'25 US Nats: WOMEN!

What we really need is a femininomenon.

How’s it going today? Would a nice long post about US Women figure skaters help a little bit? You’ve come to the right place.

If you’re here and you’re a woman of a certain age who lives in the US, this is THE event. Debi, Kristi, Nancy, Tonya, Michelle, (reluctantly) Tara…. we grew up in the time of dominant US Women. Year after year of bangers (some of them literal…oops). We were spoiled, and we didn’t realize it.

I’m please to tell you: we’re back, baby. Mostly back. There’s a good chance we’re back. We’re back at least a little.

Team USA Women are competitive, both internationally and with each other. I wouldn’t put them on par with the deep Japanese Women’s field, but they’re in the mix; they hold 6 of the top 20 international season’s best scores. I think we’re looking at an exciting Nationals and an even more exciting run up to the Olympic season.

This year, Nationals is particularly interesting for how it will set up the selections for Worlds in March. The World Championships the year before the Olympic season is extremely important— that’s where most countries earn their Olympic spots. For Team USA Women, they have three spots at Worlds this year. To earn three Olympic spots in 2026, the top two placements at Worlds have to be equal to or less than 13. So, if Amber Glenn places third, the next best skater can’t finish less than tenth. There’s a very good chance they can do it this year, not least because Worlds will be in Boston and they’ll have the support of the home crowd. But it’s not assured.

Hence the importance of Nationals. Amber Glenn is almost certainly going to Worlds, no matter what she does at Nationals, because of her trio of wins on the Grand Prix series. But for the other two Worlds spots, there’s about 3-4 skaters who have an argument. The question is— who looks consistent enough to ensure a high enough placement at Worlds to lock down those Olympic spots?

The Contenders

Amber Glenn- The Favorite

Let’s just get this out of the way— Amber seems very likely to win unless she completely buckles under the pressure. Given her history, it’s possible. But she’s integrating a new strategy this year with neurotherapy that seems to be effective. She hasn’t been perfect this season, but she hasn’t melted down either. And so far, that’s been enough for her to win every event she’s entered, clearing 200 points easily every time— something she’s only done once outside domestic competition until this year. She’s consistent with the all mighty triple Axel in the short program and the free skate, and international judges are rewarding her big time.

Why we’re rooting for her: She’s a scrapper. She’s been on the scene for years. She’s been counted out many times, but she keeps trying. During the height of Covid, she decided she was going to get herself a triple Axel… and she did. She’s a mental health advocate and one of the few openly queer skaters on the circuit— maybe the only out actively competitive Women’s skater? (Not 100% sure about this, but the number would be very low.) She’s our emo goth pop ice princess on ice, and we need her now more than ever.

Bradie Tennell- The Fighter

She’s a double US champ and former Olympian plagued by injuries the last few years, but she’s not going down without a fight. Bradie broke her ankle in a fluke accident last season but vowed to come back this year and keep pushing for the 2026 Olympics. Her results this season are good for someone who had to recover from a broken ankle, but they’re not spectacular. Still, she has murder in her eyes and nerves of steel, and I would never count out Bradie Tennell. Her best shot here is to make it difficult for the US Fed to name the Worlds team without sending a couple of them to Four Continents in February for a skate-off. She probably needs to win at least silver to make it hard for them to leave her out. She’s manifesting her spot at Boston Worlds by skating to Irish step dance music from Riverdance— you can see her playing straight to that Boston crowd.

Why we’re rooting for her: All the comeback reasons listed above. And also she’s Team Old.

Sarah Everhardt- The New Kid

Sarah didn’t exactly make an impression as a junior skater, and she continued be as impactful as a whisper in her first season as a senior. But last summer she did the figure skating equivalent of going away to camp and coming back super hot. She came out SWINGING this year, immediately blowing her personal best score out of the water by almost 28 points in her first competition in August. And it wasn’t a fluke; she’s stayed fairly consistent with her scores all season. She’s mostly not landing on the podium, but she’s staying close to the 200 mark… which may be all the US needs to guarantee those Olympic spots. That said, she’s vulnerable when it comes to actually connecting with the audience. She skates with Ilia Malinin and is coached by his parents, and she suffers from the same focus on technical skill over artistry. It ultimately may not matter, but it could cost her a spot at Worlds if Bradie nails it this week. Sarah is also skating to Riverdance— that comparison could go either way for her.

Why we’re rooting for her: After crushing her short program at her first Senior Grand Prix event ever, she turned to the audience and cheered, “LET’S FUCKING GO!” (Not picked up by the cameras, only reported by those present).

Alysa Liu- The Comeback

After dominating the US Women’s field starting at age 13, Alysa memorably announced her retirement just three years later through an Instagram post written mostly in lower case letters and littered with internet abbreviations like lol. (You can see in the post above that she still likes a super chill Insta caption.) At the time, I suspected she might come back. Sixteen is really young— plenty of time to miss it and change your mind. For once, I was right. She released a comeback hype reel last spring, and she’s done pretty well so far this season. That said, she’s scoring about the same as Sarah, and the international judges are not rewarding her artistry the same way they did a few year ago. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks they’re either slapping her wrist for her casual retirement post or that the US Fed isn’t politicking for her the way they used to while they throw all their support behind Amber.

Why we’re rooting for her: Like the honey badger, Alysa doesn’t care. Her instagram is full of moody, blurry scene kid pictures. She pierced her own lip because she trusts herself more than a professional. And she’s clear that she’s skating on her own terms now and really enjoys it in a way she didn’t as a young teenager. She’s basically a Freeform TV show about a washed up former prodigy trying again as an adult, taking back her own narrative. The story writes itself.

The Other Stories

I think it’s fairly unlikely that one of these Women will make it on to the podium, but a couple of them have an outside shot. Here’s why you should care about them.

Elyce Lin-Gracey: Of all the Others, Elyce might have the best shot to spoil the podium, based on her season’s best scores only. Her best score is just two points behind Amber’s best score, and she did that without any triple Axels. Unfortunately, that was in September, and her average scores have plummeted 30 points since then. If she wants to stay in the mix for the Olympic conversation, she probably needs to make the podium here and show that she can perform under pressure.

Starr Andrews: Memorably skated to her own recording of “One Moment in Time” at her first Senior Nationals, and I will love her forever for that. Starr’s been up and down for a few years now— winning a surprise silver at a Grand Prix event a couple of years ago and then not even getting a Grand Prix assignment this year. She’s struggled with a heart condition, so I suspect just continuing to compete is a win for her.

Lindsey Thorngren: Something about the shape of her eyes make it look like she is always about to cry, so she always looks very upset after every skate, which always concerns me despite knowing it’s just her face. Last season, she seemed poised to break through to the top tier of US Women, even winning silver at the Japanese Grand Prix. But then she sprained an ankle and possibly had some other injuries, and she hasn’t been able to get back to the same level of competition. I think the best she can do here is stay mostly up right and prove to the US Fed that she could still have potential in the Olympic season.

Ting Cui: Peaked in 2019 when she won surprise bronze at Junior Worlds. Mind you, this was in the time of the Russian trifecta of Trusova, Shcherbakova, and Kostornaia, so it was pretty big deal. It seemed like she might give Alysa Liu some stiff competition for best baby American. But then there seemed to be some combination of injuries and Covid and growing pains, and she just kind of fizzled out. She earned her spot at Nationals this year the old fashioned way— working her way up the National Qualifying Competitions. I don’t think she’s going to dazzle anybody this week, but she might do well enough to get some lower profile international assignments again.

Sonja Hilmer: Absolutely the most inventive of the US Women and known for choreographing her own programs. She’s also known for a unique jump combo in which she jumps a triple Salchow and then changes direction and jumps a double Salchow. Not worth that many points, but pretty cool. And that seems to be where she’s landed as a skater— she know she’s not going to be a technical genius, but she can be the weird one! She appears to be skating to the soundtrack for Argylle, a movie for which she was also a stunt double. And here she is dressed as the Wheel of Fortune.

Josephine Lee: I wouldn’t make note of her at all except that she surprised everyone by winning silver at last year’s Nationals. But then she followed it up by placing 20th at Junior Worlds. She seems to have a knack for peaking at the right time at Nationals, so she could be a factor again.

Alexa Gasparotto: Recently posted video landing the triple Axel in practice, making her the first African American woman (that we know of) to do it. Landing in practice does not mean that she’s bringing it to competition, but I’m curious to see if she tries it here.

Mia Kalin: Sigh. She is very determined to land a bunch of quad jumps. The problem is that she puts all of her energy on that and nothing else, but she’s not rewarded for it the same way the Russian Women were. Watching to see how many she tries here and what the US judges will signal to her through her score if she lands them. I strongly suspect this is not a winning strategy for her.

The Absent

Isabeau Levito: Last year’s Worlds silver medalist is a very notable but not surprising absence here. Her early season performances looked tentative, and she bowed out of all competition starting in mid-October. She recently announced her withdrawal from Nationals, citing a foot injury. That doesn’t bode well; skaters are notorious for stress factors that they continually re-injure when they don’t rest for long enough. She might be playing it smart— planning to sit out the rest of the season and give herself time to heal before the Olympic season. Or she might be anxious to keep her place in line. Or she might not have a stress fracture at all. I’ll be curious to see if she petitions for a spot at Worlds or completely disappears until next season.

Ava Marie Ziegler: Seemed to be on a trajectory straight for the moon last season after winning gold at her first senior Grand Prix event. But then she needed surgery… and then a second surgery. She went from momentum to a question mark. Assuming she is healthy enough, I would guess she goes out early to international competition next year to reassure everyone she’s still a contender.

My Prediction: Confident in Amber willing gold. After that… I think Alysa Liu in silver and Sarah Everhardt in bronze. The US judges just really love Alysa; they always have. But I think Sarah’s consistency across the season will be rewarded. That said... I’d love to see a skate-off at Four Continents. Let Amber rest before Worlds and send Alysa, Sarah, and Bradie to duke it out on the international stage. They’re all fighters who like to compete; let’s see them head to head under pressure.

Three Non-Figure Skating Things:

Presented without comment….here are three celebrity couples I’m sad didn’t work out, even though they all went on to have good partnerships with other people or had good reasons for not working out.

• Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams

• Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson

• Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield

What’s Next: Tomorrow, we dive into Ice Dance. Which is actually a little bit unpredictable once you get past gold and probably silver.