Impressions of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships from a first-time attendee

The skating was incredible, and the camaraderie was even better. No comment on the pizza.

The 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships wrapped up on Saturday, with the 2026 Olympic team being announced on Sunday, and I was in St. Louis for almost the whole thing (apologies to the junior ice dance and pairs teams that I missed on Monday morning).

This was my first time attending nationals, and rather than giving you a traditional recap -- by now if you want to know what happened on the ice, you probably know -- I thought I’d give you my impressions of the event as a first-time attendee, though one who has been in person for seven different competitive figure skating events ranging from big to small in the past ten months.

Also, if you’re a newcomer here (and I know there are a lot of you thanks to recommendations from M Dabkowski and Kat Cornetta, both of whom do amazing coverage of this sport), and wondering how someone who seems like such a big fan had never attended nationals before, well, prior to last year, I wasn’t such a big fan. You can read all about that journey on my intro post from a few months back, but for now, let’s dive into the fun in St. Louis.

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Live figure skating is incredible

I’m cheating, because this isn’t really a “nationals” impression so much as an overall impression from the entire season, but this sport really must be experienced in person to be truly appreciated. I’ve been fortunate enough to sit right along the boards at multiple events this season, including for the junior events at nationals, and that view truly gives you a strong impression of how fast the skaters are moving on the ice and how much force they come down with on jumps. Plus, the sound of blades cutting through the ice is incredible (though from what people who watched at home tell me, the broadcast upped those sounds to unbearable levels this past week).

Also, the vibes in the arena were off the charts good. People who’ve been to multiple nationals told me that this crowd was among the best they could remember. Part of that was this being an Olympic year for sure, but everyone in the building was excited by everything that was happening. So many skaters got standing ovations, and I was pleasantly surprised how full the stands were for the early groups on Friday and Saturday, which were split in each event from the later groups. On Friday the first session was the first group for women’s and pairs -- basically the non-contenders, with one notable exception -- and on Saturday it was the first group for men’s and ice dance. They weren’t the big names, but fans showed up for them anyway.

Also, just because, here’s Amber Glenn’s free skate. Enjoy.

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The figure skating community is even better

I can’t tell you how fun it was to repeatedly run into people I’d met at previous events this past week in St. Louis. Friends from Skate America, people who’d seen me at Worlds in Boston, people I met at Summer Sizzler or Stars on Ice. Everyone was so kind and it was fun chatting about the event, who we thought might make the Olympic team (everyone I know is still heartbroken for Jason Brown), or just what’s going on in the sport.

We had a Discord server for those of us who were in attendance (something that we’d done for both Worlds and Skate America) and it was so fun to not only share conversations but arrange meetups -- even if there was less friendship-bracelet trading than in Boston. Also, in what has to be PEAK 2026 behavior, I was chatting with one fellow attendee on Bluesky and talking about meeting up, only to discover she was sitting five rows behind me. I also met up with Instagram mutual Vanessa Lynn Bird on the concourse, and when we “parted” ways, I asked where she was sitting. It turns out not only was she in the same section as me, she was in the same row! We were just on opposite ends and separated by a family, so we hadn’t seen it all week until then [insert facepalm emoji].

And my feelings about the community extend not only to fellow fans, but to skaters and their families as well. I had long, great conversations with the families of both Danny O’Shea and Amber Glenn. Patrick Blackwell’s mother was appreciative of me taking video of his short program, and finding someone to shoot his free skate when I couldn’t. And why couldn’t I? Because I was attending a book signing for former U.S. nationals competitor and author Jocelyn Jane Cox, who was a delight to meet in person (and if you haven’t read her memoir Motion Dazzle yet, you’re missing out).

Hanging out with Amber Glenn’s sister Brooke in the Boitano Lounge,

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Boitano’s Lounge is a blast

I only went to one session of Boitano’s Lounge at Worlds, and had such a great time meeting legendary skaters there that I decided to go twice this time around. It’s pricy to get in, to be sure, but totally worth it. On Friday night, after some awkward, nervous standing around, I found myself talking to Ben Agosto and Katherine Hill (and fangirling to Katherine over Amber Glenn’s free skate), reconnecting with Gracie Gold, who’d been so nice to me in Boston, catching up with Ashley Cain (more from her in a bit), Jordan Cowan, Brian himself, and so many more. And I even got to introduce Douglas Webster, the current director of Ice Dance International and the creator of High School Musical on Ice back in his Disney days, to Monique Coleman, who played Taylor McKessie in the High School Musical movies.

On Sunday morning, while the skaters were going through rehearsal for the Olympic team announcement (which we couldn’t see from the lounge -- it was downstairs this time, rather than in the skybox like it had been in Boston), Brian brought out former Olympic medal winner Sasha Cohen to do a Q&A. It was a perfect choice because it’s been 20 years since her silver medal win, the last time a U.S. woman was on the individual podium, and the group of women we’re sending to Milan has an excellent chance to end that drought.

Sunday was also when I got to chat with Amber’s family, and they all did a flawless job of not revealing whether she’d made the Olympic team or not (though I think we all knew her spot was pretty safe).

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I shared the ice with an Olympian!

Sure, I’m not gonna replace Timothy LeDuc anytime soon, but thanks to U.S. Figure Skating and the city of St. Louis (which set up an outdoor rink at the Gateway Arch park), I got to be on the ice at the same time as 2022 Olympian -- and former Disney On Ice Elsa -- Ashley Cain. Definitely the highlight of my brief skating career.

Also huge thanks to Shannon Polovina, who invited me out to her rink in the suburbs for a public skate session. That means I got to skate twice while I was in St. Louis, more than I do in a typical week at home.

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The future of U.S. Figure Skating was on display

Before the events that drew most of the attention, the junior national champions were crowned (is it still “crowned” if it’s a medal that’s hung around your neck?) in men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance. Sadly, not as many people saw these events as possible, because USFS moved them out to Maryland Heights, about a 30-minute drive from downtown St. Louis. But the podiums provided plenty of excitement for the next Olympic quad and beyond.

I’ve covered ice dance champions Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin here before, and they were incredible last week. Everyone I talked to who hadn’t seen them perform previously came away impressed, with plenty of observers already buzzing about 2030.

For the women, basically the entire podium looks like they could be senior medal contenders in the near future, with 15-year-old Angela Shao dominating the field to earn a 10-point victory. Her free skate is below. I also remain in love with Annika Chao’s Snow White program (and Rachel Zegler reached out to Annika on Instagram to congratulate her on it!).

The pairs team of Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy became the first team in the 110+ year history of this event to win consecutive titles at the junior level.

And for the men, Patrick Blackwell absolutely looks like the next American star, taking home the gold after finishing third at nationals a year ago. Patrick turns 18 in a couple months, and I’ll be interested to see if he goes senior internationally next season.

Overall, the future of U.S. Figure Skating looks bright (and that’s not even accounting for the young seniors, or the junior-eligible skaters who skated up at the senior level).

I do hope that for next year’s championships, wherever they might be (USFS still hasn’t announced the site for 2027), the juniors get to skate at the main event venue, or at least at a venue closer to where the main event is happening, so they get the crowd support they deserve. Especially with it being the first year in a new Olympic quad, it’s the perfect time to put the youngest contenders for 2030 on full display.

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Support for trans skaters was on display too

As I did at Skate America, I flew my trans pride flag all week, and from what people tell me, it was visible on the broadcast (I obviously didn’t see, because I was at the arena, not watching on Peacock or NBC). I was also interviewed about it, in an article that also quoted Adam Rippon (who I had the pleasure of meeting at a live recording of The Runthrough podcast) and Danny O’Shea.

During breaks in the action, I was walking the concourse and getting the flag signed by skaters, many of whom told me they could see it from the ice and thanked me for flying it. So I hope USFS is getting the message here. The flag is now signed by 58 people, including the top three women’s finishers this week.

(Sadly one skater I did not bump into throughout the week was Erica Machida/YN, a former collegiate skater who was making their U.S. nationals debut and did their short program to a pair of Chappell Roan songs. Hopefully I’ll get to see them skate at another event in the future.)

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With the 2025-26 competition season in the rearview for me (no, I’m not going to Milan, or Four Continents, or Worlds), I’ll be back at Disney On Ice this week -- they’re in Hartford! I might try to sneak up to Boston next month for an adult competition (to watch, not compete... I still barely can skate tbh) and I’ll be at Skating Club of Boston’s Ice Chips show (starring Alysa Liu) on February 28th. Then there’s Ice Dance International in March and Stars On Ice in April.

From there, who knows where the 2026-27 season will take me. It’ll really depend on where (and when) Skate America and Nationals are to determine whether I go or not. But, hey, USFS, the arena in Hartford was recently renovated and has a hotel that connects via a skywalk, which would be quite convenient for the skaters. Just sayin’...