After Third U.S. Title, Hubbell and Donohue Confident Moving Into the Future -- Whatever It May Look Like

When Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue got the scores confirming they'd won their third U.S. ice dance title at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Hubbell collapsed onto Donohue's lap, hugging him around the knees.
 
Donohue leaned down to hug her in return, speaking positive affirmations into her ear.
 
"It was just a little moment in the kiss and cry to let ourselves not be seen, not worry about what my facial expression was," Hubbell said. "Hide from the camera for a second, hug Zach, and just have what felt like a little private moment between the two of us, even though it is on TV and everybody sees it. But it just felt a little more closed off and a little bit like I could let my guard down."
 
It was a moment of overwhelming relief for the pair after coming in second in 2020 to training mates Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
 
The 2019-20 season had left them feeling frustrated with their results for no reason in particular. They were healthy and injury-free, consistently put in the work in practice and were passionate about what they were doing. But they finished lower than first place at an ISU Grand Prix Series event for the first time in almost two years, and then found themselves finishing lower than first at the U.S. Championships for the first time since 2017.
 
"To lose the title last year, it felt really tough," Hubbell said. "Your mind quickly tells you stories about never being able to win again, or, 'That's it, now I broke my streak and now it's going to be harder,' and all of these little lies that we tell ourselves."
 
But Hubbell and Donohue bounced back in what was an unconventional 2020-21 season, winning U.S. Figure Skating's virtually-held International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge and 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America before returning to The Orleans Arena to reclaim their title.
 
"It still feels great," Hubbell said with a laugh. "That doesn't wear off. I think we're excited and it's nice to feel that momentum again going into whatever comes next, either in this season or in next season."
 
Hubbell and Donohue's rhythm dance to a Burlesque medley scored 89.66 points, and they headed into the free dance 0.44 points behind Chock and Bates.
 
"I don't think we think about scores in any way," Donohue said. "I mean, honestly, it's not like it is in other sports. It's not the fastest person to cross the finish line. It's, 'What do I need to do in each single moment to maximize my performance and my connection with my partner and make sure I'm doing my job?' For us especially, it's much less about trying to beat everybody else than it is about being the best that we can be."
 
Their free dance to "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley and k.d lang would earn 134.90 points, giving them an overall total score of 224.56. While they say the performance wasn't the best they can be, that has ended up being a blessing in disguise.
 
"That performance was not super easy," Hubbell said. "Right from the beginning, really, I felt like it really took some effort to stay mentally focused at the very beginning. And then throughout the performance, it was just a little bit extra fatiguing, a little bit extra challenging in moments.
 
"So it wasn't the very effortless performance that you dream of, but at the same time, everything that was going on in my mind, it really didn't show. I think that's a testament to how much we've committed to the process in practice, and we thank our coaches for always keeping us on track with that. That really gives us some confidence going into the rest of our career."
 
Right now, the future -- at least the immediate future -- is a bit uncertain. The ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 are still scheduled for March 22-28 in Stockholm, but if the rest of the season preceding it is any indication, the situation could change at any moment.
 
So Hubbell and Donohue are prepared to move forward with flexible plans. After visiting Hubbell's family in Ohio the week following the U.S. Championships, they returned to Montreal and are completing their two-week quarantine.
 
For the time being, as long as the schedule stays the same, it's all systems go as soon as they're allowed.
 
"As soon as we touch the ice, it's going to be a very specific plan to maximize the points and maximize the consistency to reach our goal," Hubbell said, "and hopefully bring home the World gold medal for Team USA and really set ourselves up well for the Olympic season."
 
That adds another wrinkle to the potential early end to this season: if it is indeed over, the Olympic season is essentially upon us.
 
Regardless, Hubbell and Donohue -- who finished fourth at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 -- have learned not to change their mindset at all.
 
"I think you think it's supposed to feel different," Donohue said. "You want to put all this extra hype on it being an Olympic season, and suddenly everything needs to feel different and new and exciting. But I mean, the prior three years going into an Olympic season are all about creating a stable base and foundation for you to rely on when you're at the Games. So trying to feed into that excitement, or as I like to call it, panic, is never really a good idea.
 
"It's a fun competition, it's an amazing energy, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if you're lucky. And so looking at having a second opportunity to compete at the Olympics for the U.S. is already a huge honor. So of course there's a lot of excitement in that. But it's also more so kind of the culmination of all the hard work and having a chance to really see the fruit that it bears. Like, 'Okay, this is what we've worked for.' There's a little bit of that affirmation in the process."
 
While they hope the World Championships is still in the cards, if it's not, Hubbell and Donohue can look back on the season with pride -- and look forward with excitement.
 
"It's bittersweet to think that this could be the end of the season," Hubbell said. "If that is the last competition of the season, we feel like these two programs did what was needed, and we're really excited about creating our Olympic programs and finding that right piece of music and exploring hip hop. I think it'll be a really fun year."