Milan Magic: How Ilia Malinin secured gold for Team USA
In this episode of Milan Magic we break down the Team USA figure skating competition and how individual performances helped the Americans reach gold.
MILAN — Three Team USA ice dancing couples qualified for the figure skating free dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, including two pairings making their Olympic debuts in Milano Cortina.
The American duo of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik finished sixth after the rhythm dance on Monday, while the pairing of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko finished in 11th place. Team USA’s top couple, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, finished in second place and are gold-medal favorites heading into Wednesday’s free dance skate.
Carreira and Ponomarenko scored a season-best in their free dance to bring their total score to 197.62.
Can more than one American ice dance pair medal? It would mark an Olympic first as two U.S. teams have never made it on the podium together in ice dance. Three Team USA pairs finished in the top 10 at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, while three ice dancing pairings finished in the top 11 at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Carreira and Ponomarenko were the first American pair to hit the ice, skating 10th and scoring a season-best 119.47. The duo performed to a medley of songs that included “Deceit and Betrayal” by Audiomachine. Carreira and Ponomarenko recorded a season-best score of 78.15 points in their rhythm dance.
“This is a big stage, and we are coming in with three Worlds under our belts, but this event is so different and so new and we are just here to gain experience,” Ponomarenko said. “I think we had a good effort today.”
Zingas and Kolesnik will skate 15th overall to the tune of “Romeo and Juliet” by Sergei Prokofiev. The pair won the 2026 ISU Four Continents Championships in January and carried that momentum into the Games. Zingas and Kolesnik surpassed their previous personal international best in the rhythm dance by three points with a score of 83.53.
Kolesnik said they pair didn’t have any Olympic debut nerves and have “never been so peaceful with myself than at this competition.
“I know it’s an Olympic stage and for many people, this is the moment of their lives,” Kolesnik added. “I just thought of it as a test run for our next eight years, because this is just the beginning for us and we’re going to reach higher goals. So, I wanted to have a good experience, and I couldn’t ask for more.”
This story will be updated with results throughout the night.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
Here are the planned elements for Zingas and Kolesnik’s free dance program:
- Choreographic Assisted Jump/Lifting Movement
- One Foot Turns Sequence
- Synchronized Twizzles
- Dance Spin
- Choreographic Spinning Movement
- Curve Lift
- Rotational Lift+Stationary Lift
- Diagonal Step Sequence
- Choreographic Character Step Sequence
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Here are the planned elements for Carreira and Ponomarenko’s free dance program:
- One Foot Turns Sequence
- Dance Spin
- Straight Line Lift
- Choreographic Character Step Sequence
- Synchronized Twizzles
- Circular Step Sequence
- Curve Lift
- Rotational Lift
- Choreographic Assisted Jump/Lifting Movement
- Choreographic Sliding Movement
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