The view from the front row at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships was so much different than the one from my couch. For one, I was struck by the depth of the fans’ commitment — I met more than one person who’s been to the championships every year for over a decade. And being rink-side afforded me priceless moments, like hearing the family of pairs team Kam and O’Shea two rows behind us as the skaters skyrocketed to the lead in the short program. Or sitting beside Camden Pulkinen’s mother during the men’s award ceremony and seeing her beam at her son (as well as hearing her stories about how many sequins he consented to as a young skater).
The absolute focus and intensity in the skaters’ eyes in the moments between flashing their stage faces to the judges and audience took my breath away. Some fans say the intense looks take them out of the performance, but they remind me of the competitors’ awesome athleticism. They’re executing gravity-defying jumps on a 3 mm blade on a sheet of ice, after all. I locked eyes with more than one skater during the six days I spent at the arena, and those are moments I’ll never forget.
Sure, I missed the scoreography charts and hearing commentary from Tara and Johnny, but I can catch up with that later. It was worth the chilly (and long) days and the brightness of the lights to see some of my favorites like Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Jimmy Ma, and dance team Carreira and Ponomarenko perform to the rafters.
This piece first published in SHOUT weekly newsletter. SHOUT figure skating correspondent Shelly Walston reflects on the national championships held January 20-26 in downtown Wichita. Over the weekend, she filed social-media dispatches on a new Zamboni record, the sounds of skating, and being pelted with plushies.
shelly. walston. writes. 