World silver medalist Isabeau Levito to miss US Figure Skating championships with foot injury

World silver medalist Isabeau Levito withdrew from next week's U.S. Figure Skating championships because of a foot injury on Tuesday, putting the Olympic hopeful's chances of participating in the world championships in question.

Levito has not competed since placing third at Skate America in October. She withdrew from her second Grand Prix event at the Finlandia Trophy in November, and that prevented her from having a chance to compete at the Grand Prix Final.

“I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at nationals this year due to a foot injury,” said Levito, who won the title two years ago and was third last year. “This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully without pain or limitations. Good luck to my competitors and friends competing and I hope to join them soon.”

Michelle Lee replaced Levito in the women's field in Wichita, Kansas. Ava Ziegler and Clare Seo withdrew from nationals earlier this month and were replaced by Alexa Gasparotto and Brooke Gewalt.

The 17-year-old Levito, who has finished on the podium in each of her Grand Prix assignments over the past three years, has long been considered one of the top U.S. medal hopefuls for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Levito could petition U.S. Figure Skating for a spot on the team that will compete at worlds in March in Boston. She has a strong case given her bronze medal at Skate America and medals at the lower-level Cranberry Cup and Nebelhorn Trophy.

The U.S. championships for senior-level competitors begin Jan. 23 with pairs and women's short programs. The competition goes through the weekend and is one of the determinants in the team for the upcoming world championships.

Amber Glenn is the reigning U.S. champion. She is undefeated this season, winning the lower-level Lombardia Trophy, sweeping her Grand Prix assignments at the Cup of China and Grand Prix de France, and becoming the first American woman to win the prestigious Grand Prix Final since Alissa Czisny in 2010.

Glenn posted to Levito on social media Tuesday that she was “sending healing vibes” to her.

“I'm very proud of Isabeau putting her health first,” Glenn said on a zoom call later Tuesday, “because the potential there is so much greater than one national championships.”

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FILE - Isabeau Levito of the United States competes during the women's free skate program at the Skate America figure skating event in Allen, Texas, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.

Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.

Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.

In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.

Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.

Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.

In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”

“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.

In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”

“A logical choice,” he added.

FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)