MEDALISTS
gold Maia Shibutani/ Alex Shibutani
silver Madison Chock/ Evan Bates
bronze Madison Hubbell/ Zach Donohue
pewter Anastasia Cannuscio/ Colin McManus
(l-r) Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, Madison Hubbell/ Zachary Donohue, Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus
By Lynn Rutherford For Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani,
the realization didn’t sink in all at once. “For us, it kind of came in waves,” Maia
said.
They felt something special happening during the final 90 seconds of their free skate to Coldplay’s “Fix You” when a flawless twizzle series, followed by a dazzling rotational lift, set the Saint Paul crowd cheering. The feeling like- ly grew as they began building speed for their closing step sequence, pouring a dozen years of shared triumph and disappointment into each movement. When they ended, exactly on the music’s final note and perfectly together, they knew they had given it all they had. “I think we were very ready for that mo-
ment to happen,” Alex said. In the kiss and cry, when a monster
115.47-point score popped up, Alex was first to react, throwing his arms up in joy a split sec- ond before embracing Maia. After 12 seasons of competition and five consecutive senior-lev- el medals (2011–2015), they had won the U.S. title with a total score of 190.14 points, defeat- ing defending champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates by 3.21 points. “Both of us knew 100 percent as soon as
we finished our performance that we had done our very best for that day,” Maia, who like her brother represents The SC of New York, said. “I know we can perform even stronger as we go along in the season, but it was just a
24 MARCH 2016
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani entertain the crowd with their short dance to selec- tions from the comedic ballet Coppélia.
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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