Olympic skaters Zingas and Kolesnik lead US ice dance sweep at Four Continents

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Olympic ice dancers Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik tuned up for the Milan Cortina Games in the best possible way Friday.

The up-and-coming duo won the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, leading the first U.S. ice dance sweep at the event since 2005. Zingas and Kolesnik ended with 202.86 points after the free dance to top Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, while Oona Brown and Gage Brown rounded out the podium.

Zingas and Kolesnik are not among the favorites at the upcoming Winter Games in Italy, though their performance in the last major international competition before the Olympics underscores the strength of the American squad.

Their teammates and reigning world champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, are favored to win the Olympic gold medal.

In the women's competition at Four Continents, rising star Yuna Aoki led a Japanese podium sweep with 217.39 points after her free skate. Ami Nakai, the leader after the short program, wound up second while Mone Chiba finished third.

There are usually few Olympians at Four Continents in an Olympic year because it takes place so close to the opening ceremony, but the short travel distance from Japan to China made it a natural tune-up event for the Japanese women. They are considered the stiffest competition for the American team of Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito when they arrive in Milan in two weeks.

None of those U.S. women were at Four Continents. Bradie Tennell, the first alternate for the Olympic team, ended up fourth while Sarah Everhardt finished eighth and Starr Andrews finished 15th in what is likely her final singles competitions.

Andrews is planning to switch to pairs competition next season.

Four Continents continues Saturday with the pairs free skate and the men's short program.

In pairs, the Chinese team of reigning Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong led after the short program. Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan were second and the American team of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov were in third.

Efimova and Mitrofanov are the American champions but are unable to compete at the Olympics because she is not a U.S. citizen.

The men, who will conclude Four Continents with their free skate Sunday, feature several skaters who will be headed from Beijing to Milan. Among them are Kao Miura of Japan, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan and Junhwan Cha of South Korea.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics