Coming into this season, most would have told you that Madison Chock/Evan Bates and Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko had Olympic spots fairly secured. That hasn’t changed for Chock/Bates, but it certainly has for Carreira/Ponomarenko, who have been top ten at Worlds the past three years, including fifth last year. But they have had arguably their worst season of the entire Olympic quad, and it’s been Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik who have risen to the number two spot. How will that all play out this week for the three US Olympic spots?
US Nationals predictions
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GOLD Madison Chock/Evan Bates - This is a springboard to the Olympics for the three-time World champions, and a continued quest to hone their two programs to make sure they are maximizing everything they can ahead of Milano. Their last two US Nationals have not been ideal as they had to deal with illness during both years, so them coming in and getting out healthy is going to be a big win for them to begin with. Another will here will be title #7 for Chock/Bates, breaking their tie with Meryl Davis/Charlie White for the most US dance titles ever.
SILVER Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik - In this transformative season for Zingas/Kolesnik who debuted here in fourth place three years ago but haven’t been able to break through since. But this season has been, by far, the best of their career, and they have set themselves up for a spot on the Olympic team after putting down great international skates that led to a Grand Prix Final appearance.
BRONZE Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko - The wildcards here (which is stunning to say given they have been solidly the #2 US team for the past few seasons), Carreira/Ponomarenko have been working overtime, bringing a revamped rhythm dance and returning to an old free dance that had given them more success. In all likelihood, the fight for the third spot will be between them and Green/Parsons, and it will be a close one.
4. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons - Also the wildcards here in a lot of ways, Green/Parsons have not had the season they had hoped for. A few fluke falls and a minor injury that had them withdraw from their first Grand Prix midway both hampered their momentum and kept them from better establishing their place among the US teams. They have great material this season, and it will be a matter of how clean they can be this week.
5. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani - The comeback continues for the 2018 Olympic bronze medalists. And speaking of new programs, they come into their first US Nationals in eight years with a new rhythm dance after scrapping the one they had earlier this season. Maia Shibutani was hampered by a major knee injury over the summer and it delayed their return and their progress, and this week, the likelhood of them getting to the Olympics is low but they have an outside shot.
6. Oona Brown/Gage Brown - The sometimes-underrated Brown/Brown have two of the more creative programs of the season, and they bring a kind of skating and energy that is so uniquely them. They were fifth here last year and will be looking for top five again this year.
7. Emily Bratti/Ian Somerville - It’s been a tough season for the 2024 US bronze medalists, as their material hasn’t gotten the love internationally as they had hoped. Things are on the upswing after some changes and better scores after the Grand Prix.
8. Katarina Wolfkostin/Dimitri Tsarevski - In their season back on the senior circuit after opting to do juniors last year, the 2025 World junior silver medalists had some strong results, most notably beating the Shibutanis at NHK Trophy.
9. Eva Pate/Logan Bye - They won both Lombardia Trophy and Ice Challenge this season, and they were eighth last year at Nationals.
10. Leah Neset/Artem Markelov - Ninth last year at their first senior Nationals, the 2024 World junior champions have a fan favorite free dance this season.