(L-R) Timothy LeDuc, Ashley Cain, Zachary Donohue, Bradie Tennell, Vincent Zhou, Mariah Bell, Nathan Chen and Madison Hubbell pose with their medals at the 2019 ISU World Team Trophy on April 13, 2019 in Fukuoka, Japan.
U.S. Figure Skating has medaled at every team event held since its debut 10 years ago and the 2019 ISU World Team Trophy was no exception.
Olympian Bradie Tennell had her highest score of the season in the women’s free skate on Saturday, and her performance helped the U.S. lock down its fourth World Team Trophy title in Fukuoka, Japan.
The U.S. went into the third and final day of competition with a 12-point lead over second-place Japan in the hunt for its fourth gold medal in World Team Trophy history.
The competition features the top six nations from the figure skating season and each country is represented by two men, two women, one pair and once ice dance team, who earn points based on their placements in both the short and free programs.
World Team Trophy occurs every other year, and the U.S. also won in 2009, 2013 and 2015. It took silver in 2012, when the event was postponed because of an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and most recently finished third in 2017. The U.S. has also won bronze at the two Olympic team events.
Team USA totaled 117 points, followed by Japan with 104 and Russia with 102.
Two-time and reigning world champion Nathan Chen and world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou finished first and second in both the men’s short program Thursday and free skate Friday while Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished third in the rhythm dance and free dance.
On Saturday, it was the women’s and pairs’ turn to close the competition.
Tennell, who was fourth in the short program, scored a 150.83 and was second for her program, which included a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and a double axel-triple toe in the second half. Russia’s Elizaveta Tuktamysheva took first place and Mariah Bell finished sixth for the U.S. with a score of 135.17. Tennell and Bell combined for 17 points toward the team total.
Pairs skaters Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc started the day with a fifth-place finish, matching their short program placement and scoring 125.24 points to earn eight points.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
