SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — With an entertaining and seductive performance that could practically have melted the ice, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue pulled off an ice dancing upset to close the U.S. Figure Skating championships Sunday.
The team beat out two-time defending champion sibling tandem Maia and Alex Shibutani with a score of 197.12, edging the Shibutanis’ 196.93.
Hubbell and Donohue should be headed to their first Olympics; a federation committee later Sunday was to decide the three duos headed to South Korea.
Striking in dark evening-wear costumes, Hubbell and Donohue skated to “Across the Sky” in which their lifts were both lovely and sultry for a 118.02 score. They came into the free dance in second place after the short program Friday.
The Shibutanis floated across the ice so light on their feet they appeared to not touch it at all, but didn’t receive marks from the judges high enough to make it three straight U.S. championships. Still, the brother-sister team all but locked up a trip to a second consecutive Olympics next month in Pyeongchang.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates were third at 196.60 skating to “Imagine” and also figure to make the Olympic squad.
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More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org
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