By Kristen Henneman
For the first time ever, a U.S. team has won gold at a World Championships.
Teams Elite became the World Junior champions Saturday at the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships 2025 in Gothenburg, Sweden, clinching the top free skate score to jump from third to the top of the standings.
The team had proven all year they could accomplish the feat. They secured gold at both their Challenger Series events before taking the top step of the podium at the U.S. Championships for the second year in a row.
"It is a dream come true,” Teams Elite skater Emma Chung said. “We worked so hard for this opportunity and could not be more proud of our preparation and performances this entire season."
But the gold wasn’t the only history made in Sweden.
Skyliners junior brought home the bronze medal, marking the second time ever that two U.S. teams have finished on the podium at the World Junior Championships. Skyliners junior and Teams Elite earned silver and bronze, respectively, in 2022.
Skyliners junior has now medaled at the last six World Junior Championships they’ve attended.
"Medaling showcases all our hard work and dedication that we’ve put in throughout this season,” Skyliners junior skater Caitlin Chae said. “We haven’t had the easiest course getting to this moment, so it’s really such an honor to be able to medal this season."
Tallying 132.43 points for their free skate, which is just tenths under their season’s best, Teams Elite claimed the top score of the day thanks to both strong element and component scores. Their skate to music from Black Swan earned Level 4s on four elements. They generated more than 10 points on both of their intersections, with both elements receiving GOEs of 2.89 and 2.90.
With 205.28 total points, Teams Elite clinched their second World Junior medal in just their third appearance at the event, penning their name into the history books.
“We put it all out there and had no regrets, which was our goal for the season,” Chung said.
Keeping their World Junior medal streak alive, Skyliners junior achieved bronze with 201.27 points, including 127.76 points in the free skate. Both are new season’s bests, crushing their previous best international total score by more than 11 points.
They started out their northern lights-themed program with their strongest element, a Level 4 intersection with a Level 4 point of intersection that was awarded10.29 points. They went on to record three more Level 4 elements - their synchronized spin, move element and traveling element.
“As the final skate of our season, we wanted to showcase our best performance,” Skyliners junior skater Isabelle Gao said. “We really brought the energy, and I think we put out some strong elements.”
For full results from the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships 2025, click here.
