From Feb. 19 to Feb. 23, nearly 100 elite skaters met in Seoul, South Korea, for this year’s Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC), a cornerstone of the International Skating Union’s (ISU) competition calendar. A dazzling display of the sport’s combination of athleticism and artistry, this year’s 4CC demonstrated the best of figure skating’s rising stars, the enduring power of seasoned veterans, and the sport’s increasing global appeal.
The 4CC was first established in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-European nations an international competition at the same level as the older European Figure Skating Championships. Drawing athletes from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and requiring that they belong to a member nation of the ISU and are at least 17 years old before July 1 of the previous year, the event awards medals in men’s singles, women’s singles, pair skating, and ice dance.
Historically, the United States, Japan, Canada, and China have dominated the 4CC, with the four countries winning a combined 296 out of 312 possible medals. This year, for the first time in the competition’s history, the gold medal in both singles events went to a skater from none of those countries: Kim Chae-yeon of the Republic of Korea headed the women’s podium, and Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan made history with his performance, earning his country’s third medal at the event and first gold since Denis Ten’s win in 2015.
Skating to selections from the Dune soundtrack for his short program and Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and A-ha’s “Take on Me” for his free program, Shaidorov received a career-best total of 285.10 to earn his first ISU title and 4CC medal. Building on his 12-point lead after the short program, he delivered an incredible free program with four quadruple jumps and three trips, including his signature triple Axel-quad Salchow. He debuted the move at the 2024 Grand Prix de France, where he became the first skater to successfully execute a quad as the second jump in a combination.
Home favorite Cha Jun-hwan—who won the gold in 2022 and bronze in 2024—popped a planned quad Salchow into a double, but moved from fourth to take second with a solid free skate, receiving a combined score of 265.02. Jimmy Ma, skating for the United States, rounded off the podium with a season’s best score of 245.01, despite a fall on a triple loop and a hand down on his first triple Axel.
Kim Chae-yeon—who recently won the Asian Winter Games, beating world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan—was undoubtedly the shining star of this year’s 4CC. Only 18 and performing for a hometown crowd, Kim came into the competition as the reigning silver medalist and beat her personal record with a 74.02 in the short program, landing a double Axel, triple Lutz-triple toe loop, and triple flip. She received yet another career best in the free program, bringing her total score to 222.38 and earning her the gold medal. She became only the third South Korean women’s singles skater to win the title, after Yuna Kim and Lee Hae-in.
Her breathtaking performance came after a slightly disappointing Grand Prix circuit in 2024, where she ended as an alternate for the 2024–25 Grand Prix Final. However, Kim has continually displayed an incredible ability to continually innovate and improve, with some of the sport’s most beautiful spins and seemingly effortless jumps. At 4CC, she performed leagues ahead of the rest of the podium. American skaters Bradie Tennell and Sarah Everhardt received the silver and bronze medals with their scores of 204.38 and 200.03, respectively.
In the ice dance final, defending champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada took their second consecutive 4CC title with 218.46 points, maintaining their slim 1.01 point lead from the rhythm dance over reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who took silver with 217.93 points. The podium was completed by another Canadian pair, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who earned bronze with 201.04 points.
2023 world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the pairs event, recapturing their win from 2023 with a season-best score of 142.59 and a total of 217.32. They were followed by the current reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada, who surged from fourth to second with another season best of 141.26 for a total of 210.92. Canada took home another medal, thanks to Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud’s personal best of 198.40.
Figure skaters and their fans now turn their attention to the World Championships, which are set to begin on March 25 in Boston, Mass.
Rose Chen can be reached at rchen@wesleyan.edu.