2025 Skate America

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2025 Skate America
Logo of the 2025 Skate America
Type:Grand Prix
Date:November 14 – 16
Season:2025–26
Location:Lake Placid, New York,
United States
Host:U.S. Figure Skating
Venue:Herb Brooks Arena
Champions
Men's singles:
France Kévin Aymoz
Women's singles:
United States Alysa Liu
Pairs:
Japan Riku Miura
and Ryuichi Kihara
Ice dance:
United States Madison Chock
and Evan Bates
Navigation
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2026 Skate America
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2025 NHK Trophy
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2025 Finlandia Trophy

The 2025 Skate America is a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Organized and hosted by U.S. Figure Skating, it was the fifth event of the 2025–26 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held from November 14 to 16 at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, in the United States.[1] Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points based on their results, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline at the end of the season will be invited to then compete at the 2025 Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. Kévin Aymoz of France won the men's event, Alysa Liu of the United States won the women's event, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the pairs event, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won the ice dance event.

Background

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The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is a series of seven events sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and held during the autumn: six qualifying events and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. This allows skaters to perfect their programs earlier in the season, as well as compete against the skaters whom they would later encounter at the World Championships. Skaters earn points based on their results in their respective competitions and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to compete at the Grand Prix Final.[2] The first iteration of Skate America – then called the Norton Skate – was held in 1979 in Lake Placid, New York, and was the test event for the 1980 Winter Olympics.[3] When the ISU launched the Grand Prix series in 1995, Skate America was one of the five qualifying events.[4] It has been a Grand Prix event every year since.

Changes to preliminary assignments

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The International Skating Union published the initial list of entrants on June 6, 2025.[5]

Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Ref.
Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s)
Women — July 14
  • United States
 Host picks [6]
Pairs September 2 September 15 — [7][8]
Men — Host picks [9]
Pairs
Ice dance
October 28 November 3 Injury (Lafornara) [10][11][12]
Pairs November 7 November 10 — [13][14]
November 9 November 9 [15]

Required performance elements

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Single skating

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Men competing in single skating performed their short programs on Friday, November 14, while women performed theirs on Saturday, November 15.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,[16] the short program had to include the following elements:

For men: one double or triple Axel; one triple or quadruple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, two triple jumps, or a quadruple jump and a double jump or triple jump; one flying spin; one camel spin or sit spin with a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and a step sequence using the full ice surface.[17]

For women: one double or triple Axel; one triple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, or two triple jumps; one flying spin; one layback spin, sideways leaning spin, camel spin, or sit spin without a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and one step sequence using the full ice surface.[17]

Men performed their free skates on Saturday, November 15, while women performed theirs on Sunday, November 16.[1] The free skate performance for both men and women could last no more than 4 minutes,[16] and had to include the following: seven jump elements, of which one had to be an Axel-type jump; three spins, of which one had to be a spin combination, one had to be a flying spin, and one had to be a spin with only one position; a step sequence; and a choreographic sequence.[18]

Pairs

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Couples competing in pair skating performed their short programs on Friday, November 14.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,[16] the short program had to include the following elements: one pair lift, one double or triple twist lift, one double or triple throw jump, one double or triple solo jump, one solo spin combination with a change of foot, one death spiral, and a step sequence using the full ice surface.[19]

Couples performed their free skates on Saturday, November 15.[1] The free skate performance could last no more than 4 minutes,[16] and had to include the following: three pair lifts, of which one has to be a twist lift; two different throw jumps; one solo jump; one jump combination or sequence; one pair spin combination; one death spiral; and a choreographic sequence.[20]

Ice dance

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See also: Competition elements in ice dance

Couples competing in ice dance performed their rhythm dances on Saturday, November 15.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds,[16] the theme of the rhythm dance this season was "music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s". Examples of applicable dance styles and music included, but were not limited to: pop, Latin, house, techno, hip-hop, and grunge.[21] The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, one choreographic rhythm sequence, one dance lift, one set of sequential twizzles, and one step sequence.[21]

Couples then performed their free dances on Sunday, November 16.[1] The free dance performance could last no longer than 4 minutes,[16] and had to include the following: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one set of synchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one step sequence while on one skate and not touching, and three choreographic elements.[21]

Judging

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See also: ISU Judging System

For the 2025–26 season, all of the technical elements in any figure skating performance – such as jumps and spins – were assigned a predetermined base point value and were then scored by a panel of seven or nine judges on a scale from -5 to 5 based on their quality of execution.[22] The judging panel's Grade of Execution (GOE) was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (that is, an average after deleting the highest and lowest scores), and this GOE was added to the base value to come up with the final score for each element. The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a total element score.[23] At the same time, judges evaluated each performance based on three program components – skating skills, presentation, and composition – and assigned a score from .25 to 10 in .25 point increments.[24] The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the following chart; the results were added together to generate a total program component score.[25]

Program component factoring[26]
Discipline Short progam
or Rhythm dance 		Free skate
or Free dance
Men 1.67 3.33
Women 1.33 2.67
Pairs 1.33 2.67
Ice dance 1.33 2.00

Deductions were applied for certain violations like time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls.[27] The total element score and total program component score were added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.[28]

Medal summary

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Kévin Aymoz at the 2025 World Championships
Alysa Liu at the 2025 World Championships
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara at the 2024 World Championships
Madison Chock and Evan Bates at the 2024 World Championships
The 2025 Skate America champions: Kévin Aymoz of France (men's singles); Alysa Liu of the United States (women's singles); Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan (pair skating); and Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States (ice dance)
Medalists[29]
Discipline Gold Silver Bronze
Men France Kévin Aymoz Kazakhstan Mikhail Shaidorov Japan Kazuki Tomono
Women United States Alysa Liu Japan Rinka Watanabe Georgia (country) Anastasiia Gubanova
Pairs
Ice dance

Results

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Men's singles

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Kévin Aymoz of France won the gold medal – the first Grand Prix championships of his career – in an emotional end to the men's event. Aymoz had been nursing an injury all weekend, but powered through his Boléro free skate that featured two quadruple jumps, five triple jumps, and the highest quality spins and step sequence.[30] He began crying when the final scores were announced,[30] as Kazuki Tomono of Japan, who had been in the lead after the short program, finished in third place after repeatedly falling during his free skate.[31] Aymoz had earlier finished in tenth place at the 2025 Skate Canada International after suffering his injury. "I feel like I went to hell and I'm just dreaming right now," Aymoz stated.[32] Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan finished in second place. "It was a difficult day," Shaidorov stated afterward, "but I think I got a lot of experience from this competition."[30]

Jason Brown of the United States, who had made his Grand Prix debut twelve years earlier at the 2013 Skate America, resurrected his Riverdance performance from that season for his short program. "To be back twelve years later and getting to perform this program, I feel so proud and honored," Brown stated. "It speaks to that longevity and my love of the sport, being able to share this moment with the crowd."[33] Brown's Riverdance performance went viral after the 2014 Winter Olympics, so he chose to rework it for this season as his "way of saying 'thank you,'" to the fans while striving to make the U.S. team to the 2026 Winter Olympics.[34] Brown ultimately finished in fourth place after the free skate.[30]

Men's results[35]
Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kévin Aymoz  France 253.53 2 93.56 2 159.97
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mikhail Shaidorov  Kazakhstan 251.09 3 89.67 1 161.42
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kazuki Tomono  Japan 245.57 1 95.77 8 149.80
4 Jason Brown  United States 239.59 5 82.69 3 156.90
5 Daniel Grassl  Italy 236.44 4 83.68 6 152.76
6 Vladimir Litvintsev  Azerbaijan 231.84 7 75.87 4 155.97
7 Nikolaj Memola  Italy 231.02 8 75.61 5 155.41
8 Tatsuya Tsuboi  Japan 228.03 6 77.68 7 150.35
9 Liam Kapeikis  United States 214.29 9 74.28 9 140.01
10 Luc Economides  France 201.36 10 71.98 10 129.38
11 Dai Daiwei  China 190.90 11 64.98 12 125.92
12 Corey Circelli  Italy 190.55 12 61.99 11 128.56

Women's singles

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Alysa Liu of the United States finished second in the short program with an emotional performance to "Promise" by Laufey. Her performance received a standing ovation from the audience,[36] and placed her less than one point behind Rinka Watanabe of Japan. Liu received a season-best free skate score for her program to "MacArthur Park".[37] Liu guaranteed herself a spot at the 2025 Grand Prix Final. Watanabe performed a successful triple Axel-triple toe loop jump combination, but faltered on second triple Axel and struggled with other jumps, finishing three points behind Liu. "I am a bit frustrated with my results," Watanabe said.[38] When speaking of the domestic competition for spots at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Watanabe stated, "In Japan, the field is very, very deep... Regardless, I want to do the best that I can."[38] Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia finished in third place, only four-tenths of a point ahead of Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy.[38]

Women's results[39]
Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alysa Liu  United States 214.27 2 73.73 1 140.54
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rinka Watanabe  Japan 210.96 1 74.35 3 136.61
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Anastasiia Gubanova  Georgia 204.69 4 68.07 2 136.62
4 Lara Naki Gutmann  Italy 204.29 3 69.69 4 134.60
5 Starr Andrews  United States 195.28 6 64.38 5 130.90
6 Kim Chae-yeon  South Korea 188.22 5 67.28 6 120.94
7 Léa Serna  France 175.05 9 59.25 7 115.80
8 Lee Hae-in  South Korea 172.99 7 64.06 9 108.93
9 Hana Yoshida  Japan 170.92 10 57.22 8 113.70
10 Ekaterina Kurakova  Poland 163.77 11 56.05 10 107.72
11 Wakaba Higuchi  Japan 159.40 8 60.12 11 99.28
12 Josephine Lee  United States 147.28 12 54.24 12 93.04

Pairs

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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan rallied back from a second-place finish after the short program to win the pairs event, guaranteeing their spot at the 2025 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia, who had been in the lead after the short program, made a series of errors in their free skate – including a fall on their side-by-side triple Salchow and completely missing a lift – and finished in second place. "We are not sure what happened on the lift," Berulava stated afterward. "The lift is the job of the man... I should lift up my partner and I didn't do that."[40] Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier of Canada finished in third place.[41]

Pairs results[42]
Rank Team Nation Total points SP FS
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Japan 215.99 2 74.42 1 141.57
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Georgia 195.73 1 78.83 4 116.90
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Canada 182.87 6 61.29 2 121.58
4  United States 180.02 5 61.51 3 118.51
5  Germany 176.56 3 68.26 5 108.30
6  Armenia 170.98 4 64.74 7 106.24
7  United States 163.26 7 56.85 6 106.41
8  United States 161.44 8 55.83 8 105.61

Ice dance

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Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won their fifth Skate America title, tying the record held by Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, also of the United States. Their victory was by a fifteen-point margin over second-place finishers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada, and also secured their spot at the 2025 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. "Every opportunity that we have to compete lends us new insights and new ways to look at things," Chock said afterward. "We’re going to take away the good and happy feelings we have coming away from this experience."[43] Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France finished in third place.[43]

Ice dance results[44]
Rank Skater Nation Total points RD FD
1st place, gold medalist(s)  United States 212.58 1 84.77 1 127.81
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Canada 197.16 2 77.42 2 119.74
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  France 192.61 3 76.72 3 115.89
4  France 186.69 4 73.47 5 113.22
5  United States 186.03 5 72.74 4 113.29
6  United States 182.11 7 70.25 6 111.86
7  Czech Republic 176.04 6 72.73 8 103.31
8  Great Britain 173.16 8 66.81 7 106.35
9  Canada 165.68 9 65.37 9 100.31
10  France 144.54 10 56.21 10 88.33

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Skate America – Announcement" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  2. ^ Hines, James R. (2006). Figure Skating: A History. University of Illinois Press. pp. 246–247, 332–335. ISBN 978-0-252-07286-4.
  3. ^ Bass, Howard (October 1979). "U.S. Skaters Show Poise & Strength at Norton Skate in Lake Placid" (PDF). Skating. Vol. 56, no. 8. pp. 35–38. ISSN 0037-6132. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  4. ^ "Lucrative Grand Prix gets green light" (PDF). Skating. Vol. 72, no. 8. August 1995. p. 8. ISSN 0037-6132. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 25, 2025. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
  5. ^ "ISU announces 2025-2026 Grand Prix assignments". Figure Skaters Online. June 6, 2025. Archived from the original on June 15, 2025. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  6. ^ @AnythingGOE (July 14, 2025). "🇺🇸 Starr Andrews and Josephine Lee have been assigned to Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ @AnythingGOE (September 2, 2025). "🇫🇷 Clemence Mayindu, Megan Wessenberg/Denys Strekalin, Celina Fradji/Jean-Hans Fourneaux, and Natacha Lagouge/Arnaud Caffa have been assigned host picks at Grand Prix de France" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ @AnythingGOE (September 15, 2025). "🇮🇹 Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise have been assigned to Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ @AnythingGOE (September 15, 2025). "🇺🇸 Liam Kapeikis, Audrey Shin/Balazs Nagy, and Oona Brown/Gage Brown ➡️ Skate America 🇯🇵 Haru Kakiuchi, Yuna Aoki, and Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi ➡️ NHK Trophy 🇨🇦 Uliana Shiryaeva and Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain le Gac ➡️ Skate Canada" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ @AnythingGOE (October 28, 2025). "🇮🇱 Mariia Seniuk has been assigned to Skate Canada 🇮🇹 Noemi Maria Tali/Noah Lafornara have withdrawn from Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ @noemi.tali; (October 13, 2025). "Hi everyone, Just before Lombardia trophy, Noah sustained an injury that's kept him from being at 100%" – via Instagram.
  12. ^ anything_goe (November 3, 2025). "🇨🇦 Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer have been assigned to Skate America". Threads. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  13. ^ @AnythingGOE (November 10, 2025). "🇦🇲 Karina Akopova/Nikita Rakhmanin have been assigned to Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ @AnythingGOE (November 7, 2025). "🇮🇹 Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise have withdrawn from Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ @AnythingGOE (November 9, 2025). "🇺🇸 Emily Chan/Spencer Akira Howe replace Audrey Shin/Balazs Nagy at Skate America" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ a b c d e f International Skating Union 2024, p. 82.
  17. ^ a b International Skating Union 2024, p. 106.
  18. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 110–111.
  19. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 119.
  20. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 122.
  21. ^ a b c "Communication No. 2704: Ice Dance Requirements for Technical Rules, Season 2025/26" (PDF). U.S. Figure Skating. International Skating Union. August 8, 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  22. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 83–84.
  23. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 15–16.
  24. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 84–85.
  25. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 16–17.
  26. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 17.
  27. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 18–19.
  28. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 20.
  29. ^ "2025 GP Skate America". Skating Scores.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ a b c d McCarvel, Nick (November 15, 2025). "Skate America 2025: France's Kevin Aymoz captures first career Grand Prix gold at age 28". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  31. ^ "France's Aymoz wins Skate America men's gold as Tomono falters". Tank Town Media. Agence France-Presse. November 15, 2025. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  32. ^ "France's Aymoz claims first Grand Prix win at Skate America". Reuters. November 15, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ Schwindt, Troy (November 14, 2025). "Jason Brown showcases 'Riverdance' program, places fifth in short". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  34. ^ McCarvel, Nick (November 13, 2025). "Jason Brown arrives to Grand Prix season with ode to his Olympic past in 'Riverdance:' "It's my way of saying 'thank you'"". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  35. ^ "2025 GP Skate America – Mens Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  36. ^ Mendoza, Jordan (November 15, 2025). "Skate America 2025 highlights, takeaways as US figure skaters take the ice". USA Today. Retrieved November 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. ^ Mendoza, Jordan (November 16, 2025). "Alysa Liu wins Skate America gold, capping off big day for US figure skaters". USA Today. Retrieved November 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. ^ a b c McCarvel, Nick (November 16, 2025). "Skate America 2025: Alysa Liu claims first career Grand Prix, fending off Watanabe Rinka". Olympics.com. Retrieved November 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  39. ^ "2025 GP Skate America – Womens Final Results". Skating Scores.
  40. ^ McCarvel, Nick (November 15, 2025). "Skate America 2025: Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi rally for pairs triumph, qualifying for Grand Prix Final". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  41. ^ "Canada's Laurin, Éthier earn bronze in pairs event at Skate America". Fraser Valley Today. The Canadian Press. November 15, 2025. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  42. ^ "2025 GP Skate America – Pairs Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  43. ^ a b McCarvel, Nick (November 16, 2025). "Skate America 2025: Madison Chock and Evan Bates earn record-tying fifth win at home Grand Prix". Olympics.com. Retrieved November 16, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  44. ^ "2024 GP Skate America – Ice Dance Final Results". Skating Scores. Retrieved November 18, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Works cited

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