The U.S. will send the same three women to three straight World Figure Skating Championships for the second time ever.
U.S. champion is Gracie Gold is joined by runner-up Polina Edmunds and third-place Ashley Wagner on the team named for the World Championships in Boston in two months, U.S. Figure Skating announced Sunday.
They were also assigned to the Four Continents Championships in Taiwan from Feb. 18-20, but Wagner declined her spot. Mirai Nagasu, the 2010 Olympian who was fourth at Nationals, will take her place.
On Saturday, Gold erased the largest short-program lead in women’s Nationals history (under the 11-year-old scoring system) to beat Edmunds and claim her second U.S. title in three years.
Wagner, a three-time U.S. champion, moved up from fourth to third to ensure her place on the Worlds team.
Gold, 20, finished sixth, fifth and fourth at the last three Worlds and fourth at the 2014 Olympics.
Edmunds, 17, placed eighth at the last two World Championships and ninth at the Olympics.
Wagner, 24, was fourth, fifth, seventh and fifth at the last four Worlds and seventh at the Olympics.
The only other time the U.S. sent the same three women to three straights Worlds was 1999-2001, with Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes and Angela Nikodinov.
The U.S. has not won a women’s medal at the World Championships (or Olympics) since 2006, its longest drought since World War I.
U.S. Figure Skating Championships All-Access Page
U.S. team for World Championships
Men — Adam Rippon, Max Aaron, Nathan Chen
Women — Gracie Gold, Polina Edmunds, Ashley Wagner
Pairs — Tarah Kanye, Danny O’Shea; Alexa Scimeca, Chris Knierim
Ice Dance — Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani; Madison Chock, Evan Bates; Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue
