The country’s elite figure skaters have one last chance to earn a coveted spot on the Olympic team at the Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, taking place now through Sunday, January 7, at the SAP Center and Solar4America Ice at San Jose. The competition features a range of events for ladies, men, pairs, and ice dance, and by the end of the San Jose competition, U.S. Figure Skating will announce the makeup of Team USA based on skaters’ performance during the entire season. (Read more about how the team is chosen here.)
Tickets for all events are available online or by calling 408-977-4715. Who’s taking the ice: World silver medalist Ashley Wagner, record-breaking quadruple jump king Nathan Chen, World bronze medal-winning ice dance duo Maia and Alex Shibutani, and Sochi Olympian Jason Brown are among the big-name skaters vying for Team USA. From triple axels to twizzles, flying camels and death spirals, spectators will be treated to an Olympic preview and some of the finest figure skating on the planet—and maybe a little high-scoring history in the making, depending on how many quadruple jumps the men can pull off (the record is five in one skate by Nathan Chen!).
San Jose has played host to the national championship twice before, in 2012 and 1996.
If you miss the main competition, there’s still a chance to see the elite skate in San Jose. Tickets are also on sale for the annual exhibition, the Smucker’s Skating Spectacular, which follows the competition on January 7. All medalists from each event are invited to participate, and let their hair down for some fun on the ice following a week of tense competition.
Already got your tickets? Check out 5 amazing things to do in San Jose when the Zamboni’s on!
