On paper, it seems like the top three men (and the three who would be going to the Olympics in Beijing) at the 2022 US Figure Skating Championships are fairly clear cut. But then again, we thought the same four years ago, and chaos ensued, leading to a whole lot of angst and drama for the Olympic selection process. And perhaps, with the top three here having really separated themselves from the rest of the pack, it is clearer than it was four years ago. But it’s Nationals - you never know what’s going to happen.
2022 US Championships predictions
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GOLD Nathan Chen - There was a lot of gasping when Chen lost his first competition since his fifth place at the last Olympics - that happened at Skate America, where he took bronze. And to be honest, it wasn’t even like it was a disaster for him. It was an off competition, and it wasn’t the first time he’s had an off competition during the past four seasons, but it WAS the first time he had an off competition with two other skaters who skated stronger. He’s since gone back to two programs that never got their due during the first pandemic season. Will this be title #6? You bet.
SILVER Vincent Zhou - Two years ago, we didn’t even know if Zhou was going to continue skating. After starting college and looking lost at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, it seemed as if he might have been ready to hang it up. But he’s come back stronger and with more determination than ever, and earlier this season, he inserted himself in the Olympic podium conversation by beating both Chen and Shoma Uno at Skate America. He came back to earth just a tad at NHK Trophy, but you better believe he’s here looking for his first US title.
BRONZE Jason Brown - Four years ago, Brown came in with a solid season but faltered in the free skate - and his hopes of making to PyeongChang couldn’t even be saved by the rest of his season after a sixth-place finish. This year, he’s coming in also off a solid season but, more importantly, in a much different state of mind. Four years of change have given him a different outlook on skating and on what a second Olympics would. mean for him. It’s not the quad that will bring him back to the Olympics - it’s him getting the high-percentage stuff rotated and landed that will get him there.
4. Ilia Malinin - The star of the Junior Grand Prix series this season, Malinin never got the chance to close it out with a Junior Grand Prix Final win, but he’s here in his first senior Nationals looking to really make a splash. And he’s got the jumps to compete with the Chens and Zhous of the world, and if he can skate clean, there’s certainly upset potential for him. But his programs are incredibly risky, and it’ll take the stars to align for him to make it there.
5. Jimmy Ma - The rise of Jimmy Ma over the past couple of seasons was not meteoric; it’s been a slow burn, and a lot of it has had to do with his general confidence as a skater. He’s coming into Nashville with the best results of his entire career - first a fifth-place finish at Skate America and then a bronze at Golden Spin, smashing his previous personal bests and scoring one of the highest totals among the American men. He’s always a crowd favorite, and if he can light up this crowd, it could be the competition of his life.
6. Camden Pulkinen - Leave it to Pulkinen to finish last at NHK Trophy and then come back two weeks later to put up one of the best scores of his career at Rostelecom Cup. The moral of the story with Pulkinen is that you. just never know which skater you’re going to get when he steps on the ice. The keys for him - the quad toe, and getting his head together for the rest of his jumps.
7. Tomoki Hiwatashi - Hiwatashi has brought his best to Nationals multiple times, and he’s proven to be a bit of a late-season skater, so it would not be a surprise if he becomes the surprise of this event. He’s strategized his programs to be competitive with that top set of guys, and he’ll be looking to blow the crowd away to get himself a shot at the Olympic team.
8. Yaroslav Paniot - Paniot was the surprise pewter medalist last season, and looked as if he may have been able to be a dark horse for an Olympic spot this season, but we haven’t seen him since Lombardia Trophy, when he withdrew in the middle of his short program citing boot issues. He’s a big question mark coming into this week, but if he’s healthy and trained, he’s got the tricks to challenge.
9. Eric Sjoberg - The 2020 US junior silver medalist was ninth in his senior debut last year, and has shown himself to be a beautifully lyrical skater. He had a couple of solid showings internationally this season, including a bronze at US Classic in September.
10. Artur Dmitriev - Wait, what?? Indeed, it is former Russian junior champion Artur Dmitriev who is scheduled to compete at his very first US Championships. We haven’t seen him much over the past few seasons, and our most recent data point was the event that qualified him to Nationals. We’ll see if he’s able to conjure up some of the skating that made him among the top Russian men a few years back.