What I’m watching at U.S. Nationals

Skating.

That’s it. That’s the post.

No, I’m kidding. Could you imagine, a one-word nationals preview?!

This won’t be a comprehensive preview, since nationals are technically already underway (I’m writing this on a plane while sadly missing the junior rhythm dance, which means I’m missing out on the incredible Vogue program from Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin), just a glance at the programs and storylines I’m most excited about.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive discipline-by-discipline preview, I highly recommend you check out M. Dabowski’s The Nice Capades, where she’s breaking down every event with a mix of knowledge and humor.

On a sadder note, this is the first national championship since last year’s Flight 5342 tragedy, so I’ll be interested to see what USFS does to honor the victims (my heart sank when I saw an Instagram post previewing this year’s development camp participants, thinking about the lives lost last year).

---

Pairs

The senior competition starts on Wednesday with the only discipline in which the U.S. does not have the reigning world champion -- or three Olympic spots. Only two teams will advance from this event to Milan, and it might not even be the top two finishers, because of various citizenship issues.

Program I’m most excited to see: Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov’s “Love Story” free skate.

I covered this program in my Year in Review piece last week, and it’s good enough to lift Efimova and Mitrofanov, the reigning gold medalists, to the top of the podium. But unless there’s a last-minute change in Efimova’s citizenship status, they’re not going to the Olympics (the team gets announced on Sunday).

Storyline I’m watching: Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea’s attempt to return to the top

Kam and O’Shea got off to a late start this season due to injuries, but took bronze at both of their Grand Prix assignments and nearly qualified for the final. After winning gold at nationals in 2024, they took bronze last year, so we’ll see if the momentum from a strong GP season carries over to St. Louis.

---

Women’s

Programs I’m most excited to see: Amber Glenn’s “Like a Prayer” short and Alysa Liu’s Lady Gaga free

(Sorry, couldn’t pick just one…)

I saw Glenn’s program at Summer Sizzler (it also made my Year in Review list) but I’ve never seen it with the costume dress. I have NOT seen Liu’s Gaga program — no one has, because she scrapped it after her first event this season and went back to “MacArthur Park.” Now she’s ready to unveil the revamped version (and if the step sequence to the “walk, walk, fashion, baby” part of “Bad Romance” isn’t still in there, I’m gonna be bummed).

Storyline I’m watching: Can Isabeau Levito make a statement?

Glenn is the reigning U.S. champ and the 2024 GP Final gold medalist. Liu is the reigning world champ and the 2025 GP Final gold medalist. Coming into the season, there were questions about whether Levito’s position as the third woman headed to Milan was secure. She’s answered those questions with a strong season to date, and it would take a shocking performance (probably a gold medal win by someone outside of the big three) to knock her out of that spot. But can Levito take silver over either Glenn or Liu? Or even gold? She won this event back in 2023 when she was just 15 years old, so she’s proven capable.

---

Ice Dance

Program I’m most excited to see: Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik’s Bell Biv Devoe rhythm dance

I love ‘90s music, but some of the song choices for this year’s rhythm dance theme have been uninspired (and repetitive). But Zingas and Kolesnik went with BBD, heavy on the “Poison” and I’m obsessed. I haven’t seen this program in person yet this season, so I’m excited to see it in St. Louis.

Storyline I’m watching: Who’s joining Chock & Bates in Milan?

Christina Carreira got her citizenship, so she and Anthony Ponomarenko are clear on that front, but they have not had the strongest season. Neither have Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, opening things up for Zingas and Kolesnik to potentially take one of the three spots (they did qualify for the GP Final, making them the most successful non-Chock/Bates team this season). Then there are the ShibSibs, who haven’t looked great all year and are changing their rhythm dance for this event. The 2018 Olympians seem primed to be in Milan regardless of their results to date, but they’re going to at least need to be . Honestly, if the U.S. is going to send a sibling duo to the Olympics, I’d rather it be the Browns (both of their programs are such a joy to watch).

---

Men’s

Program I’m most excited to see: Ilia Malinin’s free skate

Will he do the seven-quad layout at nationals? Would he dare unveil the quintuple jump he says he’s been working on? Even if the answer to both is “no,” I’ll be locked in.

Storyline I’m watching: Who’s the third man?

This was one of my top storylines to watch 100 days out from Milan, and very little has changed. We have a full season worth of results, but no one has really distinguished themselves. Tomoki Hiwatashi, Andrew Torgashev and Jacob Sanchez were the only ones who earned GP Final standings points this season, and none of the three was close to qualifying for the event. Maxim Naumov had a huge performance in winning gold at the Ice Challenge, and has skated well at this event in recent years. It really is wide open and whoever joins Malinin and Jason Brown on the podium is likely headed to Milan.

Unless it’s Lucius Kazanecki, who won bronze at the JGP final this year but is skating as a senior in this event (and is age eligible for the Olympics). He’s had a strong season, but doesn’t technically have the minimum TES score to qualify for Milan, which means a top-three finish in St. Louis could throw a monkey wrench into things.

---

Because the days are so long (and I’m going to the Boitano Lounge on Friday and Saturday night), I likely won’t be posting nightly recaps here like I did for Cranberry Cup or Skate America. But I will be live posting as much as possible on Bluesky and Instagram, so be sure to follow me there!