2021-22 US Championship Series & National Qualifying Structure

Due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, US Figure Skating has opted to hold the Championship Series again as the method to qualify to the 2022 US National Championships, replacing the traditional multistage qualification structure. Skaters can qualify through placement at last season’s Nationals, byes through international competition, or the US Championship Series competition. This post explains the USFSA national qualifying structure and provides links and information that will be updated throughout the season.

Reference: 2022 Byes and Advancement Criteria, US Championship Series on USFSA Fanzone

See also: 2021-22 Nationals tag

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QUALIFYING STRUCTURE

Senior skaters can qualify for the 2022 National Championships either by fulfilling the criteria to be assigned a “bye” to advance directly to Nationals or by competing in the US Championship Series.

Senior Men and Women:

• Placing top 5 in a senior event at the previous US National Championships

• Winning a individual medal at the most recent Winter Olympics

• Being named to the US team at the 2021 World Championships (not including alternates)

• Qualifying for the current season’s Grand Prix Final or Junior Grand Prix Final

• Competing in three international assignments on the current season’s Grand Prix series, Junior Grand Prix series and/or Challenger series

• Top 2 total scores from each section (Eastern/Midwestern/Pacific Coast) in the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series

• Next best 3 scores from the nation in the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series

Senior Pairs:

• Placing top 5 in a senior event at the previous US National Championships

• Winning a individual medal at the most recent Winter Olympics

• Being named to the US team at the 2021 World Championships (not including alternates)

• Qualifying for the current season’s Grand Prix Final or Junior Grand Prix Final

• Competing in three international assignments on the current season’s Grand Prix series, Junior Grand Prix series and/or Challenger series

• Top 4 total scores from the Championships Series

Senior Ice Dance

• Placing top 5 in a senior event at the previous US National Championships

• Winning a individual medal at the most recent Winter Olympics

• Being named to the US team at the 2021 World Championships (not including alternates)

• Qualifying for the current season’s Grand Prix Final or Junior Grand Prix Final

• Competing in three international assignments on the current season’s Grand Prix series, Junior Grand Prix series and/or Challenger series

• Top 5 total scores from the Championships Series

SENIOR QUALIFICATION OVERVIEW

If not all of the “bye” spots are filled, those places will be given to the next highest total scores from the Championship Series.

If there are more skaters/teams with 3 international assignments than the maximum number of byes allotted for that discipline (4 for men/women, 3 for pairs, 5 for ice dance), spots will be given out until they are gone using the criteria below and the remaining skaters will need to compete on the Championships series to qualify to US Nationals.

1. Best total score at a Grand Prix event going from highest to lowest
2. Best total score at a Junior Grand Prix event going from highest to lowest
3. Best total score at a Challenger Series event going from highest to lowest

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US CHAMPIONSHIPS SERIES

The US Championship Series is a series of 8 competitions where skaters at the senior and junior level may compete for a chance to qualify to the 2022 US National Championships. Novice, intermediate and juvenile-level skaters also have an opportunity to compete to qualify for the National High Performance Development Team, which replaced the national championships at the lower levels of skating in the 2020-21 skating season.  

Skaters may compete at up to 2 events of their choosing, with the higher of the two scores/placements counting towards their qualification to the national championships. Singles skaters may choose to enter any of the 8 competitions.  Because of the limited number of teams, pairs and ice dance events are only offered at 2 competitions.

Skaters who have directly qualified for Nationals may still compete at Championship Series events if they want to, but they will not count towards the advancement quota.

COMPETITIONS

Live and on-demand videos of the junior and senior events are available to subscribers on Peacock. Lower levels will be livestreamed for free on the US Figure Skating Fanzone.

Blaine, Minnesota

• Date: Oct. 4-8

• Website

• Results

• Disciplines: Singles, Ice Dance

Henderson, Nevada

• Date: Oct. 12-16

• Website

• Results

• Disciplines: Singles, Pairs

Allen, Texas

• Date: Oct. 13-17

• Website

• Results

• Discipline: Singles

Leesburg, Virginia

• Date: Oct. 27-30

• Website

• Results

• Discipline: Singles

Fort Wayne, Indiana

• Date: Nov. 2-5

• Website

• Results

• Discipline: Singles

Norwood, Massachusetts

• Date: Nov. 9-13

• Website

• Results

• Discipline: Singles, Pairs

Alpharetta, Georgia

• Date: Nov. 16-20

• Website

• Results

• Disciplines: Singles, Ice Dance

Spokane, Washington

• Date: Nov. 17-20

• Website

• Results

• Discipline: Singles

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.