World champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Alysa Liu lead the ice dance and women's events, respectively, after the first day of competition at 2025 Cup of China in Chongqing, China.Â
Also in medal position are ice dancers Emilia Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who are in second place after the rhythm dance, and Amber Glenn, currently third following the women's short program.
On the hunt for their 21st Grand Prix medal, Chock and Bates made their season debut in China.
The three-time and reigning World champions bookended their upbeat skate to a Lenny Kravitz medley with Level 4 sequential twizzles and a Level 4 rotational lift. They were also the only team to score over 11 points on two elements, and their components score was at least three points higher than every other team at 37.25, cementing their lead with 84.44 points on day one.
The mark is the best in the world this season for a rhythm dance.
"It was a lot of fun, honestly," Chock said of their new rhythm dance. "The performance was everything we hoped it would be. It felt really joyful to skate, and I'm glad we were able to tap into that. Sometimes it can be difficult in the first competition to really feel at ease, but I think we found that joy. We had a couple moments here and there where we could smooth out some things, but that's to be expected at the first competition, and we're really, really happy with how we performed."
Skating to "Poison" and "Something in Your Eyes" by Bell Biv Devoe, Zingas and Kolesnik finished four points behind Chock and Bates with a score of 80.43 – a new international personal best.
With their sights set on their first Grand Prix medal, the two-time U.S. pewter medalists scored an event-high 11.73 points for their Level 3 pattern dance step sequence and received Level 4 marks for their sequential twizzles and rotational lift.
Despite experiencing pre-competition jitters, the team was able to deliver a solid performance.
"I was really nervous before we started. I thought my heart was in my throat. I was feeling like the world was all looking down on me," Zingas said. "And then once we took our beginning pose, I forgot about everything and I just skated. I feel today we skated for each other and for ourselves. We really, really want to fight for our position this season, and this is just the first step to be there."
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons ended the first day of competition in seventh with a segment score of 65.83. Due to a fall on their twizzles, they weren't satisfied with their performance and expressed a determination to come back stronger in the free dance.
"I'm really happy with that skate, except for that mistake," Parsons said. "It was a really frustrating mistake to make, and what's especially frustrating to me is that I feel like we entered this competition doing everything we were supposed to, and everything felt really good. Sometimes things like this happen — that's the sport. So we just have to deal with it and come out tomorrow fighting, doing everything we can, and there's nothing else to do."
In the women's event, Liu combined an emotional performance to "Promise" by Laufey with a clean skate. The reigning World champion scored positive grades of execution on every element, with the performance featuring the highest-scoring element of the competition – a triple Lutz-triple loop combination in the second half worth 12.47 points – as well as three level 4 spins and a Level 4 step sequence.
Returning to last year's program, Liu spoke about the impact of the music on her personally and the emotion behind it in Friday's performance.
"This is my first time doing this short program in a performance in a while," Liu said of her program in the post-event press conference. "That kind of added to it. But this program, I cry in practice sometimes too, doing this run through. I've been saying this since last season, but this program is really meaningful to me. But I always feel a lot, and I put myself in this program more than usual, I would say. So I, of course, if I get more into it, the program's going to hit me way harder than before. But earlier today, I was reminded why I skate, why I do this and it's really beautiful to be here."
A podium finish on Saturday would mark the first Grand Prix medal of Liu's career.
Joining her in the top three in third place was fellow U.S. competitor Glenn. Entering as the reigning Cup of China champion, Glenn scored 73.04 points for her short program set to "Like a Prayer" by Madonna.
Glenn, who was undefeated in the Grand Prix Series last season, opened with a triple Axel that tallied a program-high 9.71 points. Although she put a hand down on her triple flip-triple toe, she skated clean the rest of the way to keep within striking distance of defending her title. Â
Glenn made her Grand Prix debut at Cup of China in 2017.
"It's always wonderful coming here to China. My first Grand Prix was here. This is my fourth time here doing this Grand Prix," Glenn said. "The travel is always hard, of course, coming from America. And at my age — I turn 26 on Tuesday — it gets harder and harder. I wasn't doing my best today, but my training has been really, really great. I've been working really hard on the physical and mental, so I was able to still put out a performance that is satisfactory. But I know I can do a lot better, and I hope that I can do that tomorrow."
Competing for the U.S. for the second straight weekend in the pairs event after placing fourth at Grand Prix de France, Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman tallied a new personal best short program score of 69.18 to finish fourth on day one.
Their performance to "Vale" by Christian Reindl, Lucie Paradis and Power-Haus received all positive GOEs and was highlighted by an Axel lasso lift that garnered 8.49 points.
"We feel that we are happy that we definitely improved from the last competition and we are excited about it," Parkman said. "We're overall really happy. Very happy to skate for this audience. It's a very warm arena. We really like the audience, and I think we did a good job today. There's still room for improvement. There's a lot of room for improvements. But overall, I think we're happy."
In the men's event, Tomoki Hiwatashi led the charge for the U.S. men.
Skating to "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hiwatashi executed a quadruple toe loop worth 11.26 points and a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination in the second half of the routine that contributed 12.04 points toward a short program score of 79.07.
Having already competed in three international events this season, his approach to his first Grand Prix was no different.
"In terms of approach, I really haven't changed anything. I've done three competitions so far. I've done Cranberry Cup, I've done Kinoshita (Group Cup), I've done Trialeti (Trophy)," Hiwatashi said. "Cranberry was the competition that gave me a basis of knowing what I don't have, what I do have and seeing what I should work on. … Also, I only had a week between Trialeti and this competition, so I knew if I just kept doing what I've been doing recently, I will be able to be confident and ready for this competition. It is what it is, and I feel like the confidence was there. I feel like the jumps were there. Spin and footwork obviously was not. But I think I've done what I can."
In his Grand Prix debut, Jacob Sanchez battled nerves to place ninth in the short program with a segment score of 72.40.
"It was really nerve-wracking to be on the ice with all these skaters that I idolized growing up and even now," Sanchez said. "Just sharing the ice with them in practice and even being announced with them on that six-minute warmup was awesome."
For full results from Cup of China, visit the Grand Prix Series Competition Central on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
