ISU GP Skate America 2020: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Predictions for All Events

Much like every other sport, figure skating hasn't been immune to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the International Skating Union's 2020 Skate America is set to open Friday, albeit without fans at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Skate America typically brings together skaters from all over the world, but that won't be the case for this year's installment. The ISU laid out rules restricting the participants for Grand Prix events to only domestic skaters.

As a result, Anna Shcherbakova won't be back to defend her gold medal in the ladies' competition, nor will the pair of Peng Cheng and Jin Yang have the opportunity to repeat.

The United States won't be the only country represented at Skate America, but Americans overwhelmingly comprise the entrant pool.

Viewing Info

Friday, Oct. 23: 8 p.m.-12 a.m. ET (NBCSN)

Saturday, Oct. 24: 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (NBC); 9 p.m.-12 a.m. ET (NBCSN)

Live-stream coverage is available on Peacock

Nobody will command more attention at the event than Nathan Chen, who earned his third straight gold at Skate America in 2019. 

The 21-year-old put on a dominating display in 2019, with his final score of 299.09 being more than 40 points higher than silver medalist Jason Brown. It was the largest margin of victory in event history, eclipsing a record he had previously set in 2018.

Todd Eldredge is the only male skater to win four gold medals in a row at Skate America, reigning supreme in the men's event from 1994-97. Barring a catastrophic mistake, Chen should equal that feat.

The ladies' competition might be similarly predictable.

Including the aforementioned Shcherbakova, five of the top six finishers in 2019 aren't back. That leaves Bradie Tennell at the head of the pack.

The 22-year-old has appeared at Skate America three times, finishing in third, fourth and second. She is also second in the ISU world standings behind Japan's Rika Kihira.

Illustrating the gulf at the top of the field, Mariah Bell (14th) and Starr Andrews (19th) are the next closest skaters, and Amber Glenn (26th) is the only other skater in the top 30.

Bell will be Tennell's biggest threat, having bested her in the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She took home silver in her last Skate America appearance, but that was back in 2016.

Gracie Gold is a wild card, though.

The 25-year-old burst onto the scene by winning silver in the 2013 U.S. Championships when she was 17. She won gold in 2014 and 2016 before falling victim to depression and an eating disorder.

Gold revealed to the New York Times' Karen Crouse that she was only eating "a few hundred" calories each day as her star began to rise around the time of her senior-level breakout. Following a fourth-place showing in the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, she began to spiral.

"Within months, Gold's body, and her psyche, had begun to deteriorate," Crouse wrote. "In the summer of 2016, she arrived in Colorado Springs for one of U.S. Figure Skating's regular monitoring sessions for elite skaters—something of a training camp, if you will—with an extra 20 pounds on her 5-foot-5 frame and a glower almost perpetually on her face."

Gold reached a breaking point at a monitoring session in 2017, after which she sought out treatment for her eating disorder.

The Newton, Massachusetts native made her return to the U.S. Championships in January, and the significance of the moment was evident during her free skate.

Even if she doesn't earn a spot on the medal stand, simply getting back to Skate America is a major achievement for her.

Skate America Gold Medal Predictions

• Mens: Nathan Chen
• Ladies: Mariah Bell
• Pairs: Tarah Kayne, Danny O'Shea
• Ice Dance: Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue