Greensboro, North Carolina has been awarded the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Reuters
After having hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2011 and 2015, Greensboro, North Carolina has again been awarded the event as U.S. Figure Skating announced the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held Jan. 20-26, 2020, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is the organization’s largest event.
“Greensboro did an outstanding job in hosting our U.S. Championships in 2011 and 2015,” said U.S. Figure Skating Executive Director David Raith. “Our skaters and our fans had high praise for the local organizing committee and how they worked to make our marquee event special. We look forward to returning to Greensboro.”
Since the 2015 U.S. Championships, the City of Greensboro has spent more than $6 million improving the streetscape of Gate City Boulevard, the main connector between Interstate 40 and the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The beautification and transportation enhancement project included reconfiguration and repaving of traffic lanes, landscaped medians, brick pavers, wrought iron stoplight and lighting fixtures, crosswalk pavers, benches, and much more.
“We are thrilled to have the U.S. Figure Skating Championships return to Greensboro,“ Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said. “The fact that U.S. Figure Skating is returning to Greensboro for a third time with its premier event underscores Greensboro’s event hosting capabilities and reputation as Tournament Town USA.”
The 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be the first to feature a new format for the event that is focused on the top junior and senior skaters. The Championships will showcase two of North Carolina’s most prominent metro areas – the Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point) and the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) – as the event will also include the first-ever U.S. Figure Skating National Team High Performance Camp, which will be held January 26 to 29, 2020, at the Wake Competition Center in Morrisville, NC. The camp will include more than 250 skaters.
“We are very excited to be selected to host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships again in 2020,” said Hill Carrow, chairman of North Carolina 2020, the Local Organizing Committee for the event. “We will be working to top our excellent ratings as a previous host. In particular we will be focused on attracting large and enthusiastic crowds of spectators to support the outstanding U.S. Figure Skating athletes who are among the best figure skaters in the world.”
U.S. Figure Skating’s reigning U.S. champions are Bradie Tennell, Nathan Chen, Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (ladies, men, pairs, ice dance, respectively). The 2019 Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held in Detroit at the Little Caesars Arena. The 2019 U.S. Championships serve as the qualification event for U.S. skaters for the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships.
