Meet the U.S. Figure Skating Team Competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics

Now that the U.S. figure skating team competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics next month has officially been set, it’s time to meet the athletes representing Team USA.

Set in Milan, Italy, the Olympics kick off with their Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 6. The talented team of skaters taking the stage for the United States includes veteran athletes like Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as newcomers like Ilia Malinin and Amber Glenn.

Read on to meet the star skaters vying for gold this winter.

Amber Glenn

Amber Glenn, 26, a Texas native, is the oldest female singers skater in 98 years and will be making her Olympic debut next month. Since becoming a star in figure skating, she’s been transparent with the public about her mental health struggles.

According to NPR, Glenn, who is openly queer, said, “Seeing some of those struggles … can help [young people] acknowledge, ‘Hey, I have the same thing. I feel the same way sometimes and that’s okay. Amber has struggled with it, but she got help, she spoke out to an adult and is able to do what she’s doing at this level and I want to do that too.’ ”

Recently, she told PEOPLE she’s “looking forward to this journey” to Milan, sharing, “It’s been a long, very difficult road.”

Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu will also also represent the U.S. in figure skating.

In 2018 at just age 12, the now-20-year-old California native became the youngest skater to land a triple Axel in an international competition.

Liu won multiple titles in U.S. competitions and previously represented the U.S. in the Beijing Olympics in 2022, but she announced her retirement shortly after the Games in a now-deleted social media post. She wrote, “I started skating when i was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years. a lot of good and a lot of bad but (you know) that’s just how it is. i’ve made so many friends, and so so sooo many good memories that i’ll have for the rest of my life.”

According to NPR, Liu studied at UCLA and had no plans to revisit skating until a ski trip in 2024 reignited her love of the sport and she began training again.

In March 2025, she won gold in the World Championships.

In October, she told NPR, “Quitting was definitely, still to this day, one of my best decisions ever…And coming back was also a really good decision.”

Isabeau Levito

Isabeau Levito is the youngest member of Team USA, making her Olympic debut in Milan at 18 years old.

Known by fans as “Tinkerbeau,” a reference to Disney’s Tinkerbell, Levito was the 2023 U.S. champion and won world silver in 2024 at the Figure Skating Championships.

Hailing from New Jersey, Levito said when she was “young,” she was “very much known for not showing my nerves somehow,” but that she eventually “lost that” as she got older. She admitted she started worrying about “‘If I make this mistake, who will I disappoint? How many people are going be sad? How many people are going to be upset? Am I going to lose my spot in this person’s eyes? I’m going to lose my spot in my country and I’m going to lose my chance, my opportunity.’ ”

Ahead of the Milan Games, Levito said making Team USA is “what we all dream of,” according to NPR. “They’ve always supported my skating career. Just to be able to watch me in person, in real life, on the biggest stage, is just insane,” she said.

Ilia Malinin

Ilia Malinin will go for gold in Milan next month.

The 21-year-old athlete began skating around age six. He’s coached by his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, who both represented Uzbekistan in the Olympics.

Known as the “Quad God” by fans, Malinin became the first and only athlete to successfully land a quadruple Axel in 2022. 

In April 2025, Malinin told PEOPLE he’s “really looking forward to” spending time in Milan in February. “I think there’s really a lot of time to actually go and explore the place, so I’ll be able to enjoy different food and different culture and stuff that it has to offer. And I’m personally looking forward to that the most.”

Maxim Naumov

Maxim Naumov will compete in Milan just one year after the tragic death of his parents, 1994 World Figure Skating pairs champions Evgenia “Zhenya” Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were killed in the American Airlines tragedy on Jan. 29, 2025.

After Naumov, 24, officially made Team USA, he shared his excitement, saying, “We did it! God is good. Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family, and it’s what I’ve been thinking about since I’m 5 years old. … So I can’t say into words how much this means to me.”

He also reflected on what his parents would think of his accomplishment. “I really hope that my mom watched because she never used to watch me skate. But they say we’re proud of you, but job’s not finished, we’re just getting started,” he said.

Three days before he was named to the team, Naumov skated his short program and broke down in tears as he got his score, while holding up a photo of himself as a 3-year-old boy standing alongside his parents.

“Sharing the vulnerability with the audience and me feeling their energy back has been something I remember for the rest of my life,” he told reporters.

Andrew Torgashev

Andrew Torgashev will make his Olympic debut in Milan with Team USA alongside Malinin and Naumov. He won the silver medal in the 2025 and 2026 U.S. National Championships and bronze in the 2024 Grand Prix de France.

Torgashev recently spoke about his emotions heading into the Milan Olympics, sharing that a visit to his family helped him “reset” before the Games. “I went to see my mom for Thanksgiving, and I saw my dad in Florida in early December,” Torgashev said. “It was an opportunity to reset. Honestly, it was the perfect thing for me to do. I feel strong and refreshed.”

Torgashev admitted “it can be overwhelming at times and tough to manage expectations” but said, “After seeing my family, it’s allowed me to take a step back, focus on the process and how I’m going to get there.”

Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Madison Chock and Evan Bates are returning for their fourth Olympic Games in Milan. The skating duo and real-life couple, who won gold in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, have been dating since 2017 after years of skating and being close friends. They tied the knot in June 2024.

In September, Chock, 33, and Bates, 36, told PEOPLE their personal bond helps their success on the ice. “It definitely helps,” Bates said. “It’s not always easy — we’re pushing ourselves hard to be our very best — but at the same time, the foundation is that we’re best friends.”

He continued, “We’ve known each other for 20 years, we’ve been a couple for 10 years and now husband and wife for just over a year. I think the trust is there, the friendship is there and that’s what is the strongest part of our relationship.” 

Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik

Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik have been skating together since 2022. Trained by dance coach Igor Shpilband, they won fourth place in their first competition at the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Kolesnik, 24, is originally from Ukraine, and after moving to the United States as a teenager, he and his mother were deported. He told A Divine Sport in January 2025 that he thought being deported was “the end of my dreams to go to the U.S. and skate with Igor,” but “by a miracle, I got a visa,” he said, adding, “Unfortunately, my mom didn’t get the visa.”

Before teaming up with Kolesnik, Zingas, 23, competed as a singles skater representing Cyprus. She told A Divine Sport she “didn’t initially have a desperate desire to try” ice dance, “but I fell in love with it.”

Kolesnik said he felt Zingas was “the perfect fit” for him “from day one.” He went on to say, “She was an amazing dancer, and I saw a lot of potential in her skating. From day one, I felt the connection.”

“The goal is to be consistent and go for it,” Kolesnik said of their shared goals.

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko have been skating together for nearly 12 years and will be making their Olympic debut next month.

Carreira, 25, is the daughter of a skating coach who started the sport at age 3, according to her U.S. Figure Skating biography. In 2024, she said in an interview that she and Ponomarenko, 24, “can’t do it without the other” while discussing their strong bond.

“Our connection with each other is the most important thing; more than training, more than anything, just being able to work together is really important,” Carreira said. “I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else. It’s been so fun, and we’ve experienced so much and we’ve grown together. We were just kids when we teamed up, and we didn’t have our parents around, so we really got to rely on each other and grow our friendship and relationship. It’s been an amazing journey.”

Ponomarenko started skating at age 5 “because he loved going fast,” according to his biography. He was previously coached by his father, Sergei Ponomarenko, who previously competed for the Soviet Union and Unified team alongside his wife Marina Klimova,

Ellie Kam & Daniel O’Shea

Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, also making their Olympic debut in Milan, started skating together in September 2022.

Kam, 21, was just four years old when she started skating because of her brothers, who were skating in the U.S. Figure Skating’s Learn to Skate program, according to her official U.S. Figure Skating biography.

O’Shea was also four when he started skating, according to his bio. Growing up, O’Shea played football, soccer and basketball, ran track and studied karate in addition to skating.

In 2024, Kam said in an interview with Anything Goes that she and O’Shea “learn something about each other” every time they compete. “And that goes for elements as well as emotionally and mentally,” she said. “Even if I had a little bit of nerves or he had a little bit of nerves, we were able to understand that and sync up mentally.”

O’Shea spoke in that same interview about the emotional toll of their sport. “Mental toughness is the word I use for it,” he said to Anything Goes. “It’s not an achievement that you get. It’s the growth that you go through consistently, and having a toolset to handle all of the things that come at you in life.”

Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe

Also making their Olympic debut in Milan is Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, who have been skating together since April 2019.

Chan, 28, began skating when she was four years old after finding her love for the sport at a friend’s birthday party, according to her U.S. Figure Skating biography. Before teaming up with Howe, Chan skated solo and was the 2015 U.S. novice champion and 2016 U.S. junior champion.

Howe, 29, found his love of skating when he was nine thanks to his sister Roxette. He also skated singles before switching to pairs at age 18.

In April 2023, Chan told Golden Skate she and Howe “want to push ourselves past our max and how much we think we can do.”

“We hear our skating is good and we reach and touch a lot of people, but as we push ourselves to refine our technical elements, we don’t want to lose that artistic side either,” she added. “Actually, we want to make it even better.”

Howe told the outlet, “Every year, especially as me and Emily have gotten more seasoned with each other as partners, we’ve really done well to set goals and work towards something each season.”