US Figure Skating Championships 2015: TV Schedule, Top Contenders and Event Info
The 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will serve as a final tuneup on the big stage for some of the top competitors in the country ahead of March's World Championships.
The eight-day competition returns to a familiar venue in Greensboro, North Carolina, the same place the 2011 championships were held. Much has changed since then, however, and a new wave of skaters have taken the nation by storm.
The Sochi Olympics gave the casual fans of figure skating an opportunity to watch extraordinarily talented Americans compete at the highest level possible. Some of those same athletes will be in action starting this Saturday.
Below you'll find everything you need to know about the event—from a television schedule to top contenders to watch and more.
Where: Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina
When: Saturday, January 17 through Sunday, January 25
Watch: NBC, Ice Network
Event Schedule
January 16, the day before the competition gets underway, is designated as an official practice day. Below you'll find the complete event schedule.
| Saturday, Jan. 17 | 1 | 9:30 a.m., Championship Rink | Intermediate Pairs Short, Juvenile Girls Free Skate, Juvenile Pairs Free Skate, Juvenile Boys Free Skate, Intermediate Men Short, Intermediate Ladies Short |
| Saturday, Jan. 17 | 2 | 10:45 a.m., Second Rink | Juvenile Pattern Dance, Intermediate Pattern Dance |
| Sunday, Jan. 18 | 3 | 1 p.m., Second Rink | Juvenile Free Dance, Intermediate Men Free Skate, Intermediate Ladies Free Skate |
| Sunday, Jan. 18 | 4 | 6 p.m., Championship Rink | Novice Pattern Dance, Novice Ladies Short |
| Monday, Jan. 19 | 5 | 10:15 a.m., Second Rink | Intermediate Pairs Free Skate, Intermediate Free Dance |
| Monday, Jan. 19 | 6 | 1:30 p.m., Championship Rink | Novice Pairs Short, Novice Men Short, Novice Ladies Free Skate |
| Tuesday, Jan. 20 | 7 | 9:30 a.m., Championship Rink | Novice Free Dance, Novice Men Free Skate |
| Tuesday, Jan. 20 | 8 | 6 p.m., Championship Rink | Junior Pairs Short |
| Wednesday, Jan. 21 | 9 | 1:45 p.m., Championship Rink | Junior Men, Novice Pairs Free Skate |
| Wednesday, Jan. 21 | 10 | 6:15 p.m., Championship Rink | Junior Short Dance, Junior Ladies Short |
| Thursday, Jan. 22 | 11 | 11 a.m., Championship Rink | Junior Pairs Free Skate |
| Thursday, Jan. 22 | 12 | 4:30 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Pairs Short |
| Thursday, Jan. 22 | 13 | 7 p.m., Championship Rink | Opening Ceremonies, Championship Ladies Short |
| Friday, Jan. 23 | 14 | 10:30 a.m., Championship Rink | Junior Men Free Skate, Junior Free Dance, Junior Ladies Free Skate |
| Friday, Jan. 23 | 15 | 5:15 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Short Dance |
| Friday, Jan. 23 | 16 | 8:15 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Men Short |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 17 | 10:45 a.m., Championship Rink | Championship Free Dance (groups 3-4), Championship Pairs (group 3) |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 18 | 2:30 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Pairs (groups 1-2), Championship Free Dance (groups 1-2) |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 19 | 7 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Ladies Free Skate |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 20 | 2 p.m., Championship Rink | Championship Men Free Skate |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 21 | 7:15 p.m., Championship Rink | Smucker’s Skating Spectacular |
TV Schedule
Note that only the following two dates will be televised in some capacity.
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. | Pairs free skate and free dance | NBC |
| Saturday, Jan. 24 | 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. | Ladies free skate | NBC |
| Sunday, Jan. 25 | 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. | Men's free skate | NBC |
Gracie Gold
The defending champion in the ladies competition, 19-year-old Gracie Gold faces stiff competition from Ashley Wagner. Wagner won the event in 2012 and 2013 and made her first Olympic team in Sochi.
Gold and Wagner have a healthy rivalry going, tweets IceNetwork.com's Lynn Rutherford:
There's a reason Gold is the favorite this year, though. She's scary good. Few skaters in the world compete with as much grace and precision as Gold, making her a tough competitor in both U.S. and international events.
Wagner spoke about how hard it is to face her in a media call, via NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi: "In skating, she makes me uncomfortable because she’s always kind of breathing down my neck."
There's some uncertainty surrounding Gold. She missed the Grand Prix Final in December because of a stress fracture in her foot. Foot strength is obviously a crucial element of figure skating, seeing as both balance and precision can be comprised if even the smallest issue persists in the foot.
While injured, Gold worked on other fundamental aspects of her routines. Examiner.com's Michelle Kennedy highlighted those important elements: "Gold was unable to perform triple jumps for several weeks while dealing with her injury, forcing her to focus on other elements of her skating like transitions, spins, speed, flow and making an emotional connection to the music and the audience."
Her focus on these underrated aspects of a successful routine should make her a threat to win the title with ease. Few skaters are as polished.
Jason Brown
Jason Brown is a favorite in the men's competition for two reasons. For one, he is exceptionally talented. He's just 20 years old and is poised to make the team for the World Championships in March. Secondly, there really isn't too much established competition against him.
Brown hasn't been perfect in the events leading up to Greensboro. He fell on triple-axel attempts in two Grand Prix series starts in October and November, though he was still good enough to earn second place.
He was the first alternate for the Grand Prix Final (an event that takes the top six skaters from the Grand Prix series) after finishing fifth in the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow in mid-November.
Overwhelming potential makes Brown very fun to watch. Even an average showing from him would be enough to awe the judges and audience, but expect him to leave it all on the ice in preparation for the competition in March.
Nathan Chen
The only true competition for Brown is someone a full five years younger—Nathan Chen.
The U.S. novice and junior champion will make his U.S. senior championships debut in this competition, though he has no shortage of experience on the big stage. He is the only skater to have ever won back-to-back novice titles and two junior crowns. It's important to note that the junior men's competition began in 1918. In nearly 100 years, no junior has been more successful.
As the youngest men's entrant in Greensboro, there aren't extremely high expectations for Chen. Sure, he comes from a winning background, but competing against better skaters could result in uncharacteristically subpar results.
Still, his potential to overtake Brown in a weak field of men's skaters is decent enough to note. At the very least, he's a candidate to a medal.
Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @kennydejohn
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