Less Than One Percent: Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik Are Off To Milan
Photo Credit: Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
Team USA Ice dancers Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik burst onto the scene in the fall of 2022. The duo thrived in their first season together, finishing fourth at the 2023 U.S. National Championships. The team continued to improve, showcasing strong performances on the grand prix circuit in 2023 and 2024. Immediately they knew they had something special, and set their sights on a trip to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games. That dream became a reality at the U.S. National Championships in January. I had the opportunity to talk to both athletes three days after they qualified for their first Olympic Games. Their excitement radiated through my computer screen. After officially making the team, Kolesnik looked up a simple fact. What percentage of the U.S. population qualifies for the Olympics? .00001
“I didn’t think my life would change so drastically, because it’s never going to be on the same trajectory as it used to be,” Kolesnik said. “I checked the other day on Google, what the percentage of people going to the Olympics from the U.S. And it’s like less than 1%. .000001, I finally made the one percent!”
A lifelong dream has come true for two incredible individuals with challenging paths to their childhood dream. Kolesnik was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and moved to the United States at the age of 15 to train under legendary coach, Igor Shpilband. With his former partner, Kolesnik won the World Junior title in 2020. Following that competition, Kolesnik split with his partner and searched for a new one throughout the duration of the pandemic. Kolesnik still has family that resides in Ukraine and have been affected by the tragic war taking place in his home country. Zingas was a former competitive singles skater representing Cyprus. She competed at the 2021 World Championships, and at the 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy. The latter was the final qualifying event for the 2022 Olympic Games. She placed ninth, two places short of qualifying to the Olympics. The careers of both skaters were in limbo, Kolesnik was not sure if he could find a new partner, and Zingas was taking time to decide if she should continue her singles career. The idea to pair up was brought to both of them by Shpilband. Zingas had plans to get her degree at Brown University and have a college experience. Switching disciplines to ice dancing never crossed her mind.
“I was more hesitant to try it, then to actually make the choice,” Zingas said. “Before I tried it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I kind of just felt like, why would I try that? It’s not something I have ever done, or have ever seen myself doing. And then once we skated together in the tryout, I kind of felt this gut feeling like, Oh, my God, I think I could love this, and I think I could be good at it.”
Kolesnik took a trip back to Ukraine for his birthday. He received a call from Shpilband who was ecstatic to tell him that he found the perfect partner. Kolesnik first took the call as a joke.
“I have a perfect girl for you. I’m in Oberst Dorf right now, and I saw her skate. She was amazing. She can dance like no one else. She feels the music. She’s a very emotional skater,” Shpilband told Kolesnik. “Wow, that’s great. Who is it? I know every single ice dance couple that competes there, he’s like, ‘Well, she’s a single skater,” Kolesnik said. “I was like, okay, that’s a really funny. Good joke. I will talk to you tomorrow. It’s my birthday.”
“He was laughing so hard on the phone,” Zingas added.
Kolesnik quickly realized that it was no joke. When he first saw Zingas on the ice, he knew it was the perfect match. The first few months of the partnership was a learning curve for Zingas, who was entering an entirely different discipline, and learning a new skill set. Kolesnik supported Zingas every step of the way and was shocked with how fast of a learner she was.
“She was fixing everything almost as we were going. I could say one thing, and she would understand it. Which is insane for me, that for someone who never tried ice dancing before, to have a feel for the partner where he goes, it was almost genius level for me.”
Zingas admits that the beginning of her time in ice dancing forced her to be strong mentally. In the first two years she received constant critiques throughout training, and would even arrive to practice an hour early to improve her skills separate from Kolesnik. This experience, along with Kolesnik’s patience helped accelerate her transition and lead them to their success.
“Two years straight, eight hours a day getting corrected is not sometimes easy to swallow,” she said. “I tried to just be a sponge and absorb all of the information that I could and apply it as much as I could in real time. And I think I owe the quickness of my transition, to Vadym and to our coach.”
Photo Credit: Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
Romeo & Juliet
This year, the duo is portraying Romeo and Juliet in their free dance. They originally had a different concept for the program, but their choreographer, Benoit Richaud suggested the music. At first the team had their reservations, the story and music is very commonly used in skating and they wanted to be original. Richaud assured them that it would be different and would focus on the tragicness of the story rather than the love story. They skate to the Sergei Prokofiev versions of the music, rather than the modern movie soundtrack many skaters use.
“The middle section that we have, which is Juliet’s death, it’s really light and fresh,” Zingas said. “We’re on the younger side of the ice dance couples that we’re competing against, we kind of wanted to utilize the youth that we have and the freshness that we can bring. And I think the program does a really good job of that.”
The team shines in this performance, and translates the tragic love affair perfectly on the ice. The program is highlighted through a series of lifts at the climax of the music, before ending with both of them stabbing themselves, portraying the death of the two lovers.
For the rhythm dance, all teams are required to skate to music from the 90s. Zingas and Kolesnik chose “Poison” and “Something In Your Eyes” by Bell Biv DeVoe. They are able to bring out their fun and light personalities through this music, finishing the program with a classic 90s dance break that springs the crowd to their feet. They immediately loved the music, but had to convince Shipilband to find that same love.
“We were trying to convince him, we were skating to the parts of it with the music that was uncut. And he was just like, I don’t see the program. Finally, I got in my DJ booth, and I decided it’s time for me to cut the music so he can see the concept of the program. After I cut it, and then Vadym was doing all the dance moves to it, he was like, ‘Okay, finally I can I can see it.”
The two programs showcase the opposite versions of themselves, and bring a unique taste to the Olympic ice that fans are bound to fall in love with.
Photo Credit: Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
Olympic Flame
In 2025, the duo finished fourth in the U.S. National Championship, just short of earning a spot on the World Championship team. Kolesnik had been pushing through an injury during the season, and scheduled a surgery in order to feel his best as the Olympics approached. While Kolesnik was off the ice, Zingas had the opportunity to refine her skills individually. This helped her gain confidence, and feel stronger physically and mentally. Kolesnik returned to the ice eight weeks after the surgery, and the goal was clear: earn one of the three spots on the U.S. Olympic team. Over the summer, the team traveled to Italy to work with Richaud. They had the opportunity to share the ice with many of the top skaters around the world, including three-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto. This experience gave them the extra motivation to be at their best for the Olympic season.
“It was really motivating to be there, because we saw how hard they worked,” Zingas said. “We just said, ‘You know what? This is the group of athletes that we want to be a part of.’ We tried to emulate everything that they were doing and work it into our own training style. Throughout the summer, I think we just locked in.”
The team has been able to train harder than they ever have. Their preparation for the season was next level. Part of this preparation was implementing quad runthroughs. This means training four rhythm or free dance runthroughs a day. When they show up to competition, they are confident they can execute the program once because of how hard they have prepared.
“Those quad run through weeks are so difficult that even the last week before competition, we’re still tired,” Zingas said. “By the time we have that taper week, and then we finally go to competition, we feel strong and we feel ready to do it, and fully trained, and that’s kind of the system that we have found works the best for us.”
The system has certainly paid off.
Zingas and Kolesnik hit the season running. They medaled at both of their Grand Prix events earning a spot at the Grand Prix Final—an event that features the six best teams on the Grand Prix circuit. One of two American teams to compete at this event, they set themselves up for a strong performance at the 2026 U.S. National Championships— the last step between them and their Olympic debut. They competed to their best ability and finished with a silver medal behind reigning World Champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
From skating over the Olympic rings, to the free merchandise, they are ecstatic about every part of the Olympic experience.
“I feel like my whole family’s gonna be there, and that’s gonna be really special,” Zingas said. “I really want them to have an amazing time at the Olympics and in Milan. I’m also probably the most excited for being in the village and getting the Skims merch. Skims is, like, my number one brand. I wear so much skims. It’s my favorite thing ever. I’m so excited to receive that merch. I can’t even contain my excitement. I need to go right now and get it.
While Kolesnik also enjoys the free merch, he is more looking forward to the Italian cuisine.
“I’m very excited for the merch, too,” Kolesnik said. “I just love free stuff. But the other thing that I’m excited about is pizza. I remember being in Italy and trying diavolo for the first time, and for the rest of the two weeks we were there. I was in the same restaurant, with the same waiter, even the owner got to know me. We had this pizza like 12 times in 14 days.”
For Zingas and Kolesnik, just being at the Olympics was the ultimate goal. They are taking a more relaxed approach to the competition and are excited to enjoy the moments.
“For us, going to Olympics is kind of relaxing, because that was the goal from the beginning of the season, and we achieved it,” Kolesnik said. “A lot of people, they have a lot of pressure on them. Maybe it’s their last season. They were meant to go there. For us, it was a risk that we’re willing to take, and we were just fighting for it, and now we made it. Of course, I want to skate to the best of my abilities, but I don’t have the same pressure like as the other couples out there.”
“I want to enjoy myself, and I want to have no stress around it, and just take in the experience,” Zingas said. “At the end of the day, this is a sport, and we’re competitors, and we want to be competitive, so I’m going to fight tooth and nail to get the best placement and get the best programs that we can and the best scores. I’m not that stress, to be honest.”
The two take a similar approach to life. When they aren’t at the rink you can find them playing with their dog, getting matcha and coffee. Zingas spends time using her sewing machine, while Kolesnik stays connected with skaters all around the world playing video games. Both athletes have had their moments of hardships before finding glory. Making the Olympics together, was a full circle moment for each skater. Zingas’ singles coach, Brooke Castile was at this year’s U.S. National Championship watching her achieve her dream. She was the first person she hugged after they found out they won the silver medal.
“After we got out of the kiss and cry, I was just crying, and I saw her there, and she was beside herself, bawling her eyes out, and I ran and I gave her a hug, and it just felt so right, because I was her first student ever, and having her there, and having her witness that moment. I know she wants that dream for me so much, and to finally achieve it with her there, with my family there was insane,” Zingas said.
“I was so drained after that free performance that I finally took a breath out. I was thinking how grateful I am to my coaching team, to Igor for believing in me, for bringing some 15-year-old kid from Ukraine giving him this opportunity to compete and perform at the highest levels,” Kolesnik said.
Before my call with the duo ended, I asked them a question: What would they say to their younger selves? Without hesitation, Kolesnik said, “Do swimming. Buddy, do swimming.” This made everyone laugh and showcased perfectly the bright personality the couple has, and why the partnership translates so well on the ice. For Zingas, she would keep being herself. She would never listen to the haters who doubted her when she first decided to pursue ice dancing.
“A lot of people also really doubted me when I made this choice,” Zingas said. “So many people from old coaches, new coaches. People were saying, ‘You’re never going to be able to do this. That’s stupid. Don’t do that.’ And I trusted myself, and I really took a chance on myself., this was kind of a gamble, if you think about it I didn’t know if I was going to be successful in it or not, but I believed in myself, and I took that choice, and it was a really courageous choice. I’d like to tell my younger self to keep believing in herself and keep being courageous and keep being herself, and don’t let anyone tell you who you can and can’t be, because you can be whoever you want to be, if you put your mind to it, and if you do the work and you commit yourself.”
The team has certainly committed themselves to their craft. While this is their first Olympics, they see themselves pushing for 2030, and even 2034. It brings me joy to know that their hard work and deduction is being rewarded with an experience of a lifetime. The smiles never left their faces throughout the duration of our conversation and I have a feeling these two will enjoy Milan more than any other athlete.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik light up the ice on Feb 9 and 11.
