photo: U.S. Figure Skating

With three U.S. Senior Men’s titles already under his belt, Falls Church-area native Ilia Malinin is the clear favorite to claim the title at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which begin on Jan. 4 in St. Louis, Missouri.

While he and fellow reigning World Championship gold medalists—women’s champion Alysa Liu and ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates—will be the stars of the show, there are many other skaters coming to show their best.

A select few will earn spots on the U.S. Olympic team bound for Milano Cortina in February. Others will be named to various international competitions and some will simply be happy to perform before enthusiastic audiences. 

Malinin has been building momentum, winning his third Grand Prix Final in December with a record seven quadruple jumps in his free skate. “It’s amazing how it seems like he’s maxed out and then somehow a few weeks later he continues to break his own records,” said Scott Smith, 1998 U.S. Junior Men’s Champion, nine-time U.S. senior men’s competitor and veteran show skater. Smith is among other past champions interviewed for this exclusive piece

At the 2006 U.S. Championships, Smith was the lone man to land a quadruple jump. To see Malinin landing multiple quads, including the quad Axel, shows how far the sport has advanced. But Malinin has matched his technical development with growing artistry. 

“If you look back at programs Ilia did three or four years ago, you see how he’s gotten much more intricate choreography and passion within his skating,” said Smith. “I feel he’s really pushed skating in a new direction artistically as well.”

Olympic and World medalist Timothy Goebel was the original quad king of U.S. skating. The first skater in the world to land a quadruple Salchow and to do three quad jumps in a program, Goebel fully appreciates how Malinin has pushed the sport forward.

“He just continues to exceed even his own records, and it’s just remarkable,” said Goebel, who landed 76 career quad jumps by the time he retired from competition in 2006. “What he did at the Grand Prix Final shouldn’t even be possible and he did it with relative ease. … He can now do [seven quads] reliably, which almost sounds ridiculous, but it’s not because he’s doing it. He really defined himself as the athlete of his generation by leaps and bounds.”

There are three men’s spots for the U.S. Olympic team. Contenders include two-time Olympian Jason Brown, 31. Although he doesn’t have any quads, his artistry has kept him among the world’s elite.

“Even without the quad, Jason still consistently ends up in the top 10 beating people who land multiple quads because the quality of what he does is so high,” Goebel said. “He has a very strong shot at getting the second spot. For the rest of the field…we have several talented athletes who have had relative success this season.”

Others to look out for are Tomoki Hiwatashi (after Malinin, the highest scoring U.S. man on the Grand Prix circuit), Camden Pulkinen, Andrew Torgashev and Maxim Naumov, who is skating with a sense of purpose after losing his parents in the tragic airplane crash last January that claimed the lives of several skaters and coaches. “Tomoki Hiwatashi is skating better than he ever has and he’s hitting quadruple jumps pretty consistently in competition,” said Smith.

The senior women’s event is packed with talent. There is Liu, who returned to skating last year after a two-year break and absolutely dazzled at the 2025 World Championships. She recently won Skate America and the Grand Prix Final. Then, there is the powerhouse two-time and reigning U.S. Champion Amber Glenn, who won two Grand Prix events in the fall. 

The 2023 U.S. Champion Isabeau Levito was not at her best on the Grand Prix circuit but has proven consistent over time. Other skaters in the mix are 2018 Olympian Bradie Tennell and Malinin’s training mate Sarah Everhardt. 

Smith said barring unforeseen errors or injuries, Liu and Glenn will likely be on the Olympic team. Important to note, the results at the U.S. Championships are not the sole determinant of who makes the team. The international committee of U.S. Figure Skating will also consider results this season and body of work. 

“I would give Isabeau the edge for the third spot going into Nationals,” said Smith. “Sarah has proven that she can deliver under pressure. She could stage an upset this year at Nationals if some of the skaters with a little more pressure on them crack.”

Goebel said Liu brings a unique energy that is refreshing. “What I really like about her is despite her sort of unassuming, relaxed personality she goes and delivers,” he said. “You have to respect the consistency, and she has a way of engaging with the crowd.” 

At present, pairs is the weakest discipline for the U.S. That said, two teams will go to the Olympics and will need to be at their best to help the U.S. again win gold in the team event. Unfortunately, reigning U.S. Champions, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov are not Olympic eligible as Efimova is not yet a U.S. citizen. That creates opportunities for Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea and Emily Chan and Spencer Howe. “The pairs is going to be interesting,” said Goebel.

In contrast, two ice dance teams seeking to join three-time World Champions Chock and Bates on the Olympic team have met the citizenship requirements. Vadym Kolesnik, who skates with Emilea Zingas, celebrated U.S. citizenship with an outstanding fall season, winning medals at two Grand Prix events and qualifying for the Grand Prix Final.

It hasn’t been as good of a season for Christina Carreira, who was sworn in a U.S. citizen in November, and Anthony Ponomarenko, but they’re working to recapture the magic that brought them to fifth at the 2025 World Championships. 

“I remember Madison Chock from her first year skating and competing,” said Mathew Gates, 1995 U.S. Junior Ice Dance Champion, four-time senior medalist, World competitor and longtime coach. “I’ve always thought that she’s super talented. She’s definitely, in my opinion, one of the best women in the world. Evan is way talented as well. They’re the frontrunners.”

Gates said this year in ice dancing has been interesting with some unpredictable results. Three or four teams are in contention for second and third place at the U.S. Championships and then the Olympic team. 

“I thought Zingas and Kolesnik were very, very good this year,” Gates said. “They’re very interactive with the audience. Their grade of execution on the elements is very high. They’re very strong contenders for the second spot. I really like Caroline Green and Michael Parsons as well. They’ve reinvented themselves this year. They’ve come up with programs that are both crowd friendly and very interesting for skating people too. … Carreira and Ponomarenko have not come out as they did last year…but they’re still a good team, so you can’t count them out.”

Among the ice dance teams vying for an Olympic spot is a team with local roots, Emily Bratti and Ian Someville. The duo took the bronze at the 2024 U.S. Championships and in December won the Santa Claus Cup, an international competition in Budapest, Hungary. Bratti, from McLean, and Somerville, from Cabin John, Maryland, grew up skating in the area and still represent the Washington Figure Skating Club while currently training in Michigan. “I have a lot of amazing memories with all my friends in the MedStar ice arena (in Arlington),” said Bratti. 

In addition to winning gold, Bratti and Somerville made the most of their time in Budapest, exploring some of the city’s Christmas markets. “It felt very festive,” said Bratti. “We went shopping a lot and bought Christmas presents for our families.”

Since returning to training, their focus has been on preparing for the U.S. Championships, where they will do their utmost to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. “We had a few injuries in the offseason and at the beginning of the season, which kind of didn’t set us up to be in the position that we really wanted to be in, but we’ve been working really hard to get to where we want to be,” said Bratti. “Right now, we are there. We put a lot of time into both of our programs. We feel we’ve improved a lot even from our last competition, and we’re really excited to perform at Nationals and show all the work we’ve put in.”

Other locals who will be competing at Nationals include Lucius Kazanecki (senior men), Michael Parsons (senior ice dance), Madison Chong and Sofia Bezkorovainaya (junior women), Anaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo and Annelise Stapert and Maxim Korotcov (junior ice dance), and Natalie and Nathan Leitan (novice ice dance).