World champ Nathan Chen leads U.S. Championships field with 16 Olympic spots at stake

Sixteen tickets to next month’s Olympic Games Beijing 2022 are set to be punched for American athletes this coming weekend (6-9 January) at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville.

Reigning and three-time world champion Nathan Chen, 22, looks to make history with a sixth consecutive national title. No U.S. skater has done that since Michelle Kwan won eight in a row 1998-2005.

Two-time Olympic champion Dick Button was the last man to do so in the U.S., winning seven in a row 1946-52.

The U.S. Championships serves as the final stop in the Olympic qualification process for Team USA skaters, with a selection committee choosing the team – three men, three women, two pairs and three ice dance duos – based off of criteria that is focused on a skater or team's “body of work”, versus just how they perform in Nashville.

The Olympic team will be announced over the weekend (8 and 9 January). Covid-19 measures will be in place, with U.S. Figure Skating announcing all attendees must be vaccinated or show a recent negative test, while masking indoors will be mandatory for athletes and fans alike.

Here’s five things to watch for as the skaters rock Music City – plus the schedule of events and how to watch, including for international fans on Olympics.com.

Men: Nathan Chen eyes a six-peat

Having had his three-year international win streak broken at Skate America, nothing is certain for Chen, who will again aim for the podium at Olympics should he make the team. He placed fifth at PyeongChang 2018.

Teammate Vincent Zhou will be standing in his way of that aforementioned sixth national title, however, the quad-jumping 21-year-old winning his first Grand Prix gold at Skate America by beating both Chen (3rd) and Olympic silver medallist Uno Shoma (2nd).

While Chen and Zhou will be favoured to land 1-2 on the podium, fan favourite Jason Brown is looking to seal his spot for the Games having missed out on the team in 2018. Brown landed on the podium at both of his Grand Prix stops this season after finishing seventh at worlds in 2021, giving him a strong CV for a second Olympic berth.

While all eyes are always on Chen, that will be especially true in Nashville after he told reporters last month that he was changing his programs mid-season, now set to perform to “La Boheme” and an Elton John medley, both programs he had used previously.

He has not competed since Skate Canada in late October, where he was first.

"I'm still playing around with different programs, but I really like the 2019-20 programs," Chen said, though he would not say if the changes were meant for the Games, too. "I never got the chance to compete [the programs] at worlds [that season]. It does make sense to have the option to have these programs and I really like that content."

Other names to watch include crowd favourite Jimmy Ma, 2019 world junior champion Tomoki Hiwatashi, Camden Pulkinen and Yaroslav Paniot, who was fourth at U.S. nationals in 2021.

Women: Former champs Chen, Liu lead the way

The end of 2021 also meant the end of reigning and two-time American champion Bradie Tennell’s Olympic chances, as the 24-year-old Olympian announced her withdrawal from the event on 31 December due to a lingering foot injury.

That leaves the door ajar for 2018 teammate Karen Chen, the 2017 U.S. champion, as well as 16-year-old Alysa Liu, the American winner in 2019 and 2020. Both Chen and Liu had Top 5 finishes (Liu had two) on the Grand Prix this season.

For Liu, who is the youngest American ever to win a singles title at 13 in 2019, the triple Axel will be her chance to earn a technical edge over the field. The jump is one she tried in all four of her Grand Prix programs this year, getting called for a downgraded, under-rotated or q (quarter of an under-rotation) each time. 

Mariah Bell, the 2020 runner-up and three-time U.S. medallist, roared to a fourth-place finish at Rostelecom Cup in late November having been sixth at the French Grand Prix. 

A strong showing should help the 25-year-old Bell make her Olympic debut, but 2021 U.S. silver medallist Amber Glenn is also part of that Beijing conversation, and – like Liu – will try to use her triple Axel to help her put points on the board.

Also to watch for: Lindsay Thorngren, Hanna Harrell and Starr Andrews. 2014 Olympic team bronze medallist Gracie Gold, a two-time national champ, will compete, as well.

Pairs: Knierim/Frazier look for repeat

For the first time since 2014 two American pairs teams will head to the Olympics. Alexa Knierim is the only Olympian in the nine-team field that features at least four duos that could contend for those two spots.

Knierim and partner Brandon Frazier are in only their second full season together, but the pair of veterans will be favourited to win the event a second year running and lock in their place for Beijing. They earned a bronze medal at the Internationaux de France in November. 

Knierim and Frazier’s training mates Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson have shown flashes of world class content, but had the lead-up to their Olympic season interrupted by a positive doping test that ended up being traced back to Calalang’s make-up.

They’ve finished in second at both of the past two U.S. Championships.

2019 U.S. champions Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc broke the 200-point mark at NHK Trophy this season – joining only Knierim/Frazier as teams to go above that mark this season. Cain-Gribble/LeDuc helped earn the U.S. a second spot at the Games when they finished ninth at worlds in 2021.

Also to watch out for is the duo of Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov, the 2018 junior national champions who have grown in strength this Olympic quad.

Madi vs. Madi: Ice dance close as can be

And who will rise above the rest in the ice dance? The U.S. continues to have a strong presence in the discipline, having won an Olympic medal in dance each Games since 2006, including Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s gold at Sochi 2014.

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue will lead the charge into Nashville, with Montreal training mates Madison Chock and Evan Bates close behind. Both teams are three-time world medallists, while Hubbell/Donohue won the U.S. title in 2018, 2019 and 2021, with Chock/Bates winning in 2015 and 2020.

When the teams competed at Skate America in October it was Hubbell/Donohue who won gold, but by just 1.31 points. 

The team that wins at U.S. Championships will be favoured heading into Beijing to perhaps land on the Olympic podium, as well. 

Another Montreal-based team, Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, look to continue Hawayek’s recovery from a concussion in August. They’ll need to bring their best to lock in their Olympic debut, with Caroline Green and Michael Parsons coming off a strong international season.

Schedule of events; how to watch

The action gets underway on Thursday, 6 January, in Nashville. All times listed are local (CST).

Thursday, 6 January
1545 Pairs short program
1830 Women’s short program

Friday, 7 January
1400 Rhythm dance
1830 Women’s free skate

Saturday, 8 January
1400 Men’s short program
1745 Pairs free skate
1925 Free dance

Sunday, 9 January
1115 Men’s free skate
1830 Exhibition

Figure skating fans in the U.S. can watch on NBC and affiliated platforms, airing across NBC, USA, NBCOlympics.com and Peacock. See the full NBC broadcast schedule here.

International fans can see the action on Olympics.com, though some territories are geo-blocked. Find out more here.