2026 U.S. Nationals - St. Louis!

[Debbie S]

At the airport for my flight home. My Uber driver described in vivid detail how her kids are sick with the flu and were up all night puking. I guess I shouldn't have asked her how she was. Glad I had a mask on. At least she found the hotel and got me here without taking me into the next state.

But anyway, it was a great week of skating! Nats is always my favorite event....hard to believe it's been 25 years since I attended my first one in 2001 (this year was my 16th). While there are always heartbreaking moments, esp in an Olympic year (Jason... ), it is always a joy to watch skaters give their best performances and feed off the energy in the arena. The final groups of women, dance and men (except Jason ) put this Nats up there with the best....thank you, skaters!

Now back to the real world for a few more weeks, and then Milan!

 

[Spareoom]

This was my first skating competition in many years and first domestic event (I'd say first event ever, but I did attend a 4CC's in Taipei years ago); I have to say, skating fans are so nice! Everyone was so polite and easy to navigate with/around in the arena, at the hotel and walking in the city. I'm not an overly outgoing person and I found myself having conversations with literally everyone I sat next to, walked with, etc. Also as a female attending alone, I appreciated that it was easy to find clusters of people to walk back to the hotel with.

The skating was also great! Jason broke my heart but there were so many good moments as well.

 

[Sylvia]

Many thanks to @Wyliefan for posting this Jan. 11th St. Louis Public Radio photo story by Brian Munoz in the 2026 U.S. Nationals forum that should be cross-posted here, IMO - America's top figure skaters dazzled St. Louis. I left with a new love for the sport.: https://www.npr.org/sections/the-pi...st-louis-i-left-with-a-new-love-for-the-sport

As with any assignment that drops me into an unfamiliar world [...] I approach my assignment with a deep sense of curiosity. When I meet someone new, I tend to pepper them with the same questions: What should a newcomer know? How long have you been doing this? What do you love most about it?
The skaters, staff, volunteers and fans were generous in indulging me. What I found was a community that is fiercely competitive — and deeply loving.

 

[Ross H]

I attended the sessions on Friday and Saturday and really enjoyed it. Having attended Boston Worlds last year as well, there was some interesting comparisons.

I live close enough to St Louis that I could drive in - the arena area was pretty easy to access, and there was plenty of inexpensive parking nearby. There wasn't a ton of places to eat near the arena (at least not in the fast casual price range I was looking for), but luckily I had my car. I didn't eat anything in the arena, so can't comment on that. Although I did not like how they split up the free skates, the schedule did make it easy to get into the arena for each session (much better than Boston).

I liked the added touches that have been implemented since last year--the skater introductions, LED screens, etc. I also enjoyed Adam as a post-skate interviewer and Rusty co-host (honestly he was much better than Ashley & Ben last year). I was also very impressed with the crowd size - 15,000+ on Friday night and 13,000+ Saturday per the press conference from yesterday. Of course part of that was being the Olympic year, but I wonder if enough momentum could be built to get St Louis in a regular Nationals rotation. There is a smaller arena nearby that could be an option if USFS doesn't want to pay for Enterprise Center.