved up from ninth in the short program to finish sixth overall.<\/p>\n “I’m very happy,” he said after the free skate. “This is more along the lines of what I am as a skater, but there’s still a lot more than I could have shown you, but this is a better representation of who I am as a skater and what I’m capable of compared to other performances this year.”<\/p>\n What made it even more special was Ma had a brand, new free skate. Ma switched up his free skate, skating to Phantom of the Opera<\/i> instead of “Lacrimosa” by Apashe free skate. Ma explained that at Champs Camp in August, his choreographer Nikolai Morozov wanted to change the music because he felt that the music was too dark and it didn’t highlight Ma’s skating. While Ma agreed, he said he never had the chance to go to Morozov for a new program because the season was well on its way. But after his skates at the Grand Prix events in China and Finland, Ma called Morozov.<\/p>\n Ma went to see Morozov after he got back home from Finland and that’s when Morozov started choreographing Ma’s Phantom of the Opera<\/i> program.<\/p>\n “It’s always good to go back to my roots a little bit,” Ma said. “I respect him (Morozov) a lot, and his opinions. When he told me Phantom of the Opera<\/i>, I was skeptical because no one expects me to skate to Phantom. But this was Swan Lake<\/i> [ Ma’s short program from 2021-2022] all over again.”<\/p>\n Another incredible skate was in the free dance with Isabella Flores & Ivan Desyatov<\/u>, <\/strong>who skated to a medley from West Side Story\u00a0<\/i>medley. The team received a large standing ovation and finished in 7th place overall.<\/p>\n “It was really cool,” Kai said of experiencing Nationals with his sister. “I was really happy for her because I’ve been a few times before this and I know this exhilarating feeling and I was just happy she got to experience it too.”<\/p>\n The Kovars weren’t the only siblings competing in Columbus. As mentioned above, Isabella Flores finished in 7th place in the senior dance event with her partner, Ivan Desyatov. Isabella’s sister, Olivia, won the junior pairs title with her partner, Luke Wang.<\/p>\n Stay tuned to Figure Skaters Online<\/i> for a story about another set of skating siblings!<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I think it was just that my triple toe had a lot of room, so I thought, why not do a quad?\u201d Kalin said in the mixed zone after her performance.<\/p>\n She replaced Ava Ziegler, who withdrew from Nationals to focus on competing at the Four Continents Championships, which started the week after the U.S. Championships.<\/p>\n Gewalt found out she\u2019d be competing in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 17, just a week and a day before the women\u2019s short programs took place on Thursday, Jan. 25.<\/p>\n \u201cMy coaches encouraged me to keep training and stuff, because I knew that I was first alternate, so I continued my training just as normal. So I felt prepared,\u201d Gewalt said in the mixed zone after the short program. \u201cIt\u2019s everyone\u2019s dream to skate out on national ice. I\u2019m very happy with myself and it\u2019s a very good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Thinking back to when she got the call, Gewalt shared: \u201cI was so excited, it didn’t feel real. And I was so glad that I kept working so hard, like, it’s gonna pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n Samohin is awaiting his release from the Israeli federation and hopes to compete internationally for the U.S. next season. He finished 12th<\/sup><\/span> in the men\u2019s event in Columbus.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great comeback for me, and it\u2019s only going to go up from here, for sure,\u201d the 2016 World Junior Champion said in the mixed zone after the free skate. \u201cHopefully, once I get my release, I\u2019ll be able to go to internationals, maybe just some smaller ones, we\u2019ll see. That\u2019s my goal, is to really be ready for [next season]. Whether I get senior Bs or anything else, whatever the U.S. can give me, I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Shoulder dislocations were often a problem for Samohin, and he said that his doctors say his shoulder bone is just a bit smaller and more prone to dislocate. He said he\u2019s able to keep his shoulders stable with daily physical therapy.<\/p>\n Samohin said he plans to do two quads in his short program next year, and was doing quad salchows in practice in Columbus. He was planning to do one in his free skate, but decided against it after putting his hands down on his first triple axel.<\/p>\n \u201cI put my hands down, which is silly, but I decided, you know what, let me just go for a nice clean skate, try to work on my beautiful transitions,\u201d he said in the mixed zone. \u201cHopefully my spins got all their levels. We\u2019re going to work on that, because sometimes in the long, it\u2019s a little bit harder for me to finish all my spins. I\u2019m going to go for two quads in the short, and two or three in the long as I\u2019m building up to the next season.\u201d<\/p>\n There were two skaters at the U.S. Championships who grew up in Ohio. Katie McBeath<\/u><\/strong>, who finished fifth in the pairs event with her partner, Danill Parkman, grew up in Garfield Heights, Ohio, which is about two hours north of Columbus. “I have been so thrilled to be home, like ever since I got here I was like, ‘I’m home, I’m home,'” said McBeath. “I’ve seen some skaters I grew up with, one of them played our music at practice yesterday so that was awesome. Then two little girls I used to teach Learn to Skate to were sweepers. It’s been a while since I’ve been home. I have a lot of family and friends that will be in and out throughout the week and things like that. So it feels like home. I’m two hours north originally, but it’s home. So I’m so excited.”<\/p>\n<\/a>Some skaters, not in medal contention, brought the sold-out crowds at Nationwide Arena in Columbus to their feet.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSkating siblings<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Kai Kovar<\/u><\/strong> wasn’t the only Kovar competing in Columbus. Kai’s younger sister, Milada<\/u><\/strong>, competed in the novice pairs event with her partner, Nikolai Apter. They won the bronze medal.<\/p>\nMaking history<\/h2>\n
<\/a>While Amber Glenn successfully landed the triple Axel in the women’s free skate, there was another skater that landed a quadruple jump. Mia Kalin<\/u><\/strong> landed the first-ever clean quadruple jump performed in the senior women\u2019s event at the U.S. Championships. The 15-year-old, who finished eighth overall, said she first started working on quads when she was 12.<\/p>\nLast minute replacement<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Brooke Gewalt<\/u><\/b> was the first alternate for the women\u2019s event at the U.S. Championships, after finishing fifth in the 2024 Midwestern Sectional Singles Final. She kept training hard throughout the holidays and January, which paid off when she got the call to compete at Nationals.<\/p>\nReturning to the U.S. Championships<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Daniel Samohin<\/u><\/b> returned to the U.S. Championships for the first time since 2013, when he finished fourth at the novice level. He competed internationally for Israel from 2013 to 2021, but hasn\u2019t been back on competitive ice in two years, since the 2021 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December 2021.<\/p>\nHome sweet home<\/h2>\n
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