BOSTON — In the most dominant performance by a U.S. team at the World Figure Skating Championships in the sport's modern era, Team USA claimed gold in three of four disciplines at the TD Garden, capping a historic week on home ice that will define an already remarkable generation of American figure skating.
Alysa Liu won the women's title with a total score of 222.97, becoming the first American woman to claim a World Championship since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. Ilia Malinin defended his men's title by more than 30 points with a season-best 318.56. And Madison Chock and Evan Bates completed an unprecedented third consecutive ice dance World Championship — the first ice dance team worldwide to accomplish the feat since Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s.
Liu: "I Don't Know How I Did This"
Liu's victory stood as perhaps the weekend's most stunning result. Sitting in the kiss and cry beside her coaches after her free skate, the 19-year-old watched her score appear — 148.39 for a 222.97 total — and appeared genuinely speechless. "What the hell?" she said with a wide, disbelieving smile. The win came less than a year after Liu returned from a two-year retirement and marked her first World Championship gold.
"I'm not going to lie, this is an insane story," she said moments later. "I don't know how I came back to be world champion."
Malinin Extends Unbeaten Streak
Malinin delivered another staggering free skate — six quadruple jumps, his signature raspberry twist combination, and a late-program one-footed backflip that drew the largest roar of the evening. His free skate score of 208.15 was the only score above 200 points in the men's competition, and his total of 318.56 extended an unbeaten streak in individual competition dating back to December 2023. Jason Brown, skating a breathtaking free skate to "Spiegel im Spiegel" by Arvo Pärt, rallied from 12th in the short program to finish eighth and earned a standing ovation from the Boston crowd.
Chock and Bates Make History
Chock and Bates, who married in 2024 after skating together for 15 years, completed their third consecutive ice dance title with trademark precision and emotional depth. The performance marked the first time a U.S. ice dance team has ever won three World titles.
"It means everything," Bates said. "To do it here in front of a home crowd, in Boston — I can't really put it into words."
Juarez-Rivas: Heartbreak at First Worlds
Among the week's most emotionally charged storylines was 16-year-old Gabriela Juarez-Rivas, the San Jose native competing in her first senior World Championship. Coming off a breakout season that included a bronze medal at Grand Prix de France and a silver at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, Juarez-Rivas announced herself as a serious contender when she placed second after the short program — ahead of reigning World champions and seasoned veterans twice her age.
But the free skate brought heartbreak. Three falls across her Carmen program — including two in the second half — saw her total score collapse and her medal chances disappear. She finished sixth overall, well below where she had stood just a day earlier.
"She's 16 years old at her first World Championships and she put herself in second after the short program," coach Olga Ganicheva said. "That took real guts. Today was painful but what she showed this week is something you can't teach."
Juarez-Rivas herself was composed, if visibly devastated, in her post-skate comments. "I wanted a medal so badly," she said quietly. "I know I can do it. I'll be back."
The United States' three-discipline sweep was the first in the history of the World Championships — a result that confirmed Team USA as the world's undisputed figure skating power.