Last year’s men’s event at the US Figure Skating Championships was unexpectedly awesome. It was a testament to how Nationals really brings out the best in a lot of skaters. And this year, we come into Columbus with similar kinds of question marks, as the American men, with the exception of Ilia Malinin have not really shown up consistently in international competition. The potential is there—we’ve seen it. But who is going to show up? It doesn’t help that we haven’t seen most of these guys since at least November. So much can happen this week.
US Nationals predictions
Official hashtag: #PrevagenUSChamps
GOLD Ilia Malinin - He won his first title last year, but it was certainly a win that wasn’t particularly satisfying for Malinin. It’s been a different kind of season for his sophomore year, as he’s learned to handle the competition and the expectations. He comes in having just won the Grand Prix Final, the biggest competition of the season so far. If he skates even close to what he’s capable of, it’s not a question of whether he will win, it’s a question of how big the margin will be.
SILVER Jason Brown - Even though we’ve seen more of him this season so far than we did by last year at this point, we still aren’t particularly sure how prepared Brown is for this event. He’s taken the approach of skipping most of the fall season in an attempt to preserve his body and peak at the season-end events. And it worked brilliantly last season. His one full international event, Warsaw Cup, was up and down. But knowing what we know about Brown, you gotta believe he’s still the favorite for silver. (Oh, and it’s the 10th anniversary of Jason Brown Riverdance!)
BRONZE Camden Pulkinen - This season has been something of a slow burn for Pulkinen. It’s actually been perhaps more consistent than he’s looked in the past, it’s just been consistently a steady climb back to form. But given what we’ve seen this season, his biggest obstacle might not even be the quad toe—it might just be making sure that he doesn’t give away points by popping easier jumps. Maxing out his base value is going to be just as important for him this week in his bid to return to Worlds.
4. Andrew Torgashev - Speaking of returning to Worlds, Torgashev stunned everyone last season when he came into Nationals and completely dark-horsed it to the podium and a trip to the World Championships. We haven't seen him since Skate America in October, so there's a huge question mark as to whether he's back with the same vim that we saw this time last year.
5. Lucas Broussard - The last time we saw Broussard in competition, it was on outright disaster at Cup of China. But it wasn't for a lack of good preparation; it was for a lack of fully-functional skaters. At his best, he's got the all-around packaging to contend for the top spots.
6. Tomoki Hiwatashi - We’ve had moments from Hiwatashi this season, but it hasn’t been … let me use that word again - consistent. He had one solid free skate internationally when he won bronze at Budapest Trophy, and he had one very solid event at Midwestern Sectionals. But his last showing was ninth at Golden Spin.
7. Maxim Naumov - Naumov was one of the breakout skaters at Nationals last year, skating a sizzling free skate to finish in fourth. We thought maybe last season was the start of something special, but he struggled with consistency this fall - 11th at Nepela Memorial and 10th at Skate America.
8. Jimmy Ma - Fifth last year at Nationals, Ma has been trying to rediscover his form as well. His first event was actually very solid, but it's been a bag of inconsistency since. He comes in after a third-place short, but then an 11th-place finish at Grand Prix Espoo, but maybe something sparked with him at that event.
9. Goku Endo - After a disappointing 17th last year, Endo has made some strong strides this season in his consistency, particularly at two of his last three events, where he posted scores above 225. Those scores gave him wins at Kings Cup and Sectionals. He comes in looking for a top ten finish for the first time.
10. Daniel Samohin - You're like, who?? Yup, this is the same Daniel Samohin who represented Israel at the Olympics in 2018. He's returned to competing at US Nationals for the first time in 11 years, when he took fourth on the novice level. So curious to see where he is right now, especially with a new coaching team and a renewed thirst for the sport.