Team USA Brings Home Three Golds from Grand Prix Final

Team USA clinched three golds on the final day of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023 in Beijing, China, as Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Ilia Malinin, and Leah Neset and Artem Markelov each won their first Grand Prix Final title.

With the win, Chock and Bates went undefeated in the 2023 calendar year, becoming the first U.S. ice dancers to do so since Meryl Davis and Charlie White in 2013. This also marks the first time in the history of the Grand Prix Final that the United States has swept the senior and junior ice dance golds as Neset and Markelov won Team USA's first junior ice dance gold since 2016. 

Malinin became the fourth U.S. man to win the event, joining Nathan Chen (2017-19), Evan Lysacek (2009) and Jeremy Abbott (2008).

Entering as four-time Grand Prix Final silver medalists, Chock and Bates secured their third-straight podium finish at the event (2023, 2022, 2019 – the event was not held in 2020 or 2021). The 2023 World champions have now won every major title in the sport other than the Olympic Games.

Skating to "Time," "Breathe" and "Eclipse" by Pink Floyd, Chock and Bates earned Level 4 designations on five elements and more than 12 points for their diagonal step sequence. They won the free dance with 132.46 points for a two-day total of 221.61.

The first senior ice dance gold at the Grand Prix Final for Team USA since 2018, Chock and Bates join Davis and White and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue as the only U.S. teams to win gold at the event. They also continue Team USA's winning streak, with the United States standing on the podium event year the event has been held since 2007.

"It's been incredible. This has been a goal of ours for a long time," Chock said. "It's our seventh Grand Prix Final appearance and our first win. It's very exciting."

Malinin also kept a winning streak alive for Team USA as the U.S. men have secured a medal every year the Grand Prix Final has been held since 2016.

The 2023 World bronze medalist continued his upward trajectory in his second full season as a senior, winning his second Grand Prix Final medal after claiming bronze last year. Although he entered the free skate with a narrow lead, his lead would expand to more than 17 points thanks to new personal best scores for both the free skate and overall score. Breaking his previous-best overall score by more than four points, Malinin finished the competition with a grand total of 314.66, including 207.76 in the free skate.

Despite falling on his opening quad Axel, Malinin skated clean the remainder of his performance set to music from the Succession soundtrack. He landed five quads, including his first career quad loop, becoming the first skater to land all six quad jumps over the course of his career. His highest scoring elements came in the second half of the program with a quad Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow that was awarded 21.05 points and his last jumping pass, a triple Lutz-triple Axel sequence, that received 17.12 points.

"I feel really good, especially going into this competition with that surprise quad Axel in the short and trying it in the long," Malinin said. "In terms of the long, I had to put up that fight after that first mistake, but I just kept going and believed in myself and kept pushing myself to continue the rest of the program."
 
In the junior ice dance event, Neset and Markelov remained undefeated in the current season and crushed their personal best overall score by more than eight points.

The reigning two-time U.S. champions, Neset and Markelov earned Level 4s on three elements, including their combination lift, which was the highest-scoring element of the competition at 14.05 points. Their performance to "Anytime Anywhere" by Sarah Brightman and "Cry" by Thomas Bergerson tallied a score of 104.61 – a new international personal best – for 177.09 points overall.

"We're really grateful, and we're so happy to put out a good skate that we're proud of," Neset said. "We just tried to stay in the present and getting the job done."

Their teammates, Yahli Pedersen and Jeffrey Chen, also earned Level 4s on three elements as they shattered their international personal best in the free dance by more than seven points, totaling a score of 90.27 in the segment. They placed sixth with 144.57 points overall.

After a disappointing short program on Friday, Isabeau Levito rebounded to take third in the free skate in the women's event.

Skating to music from The White Crow by Lisa Batiashvili, Levito's performance was highlighted by a triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow in the second half of the program that received nearly 13 points. Last year's Grand Prix Final silver medalist recorded a free skate score of 135.33 and she ended the competition with a score of 191.86, good for fifth place.

In the junior pairs event, Olivia Flores and Luke Wang received 91.02 points for their Star Wars-themed free skate. They finished fifth with a total score of 145.39.

Daniel Martynov placed sixth in the junior men's event with free skate and total scores of 117.24 and 183.47, respectively.

For full results, visit the Grand Prix Final Competition Central.