The United States delivered a defining performance at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, sweeping the ice dance podium for the first time in 21 years as Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, and Oona Brown and Gage Brown finished 1-2-3. The historic result highlighted a championship that also featured a breakthrough pairs title for Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, along with multiple top-10 finishes by U.S. men and women as the Olympic season continued to take shape.

Japan claimed a clean sweep of the women’s singles podium, led by Yuna Aoki, who surged from 2nd after the short program to gold with a commanding free skate, finishing with 217.39 points. 

“I never imagined for even a second that I would win the championship myself, so I’m completely shocked now,” Aoki said. “This is the first time for me to come to the Four Continents, and winning is a dream come true."

Ami Nakai, the short program leader, settled for silver, while Mone Chiba completed the sweep with a steady bronze-medal performance. Both Nakai and Chiba have been selected to compete at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

The top American result came from Bradie Tennell, first Olympic Games alternate for Team USA, who delivered one of her strongest competitions of the season. Tennell climbed from 7th after the short program to finish 4th overall, backed by a composed free skate that showed continued growth in her long career.

Sarah Everhardt finished 8th after dropping from 5th in the short to 11th in the free skate, while Starr Andrews slipped from 8th to 15th following a difficult free skate. South Korea’s Hae-In Lee placed 5th, and Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman experienced one of the biggest swings of the event, falling from 4th after the short to 10th overall.

Japan’s Kao Miura captured his second Four Continents title, holding on to a narrow lead from the short program to win gold with 273.73 points despite placing 4th in the free skate. 

“Today I feel like I fought it through the first half of the performance,” Miura said. “I had mistakes but I was able to regain my confidence and skate it well the latter half. I found room for improvement because I had some major mistakes. That’s something I need to work on going into the Olympics."

South Korea’s Jun-Hwan Cha nearly completed the comeback of the competition, winning the free skate and climbing from 6th after the short to silver, finishing just 0.11 points behind Miura.

Japan placed three skaters inside the top four, with Sota Yamamoto earning bronze and Kazuki Tomono finishing 4th. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov rounded out the top five after delivering the second-best free skate of the event.

The U.S. men produced a solid collective showing, placing three skaters inside the top 10. Tomoki Hiwatashi led the Americans in 7th, followed closely by Jacob Sanchez, who climbed from 11th after the short to finish 8th overall. Liam Kapeikis placed 10th, continuing a season of steady international progress.

Ice dance belonged to the United States from start to finish. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik led wire-to-wire, winning both the rhythm dance and free dance to claim gold with 202.86 points and anchor the first American podium sweep at Four Continents since 2004.

“I think it’s another step in the right direction overall,” Zingas said. “Obviously, this is our first international gold, and for it to be at the Four Continents Championships feels really good. We’re really excited, and (it) gives us a lot of confidence going into the Olympic Games." Kolesnik agreed, adding, “I am so happy I’m probably in heaven right now. This is a dream coming true and I’m speechless."

Behind them, Caroline Green and Michael Parsons remained firmly in medal position throughout the event, finishing 2nd overall after ranking 3rd in the free dance. Oona Brown and Gage Brown delivered one of the standout free dances of the competition, earning the second-best score in the segment to secure bronze after sitting 3rd following the rhythm dance.

Canada’s Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer finished 4th, while Australia’s Holly Harris and Jason Chan rounded out the top five. The sweep underscored the growing depth and stylistic range of U.S. ice dance.

The pairs title went to Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who delivered the skate of the night in the free program to surge from 3rd after the short to gold with 205.34 points. The victory marked the first Four Continents title of their careers and capped a breakthrough championship for the American pair.

“My first thought was that we held it together because it was a quick turnaround after Nationals,” Efimova said. “I believed that if we skate clean, we do have a chance (to win), for sure. Right after free skate, I didn’t know yet if it’s possible or not, but I was still very happy with our skate anyway." 

China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong finished 2nd overall after winning the short program but slipping to 4th in the free skate. Japan’s Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi earned bronze, while China’s Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang narrowly missed the podium in 4th.

The United States added further depth in pairs with Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman finishing 6th and Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy placing 7th, reinforcing the nation’s growing presence across all four disciplines.