The battle for the Olympic spots has begun: Ice Dancers Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU), Pair Skaters Jiaxuan Zhang/Yihang Huang (CHN) and Adeliia Petrosian (AIN) top the standings as the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier event opened with the Rhythm Dance, Women’s and Pairs Short Programs Friday at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing (CHN). 

111 Figure Skaters/Couples are chasing their Olympic dream at the competition, hoping to grab the last remaining quota places for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Ice Dancers Reed/Ambrulevicius (LTU) in pole position for Olympic spot

The 2024 ISU European Ice Dance bronze medalists Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania put themselves into pole position for an Olympic spot by winning the Rhythm Dance with seven points to spare. Australia’s Holly Harris/Jason Chan follow in second while Milla Ruud Reitan/Nikolaj Majorov of Sweden are currently ranked third. 

Just behind are Japan’s Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita in fourth place. The top four Ice Dance teams in the final result following the Free Dance earn a quota place for their country for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Skating last out of the 19 Ice Dance couples, Reed/Ambrulevicius turned in an upbeat performance to “I’m Too Sexy” and “Cantloop”, showing off precise twizzles and a difficult rotational lift. The Lithuanian Champions scored 80.95 points, not far off their personal best of 81.19 points. 

Reed said they had done everything to be ready for this important competition.

“This is our third competition of the of the season and I don't think we've ever been so ready for a competition,” she noted. “We came in here as prepared as we've ever been and I think we showed that.”

Her partner agreed: “Our bodies were in tune to do what we trained them to do. We were just more focused on controlling our emotion, our breathing and then towards the end it was just fun dancing,” Ambrulevicius added.

Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) are halfway to sealing a place at the Olympics after an upbeat performance in the Rhythm Dance earned them a seven-point lead. © ISU

At the ISU World Championships 2025, Reed/Ambrulevicius had surprisingly missed out on an Olympic spot because of a costly fall in the Rhythm Dance. But they never gave up.

“We like to keep things fun and exciting, I guess, the ice dance drama is there and I feel like we embody that,” Reed joked. “It was unfortunate, but the second that happened, it was like our mind switched and we knew we needed to be ready early.”

“Halfway through,” Ambrulevicius had told their training mates Harris/Chan as they met in the mixed zone. The Australians produced a personal best performance (73.35 points) to a Jennifer Lopez medley that included “Waiting for Tonight” and “If You Had My Love” and are in strong contention for a quota place.

“I think second place is the best we could have asked for and we're just happy that we did our job and we did our best,” Harris commented.

“I think tomorrow is a good reset kind of day and then focusing on the free dance on Sunday,” Chan said. “We’re just staying within our bubble and focusing on each other and then doing our job.”

Holly Harris and Jason Chan (AUS) stayed focused to set a personal best and sit in second place behind their Lithuanian training mates. © ISU

The couples ranked third to sixth are separated by less than two points and a lot can happen in the Free Dance on Sunday. 

Reitan/Majorov entertained the crowd at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium with a Ricky Martin medley and set a new personal best with 69.30 points in their very first competition of the season. 

“It felt good performing, and we had fun, definitely,” Reitan shared. “The ice was nice, and we have been having a good preparation also, so we weren't that nervous before. I think you may feel it [nerves] a bit more when you get on the ice. But in general, we felt pretty good, and we are super happy with our personal best.”

Milla Ruud Reitan and Nikolaj Majorov (SWE) also set a new personal best with their entertaining Ricky Martin routine to lie in third place. © ISU

2025 Asian Winter Games Champions Yoshida/Morita (JPN) placed fourth with their dance to “Stomp to My Beat” and achieved a personal best of 69.14 points. Sofia Val/Asaf Kazimov (ESP) also kept their Olympic hopes alive by coming fifth on 68.35 points. 2022 Olympians Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Lu (CHN), who have returned to competition following a break, are not far behind in sixth place on 67.59 points. 

Zhang/Huang lead close Pairs Short Program

Competition is especially tough in the Pairs event with only three spots available for 11 teams. Led by China’s Jiaxuan Zhang/Yihang Huang, the top four teams are separated by just four points and the Free Skating on Saturday will decide who takes their place in Milan. 

Zhang/Huang delivered an excellent performance to “Nemesis” that was highlighted by a triple twist, side by side triple toe and throw triple flip. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions set a new personal best with 66.68 points. 

“We're very satisfied with today's performance. We basically achieved the level we trained for,” Zhang said. 

“This is our first senior season and our first time competing at such a high-level event. We still hope to refine the technical details of our elements as much as possible,” she added. 

Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang (CHN) lead the way on home ice as 11 pairs chase just three places at the Olympic Games. © ISU

“This competition holds special significance,” Huang noted. “Before, we might have focused more on achieving better individual results, but this time we're representing China to secure an Olympic spot. I feel the pressure, but it's also an honor. I hope to give it my all to fight for that spot.”

Camille and Pavel Kovalev of France came second. Skating to “Une vie d’amour”, the husband-and-wife team completed a triple twist, throw triple flip and level-four lift. However, Pavel Kovalev’s triple toe was somewhat shaky. Nevertheless, the French netted a new personal best of 64.28 points. 

Kovalev/Kovalev have changed coaches this season and are now training with 2018 Olympic Champion Bruno Massot. “That has changed a lot. He has a different approach to the training. We started working on our programs much earlier than we used to, also because this competition is early. But before we always started too late,” Camille Kovalev shared. 

Now the Olympic spot is within reach with the Free Skating to come. “I try not to think about that too much. I keep telling myself that this is a competition like any other,” Camille Kovalev said. 

Camille and Pavel Kovalev (FRA) are enjoying the different approach to training introduced new coach Bruno Massot . © ISU

To wind down and to refocus for the Free Skating, the couple will watch some skating. “We will watch the Women’s Short Program a bit. Unfortunately, not everything as it finishes late,” Pavel Kovalev offered. 

Other than that, he is looking forward to a good meal and some rest. 

Karina Akopova/Nikita Rakhmanin of Armenia are currently ranked third. Their performance to the Armenian piece “Artsakh” featured a triple twist, throw triple flip, just the triple Salchow was slightly under-rotated. Akopova/Rakhmanin scored 63.85 points.

“After the practice, I was really nervous, I was so excited,” Akopova explained. “But when we came to the ice, I was not nervous anymore but focused on our job.”

“This is just our second competition, the first one was in America two weeks ago and we’re just happy to be here. One hundred percent that [competition in the USA] helped us. We didn’t compete for two years and we are very excited to show our free program tomorrow,” she continued. 

Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin lie in third place after skating a short routine to music from their native Armenia. © ISU

Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) finished fourth on 62.68 points. She missed the side by side triple loop - a jump that none of the other teams attempted - but the couple collected points with their strong reverse lasso lift, level-four step sequence and spin.

The new team of Anna Valesi/Martin Bidar (CZE) came fifth followed by Sofiia Holichenko/Artem Darenskyi (UKR). Both teams have 57.17 points but the Czechs are ahead thanks to a slightly higher technical score. 

Adeliia Petrosian (AIN) clinches narrow lead in Women’s Short Program

 Adeliia Petrosian (AIN) clinched a narrow lead over ISU European Champions Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia and Loena Hendrickx of Belgium in the Women’s Short Program. With the scores being close, several Skaters still have a chance to grab one of the five available Olympic quota places in the Free Skating on Saturday. 

Performing to a Michael Jackson medley, Petrosian completed a triple Lutz (slightly under-rotated), triple flip-triple toe combination as well as two level-four spins to score 68.72 points. The 18-year-old skated early as she had no World Ranking points but held onto her lead until the very end.

Adeliia Petrosian (AIN) skated early in the Short Program and looked on as none of her rivals could dislodge her from top spot. © ISU

Gubanova came the closest to Petrosian on 68.08 points, delivering a playful routine to Indian music and producing a triple flip-triple toe, triple Lutz (slightly under-rotated) and a double Axel. A big smile lit up her face as she hit her final pose. 

The performance was a huge relief for the 2023 European Champion after she had failed to qualify an Olympic spot at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 because of an error-ridden Short Program. 

“Today I am just so happy,” Gubanova said. “There were difficult moments but I am happy that was able to overcome that today and to not only perform the technical elements. I really enjoyed skating, I danced and I was on fire.” 

Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) was happy with her performance after her error-strewn Short Program at the World Championships. © ISU

The Georgian skater admitted that it was hard for her to come back after the disappointment at the ISU World Championships. 

“This came from the past season, it is still sitting in my head and I have to try to deal with it. Today I did that.”

2024 European Champion Hendrickx is on the comeback trail after missing the past season due to an ankle injury that required surgery last February. She stumbled on her opening triple flip-triple toe and double Axel, but then recovered to finish her upbeat performance to “Locura” and “Pinga” strongly with a triple Lutz and difficult spins. Hendrickx picked up 66.92 points.

“I felt confident, but at the end, just before I had to skate, I was a little bit shaky,” the two-time ISU World medalist shared. 

“My main goal was that I was happy with my way to this competition. And I'm very proud of myself, doing what I love the most and being on my level again in practice is already a big achievement for me. That's what I'm most proud of. Now it's just waiting for the right timing to perform clean programs in competition.” 

Loena Hendrickx (BEL) continued her return from injury with a strong performance that left her in third place ahead of Saturday's Free Skate. © ISU

Ruiyang Zhang (CHN) placed fourth on 62.78 points with a clean performance that featured a triple Salchow-triple toeloop combination. Not far behind is Stefania Yakovleva (CYP) in fifth on 59.37 points. Several other skaters remain in contention for one of the five Olympic spots on offer, including Mia Risa Gomez (NOR) in sixth place (59.30 points), Viktoriia Safonova (AIN) in seventh place at 57.71 points and Kristina Lisovskaja (EST) in eighth (57.36 points).

What Happens Next

The Women and Pairs will know following the Free Skating on Saturday who gets one of the five quota places for Women and three spots for the Pairs. The Men will enter the competition on Friday with the Short Program while the Ice Dancers have a day off and will continue on Sunday. Find out where to watch here. For full results and entries please see the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier event page.

Facts & Figures Recap: Olympic Figure Skating entries

First Qualification event: 
ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 in Boston (USA): A total of 31 countries have earned quota places in Boston and the following total of spots have been filled across the different segments (more information in ISU Communication 2696): 

• 24 Men 
• 24 Women
• 16 Pairs
• 19 Ice Dance couples

Second Qualification event: 
ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier in Beijing (CHN): A total of 17 remaining Olympic spots to be earned at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier in Beijing (CHN):

• 5 spots for Women        
• 5 spots for Men
• 3 spots for Pairs
• 4 spots for Ice Dance

Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026: A total of 142 Figure Skaters will be competing according to the following distribution:  

• 29 Men
• 29 Women
• 19 Pairs
• 23 Ice Dance Couples

For more detailed information see the ISU Skate to Milano Preview.