2020-21 US Championship Series & National Qualifying Structure

Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, qualification for the 2021 US National Championships is slightly different from previous seasons. Skaters can qualify through placement at last season’s Nationals, the ISP Points Challenge virtual competition, or the US Championship Series virtual competition. This post will explain the USFSA national qualifying structure and provide links and information that will be updated throughout the season.

Reference: 2021 Athlete Bye and Advancement Criteria

See also: 2020-21 National Figure Skating Competitions

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QUALIFYING STRUCTURE

Senior skaters can qualify for the 2021 National Championships if they fulfill the following criteria:

Senior Men & Ladies:

• Skaters who placed in the top 5 at the 2020 US Figure Skating Championships.

• The top 4 scores from the virtual ISP Points Challenge, excluding byes from the previous Nationals.

• *New: The top 9 scores from the virtual US Championship Series, excluding byes and ISP Points Challenge.

Senior Pairs:

• Teams who placed in the top 5 at the 2020 US Figure Skating Championships.

• The top 4 scores from the virtual ISP Points Challenge, excluding byes from the previous Nationals.

• *New: The top 5 scores from the virtual US Championship Series, excluding byes and ISP Points Challenge.

Senior Ice Dance:

• Teams who placed in the top 5 at the 2020 US Figure Skating Championships.

• The top 4 scores from the virtual ISP Points Challenge, excluding byes from the previous Nationals.

Skaters who earned a bye by placing top 5 at the 2020 National Championships include:

• Ladies: Alysa Liu, Mariah Bell, Bradie Tennell, Karen Chen, Amber Glenn

• Men: Nathan Chen, Jason Brown, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Vincent Zhou, Andrew Torgashev

• Pairs: Calalang/Johnson, Kayne/O’Shea, Cain-Gribble/LeDuc (teams 1 & 5 have split)

• Ice Dance: Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donohue, Hawayek/Baker, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Green/Parsons

See the 2021 Athlete Bye and Advancement Criteria for junior qualification criteria and other information.

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ISP POINTS CHALLENGE

The International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge consisted of two virtual competitions where skaters could compete to qualify for the national championships. Skaters recorded videos of their programs at specific times; they were not allowed to start over if they made an error in their run-through. Skaters had two opportunities to submit videos. They could participate in one or both opportunities. The highest score a skater earned out of the two opportunities was used to determine ranking. The top 4 scorers in each discipline (excluding byes) earned spots at Nationals.

How to watch: Results and videos of the ISP Points Challenge can be viewed here.

The following skaters qualified for Nationals through the ISP Points Challenge:

• Ladies: Audrey Shin, Starr Andrews, Pooja Kalyan, Lindsay Thorngren

• Men: Alex Krasnozhon, Camden Pulkinen, Jimmy Ma, Joseph Kang

• Pairs: Knierim/Frazier, Lu/Mitrofanov, Serafini/Tran, McBeath/Bartholomay

• Ice Dance: Cesanek/Yehorov, McNamara/Spiridonov, Pate/Bye

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US CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

11/11/20 UPDATE: The US Championship Series was originally planned as a series of 8 in-person competitions, but was cancelled in early November and will be held as a virtual competition instead. Similar to the ISP Points Challenge, skaters must submit their videos to be judged remotely and results will be available the week of December 21.

For seniors, the top 9 men, top 9 ladies, and top 5 pairs in the US Championship Series will qualify for Nationals (excluding skaters who have already qualified through byes or the ISP Points Challenge). There is no event for senior ice dance.

12/22/20 UPDATE: The results of the virtual US Championship Series can be viewed here. Videos are available for subscribers to Peacock Premium. Entries to the 2021 US National Championships are available here.

US Figure Skating: ISP Points Challenge (Virtual Competition)

Over 100 U.S. Figure Skating athletes will debut their programs for the 2020-21 season during the International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge, a virtual competition organized by U.S. Figure Skating. The competition, which will include Olympic and U.S. medalists, will be available for on-demand viewing on the video corner of the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone starting on Sept. 9. Participating athletes will compete for $200,000 in prize money, as well as advancement to the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Additionally, the competition will be used as criteria for future international assignments.

The ISP Points Challenge will feature U.S. Figure Skating’s premier junior- and senior-level athletes in singles, pairs and ice dance. Entrants will submit videos of their short program/rhythm dance and free skate/free dance to be judged by a panel of national, international and ISU-level officials. Each performance will be proctored to ensure the integrity of the video that is submitted for judging. If they choose, athletes have two opportunities compete and will be ranked by their best total score in each discipline.

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Links to results and videos for the ISP Points Challenge are available below and on the US Figure Skating Fanzone website. The schedule for video releases is as follows:

Sept. 9: 1st opportunity

• Junior ladies: SP, FS, Results

• Junior men: SP, FS, Results

Sept. 15: 1st opportunity

• Junior pairs: SP, FS, Results

• Junior ice dance: RD, FD, Results

Sept. 22: 1st opportunity

• Senior ladies: SP, FS, Results

• Senior men: SP, FS, Results

• Senior ice dance: RD, FD, Results

• Senior pairs: SP, FS, Results

Sept. 29: 2nd opportunity

• Junior ladies: SP, FS, Results

• Junior men: SP, FS, Results

• Junior pairs: SP, FS, Results

Oct. 6: 2nd opportunity

• Senior ladies: SP, FS, Results

• Senior men: SP, FS, Results

• Senior ice dance: RD, FD, Results

• Senior pairs: SP, FS, Results

• Junior ice dance: RD, FD, Results