Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue perform their rhythm dance at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Provided photo — Jay Adeff, US Figure Skating

LAKE PLACID – On Aug. 10, US Ice Dance Champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue starred in the Saturday Night Ice Show alongside 12 other skaters, performing to an energetic Queen medley and the dramatic folk-rock song “Oats in the Water,” by Ben Howard.

The large audience appreciated all of the skaters’ performances but especially enjoyed Hubbell and Donohue’s dance lifts, spins and graceful athleticism.

The World bronze medalists have had a busy and successful year. Winning gold in most of their events, including the ISU Grand Prix events: Skate America, Skate Canada and the Grand Prix Final. Hubbell and Donohue then defended their national title and concluded their season with a World bronze medal as part of the gold-medal-winning Team USA at the 2019 World Team Trophy in Japan.

“Last season was a whirlwind of competing,” Hubbell said. “I feel like we were just on a really intense schedule between competitions and also changing our program many times, but it was altogether very successful. We are very proud to have walked away with another National title and our first Grand Prix gold medals,.

“There were a lot of nice experiences, (but) it was good to unwind from that as well, as it was a tiring season.”

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue skate in the Aug. 10 Saturday Night Ice Show in the 1932 Jack Shea Arena in Lake Placid. Provided photo — Christie Sausa

The greatest challenge was perhaps the program changes. Hubbell and Donohue modified their free dance throughout the season, noting that they “changed the pieces that we chose and sometimes for the freelance we added new pieces of music, while the concept stayed the same.” They also changed elements throughout.

“We changed the dynamic of the program quite a bit through the season: new music, new elements, and I think we basically didn’t compete the free dance the same twice, so it was quite an intense year.”

The Saturday Night Ice Show performance was most likely their last show before they start the season, although they might also skate a show or two in September if their schedule allows.

Hubbell and Donohue, who also placed fourth at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, aim to continue the improvements they made last season, skating their Rhythm Dance to a medley of Marilyn Monroe songs (in keeping with the Broadway/Show Tunes required theme of the Rhythm Dance this season) and their Free Dance to music from the 2018 film A Star is Born.

Like last year, they will represent the United States in the first two Grand Prix events: Skate America in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 18-20 and Skate Canada in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, Oct. 25-27. Their major goal is to win gold at the 2020 World Championships, held in their training city of Montreal, Quebec, March 16-22.

“I think we really set the bar high for ourselves last season with the two Grand Prix golds and the Grand Prix final gold, that will be our aim again this season, and it’s going to be a race toward Worlds, which will be fun. It is not our home country that we represent, but it is where we train, so we feel really great, warm feelings about that city, and it will be an amazing opportunity to have every single person of our support team there at the comp which is very rare,” Hubbell said. “Our goal is just keep getting better. The place we have left to reach is definitely the top of the world podium.”

Skating action continues in Lake Placid with the final Saturday Night Ice Show of the season on Aug. 17 at 7:30 pm, starring 2018 U.S. national silver medalist Ross Miner. On Aug. 18, the last week of summer skating, Adult Week, begins.

For more information, including schedules and information about the skating programs, visit their website at www.lakeplacidskating.com.