Photo credit Getty Images
By Troy Schwindt
Team USA sewed up its second consecutive and sixth overall ISU World Team Trophy title Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
To clinch the team title, Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn went 1-2 in the women’s free skate while Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov contributed to the team’s cause with a fifth-place finish in pairs.
The United States ended the three-day event with a record 126 points, the most of any team in the event’s history (Russia, 125 in 2021). Team USA secured victories in six of the eight segments and has now medaled at every World Team Trophy since the event’s inception in 2009.
“We are just beaming; I’m so insanely proud of this team,” team captain Jason Brown said. “It’s been such an incredible season and to end it here has been so special. To be able to witness all eight of us coming together, it was awesome. … There’s nothing like the World Team Trophy.”
Liu, the reigning World champion, skated last and delivered a personal best international score of 150.97, performing to “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer. Her previous-best score came last month at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 (148.39).
“I was a little bit happier after my free skate at Worlds, but I’ll take this one,” Liu said. “I only ran it one time before coming here, so I wasn’t expecting that. And I’m happy I could put out a good enough score for my team.”
Liu, who came back this season after retiring two years ago, said she’s excited to get to work for the 2026 Olympic season.
“I’m going to train on my stamina during the offseason,” Liu said. “My goal is to do a double run-through just so I can have a higher ceiling for myself. I’ll work on my jumps a lot more. I want to tweak my technique a bit. I didn’t have much time to do that this season just because I didn’t want to mess things up too much, but now I have the room to do that.”
The California skater turned in an entertaining, mistake-free performance that included positive grades of execution on each element. She also received Level 4s for her three spins and footwork. Liu landed a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence for a combined 24.60 points.
Glenn overcame a disappointing short program with a convincing free skate, which translated to a personal best score of 148.93, beating her previous personal best by more than four points.
The two-time and reigning U.S. champion, skating to “I Will Find You” by Audiomachine and “The Return” by CLANN, landed her opening triple Axel and cruised from there. The Colorado-based skater finished with positive GOEs on all but one element; she earned Level 4s for two spins and her step sequence.
“I got the job done,” Glenn said. “I slept a lot last night and felt nice and refreshed today.”
Landing her triple Axel propelled her record skate.
“It’s been consistent in practice, and I even did it in shows here in Japan,” Glenn said. “It’s something I feel I’m able to do when I’m in the right place and I was today.”
Glenn credited her teammates with helping her overcome the frustration of the short program.
“Today, I thought I’m doing this for more than myself, I’m going this for my team,” she said.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov delivered eight points for Team USA with a fifth-place finish and a free skate score of 117.87.
The reigning U.S. champions struggled with a few of their elements, but produced three Level 4 lifts, including two at the end of the routine, to "Je Suis Malade” by Forestella.
“We were a little disappointed in our skate,” Mitrofanov said. “We know we can produce better results, but this is only our second season together and first international [season] and I think that showed a bit today. Alisa was a bit under the weather as well. We are not making excuses; we are just happy to be here.”
“We had a long season and today I feel it kind of pushed us a little into the mistakes that we made,” Efimova said. But we are happy we make it and happy to be here and be part of USA.”
Finishing behind Team USA in the standings was the host nation of Japan with 110 points. Italy rounded out the podium with 86 points.
For full results at ISU World Team Trophy 2025, visit the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
