2018 Skate America: Who, what, where and when
Published 6:45 am Monday, October 15, 2018
Here’s a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about 2018 Skate America, which takes place Oct. 19-21 at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett:
What is Skate America?
Skate America is the first of six stops in the International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating’s 2018-19 season. The Grand Prix of Figure Skating is the biggest senior international skating series in the world, meaning all of the world’s best figure skaters in each of the four classifications — ladies, men, pairs and ice dance — take part. Athletes are only invited to participate in two of the six Grand Prix events, so Skate America doesn’t include all the world’s best skaters, like the Olympics or the World Championships. However, Skate America still features a strong international field that includes multiple U.S. national champions and World Championships medalists.
This is the second time Skate America is taking place in Everett. The event was held at what was then named Comcast Arena in 2008, when it set the Skate America attendance record.
What is the competition schedule?
The event includes five sessions, one on Friday and two each on Saturday and Sunday. Here’s how it breaks down:
FRIDAY
7:30 p.m. — Pairs Short Program and Men’s Short Program
SATURDAY
1:15 p.m. — Pairs Free Skate and Men’s Free Skate
7:15 p.m. — Ladies Short Program and Rhythm Dance
SUNDAY
11 a.m. — Ladies Free Skate and Free Dance
6:15 p.m. — Skating Spectacular (exhibition)
Who’s competing?
Here’s who’s entered in each discipline, along with their country. Reigning U.S. national champions are indicated by a *, past World Championships medalists are indicated by a #:
LADIES
Loena Hendrickx, Belgium
Alaine Chartrand, Canada
Laurine Lecavelier, France
#Sakoto Miyahara, Japan
Kaori Sakamoto, Japan
Marin Honda, Japan
#Elena Radionova, Russia (Radionova withdrew Monday because of a back injury)
Polina Tsurskaya, Russia
Sofia Samodurova, Russia
*Bradie Tennell, USA
Starr Andrews, USA
Megan Wessenberg, USA
MEN
Nam Nguyen, Canada
Kevin Reynolds, Canada
Michal Brezina, Czech Republic
Romain Ponsart, France
Morisi Kvitelashvili, Georgia
Alexei Bychenko, Israel
Mateo Rizzo, Italy
Julian Zhi Jie Yee, Malaysia
Sergei Voronov, Russia
*#Nathan Chen, USA
Jimmy Ma, USA
Vincent Zhou, USA
PAIRS
Xiangning Li and Zhong Xie, China
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nolan Seegert, Germany
Annika Hocke and Ruben Blommaert, Germany
Alisa Efimova and Alexander Korovin, Russia
#Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Russia
Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc, USA
*Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim, USA
Nica Digerness and Danny Neudecker, USA
ICE DANCE
Katharina Muller and Tim Dieck, Germany
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, Great Britain
Robynne Tweedale and Joseph Buckland, Great Britain
Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, Italy
Natalia Kaliszek and Maksym Spodyriev, Poland
Tiffani Zagorski and Jonathan Guerreiro, Russia
Alexandra Nazarova and Mazim Nikitin, Ukraine
*#Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, USA
Karina Manta and Joe Johnson, USA
Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter, USA
Are tickets still available?
Yes. All-session tickets, as well as tickets for individual sessions, can be purchased at the Angel of the Winds Arena website or by calling the arena at 1-866-332-8499.
What do attendees need to know?
For those planning on attending, the arena website includes pages with directions and parking information, as well as arena policies such as what kind of bags can be brought into the arena.
Is the event being televised?
Yes. The Oct. 20 afternoon session (Pairs Free Skate and Men’s Free Skate) and Oct. 21 early session (Women’s Free Skate and Free Dance) are being aired live by the NBC Sports Network. Portions will also be aired on tape on NBC at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 21 and at noon on Oct. 27.
