If you still haven’t had enough figure skating with the Olympics, don’t despair. We want to remind you Detroit will host the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 19-27.
Why did they choose Detroit?
Our city is recognized as a skating epicenter – a place that has launched some of the greats, such as 2014 Gold Medal ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White and this year’s Bronze Medal winners Alex and Maia Shibutani. Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who competed in this year’s Olympics, and 1998 Gold Medalist Tara Lipinski, the youngest Olympic gold medalist in the individual ladies’ singles event, also trained in metro Detroit.
Detroit’s reputation is paying off. The U.S. Figure Skating Championships attracts more than 1,700 athletes, coaches, officials, not to mention skating fans, and is estimated to generate more than $18 million in local economic impact. What a great time to show off Detroit and bring in dollars.
“U.S. Figure Skating is excited for the return of the U.S. Championships to Detroit for the first time since 1994,” says U.S. Figure Skating President Sam Auxier.
“Detroit and all of Michigan is a skating hotbed that is home to many of our top athletes, both past and present. Detroit, highlighted by the newly opened Little Caesars Arena and downtown redevelopment, will be a great host to our athletes, coaches officials and fans from around the country. It will be a wonderful event in one of the great, new venues in our country,” he says.
The junior free skate/dance and championship level events will all take place at the new Little Caesars Arena. The Detroit Skating Club will host the junior short programs/dance, novice, intermediate and juvenile events.
U.S. champions will be crowned in ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dance at the senior, junior, novice, intermediate and juvenile levels of the U.S. Figure Skating competitive structure. The U.S. Championships are the final qualifying event to make the U.S. World Figure Skating Team every year and the U.S. Olympic Team every four years.
Detroit last hosted the U.S. Championships in 1994 at Joe Louis Arena. It has also been the site of Skate America four times, most recently in 2013.
U.S. Figure Skating will plan the 2019 U.S. Championships with support locally from the Detroit Sports Commission, 313 Presents and the Detroit Skating Club.
“Suburban Detroit is the epicenter for world-class figure skating, so we feel the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event is coming home,” says Kris Smith, director of the Detroit Sports Commission.
“The metro Detroit community is primed and ready to showcase our great destination, while raising the bar like we always do to make this the best championship experience yet. We believe we have the best venue in the country in Little Caesars Arena and partners such as the Mayor’s Office, 313 Presents, the Detroit Skating Club and Detroit Metro Skating Council.”
Recent U.S. Championships were held in Boston (2014), Greensboro, North Carolina (2015), Saint Paul, Minnesota (2016), Kansas City, Missouri (2017). The 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships are set for Dec. 29, 2017 – Jan. 7, 2018 in San Jose, California.
Tickets to the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will go on sale in early 2018.
2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships could generate more than $18 million in Detroit added by Marge Sorge on
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