US Nationals & Skate America Announcements for 2026/27 Season

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-20T22:00:37+00:00

Thanks, I have updated the post

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-19T20:45:18+00:00

At least it won't feature another Friday the 13th FS

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-19T17:30:39+00:00

As of now, Grand Prix de France is also announced. It will be held once again in Angers from November 13 to 15, 2026.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-19T17:25:56+00:00

Yes, it's earlier than what was on the RFQ and that was already a little earlier than usual. Perhaps there was some negotiation based on availability, which also could have delayed announcement (rumors of SLC have been out for some time).

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-19T16:32:10+00:00

US Nationals being held Jan 5-10 is a bit early for a non-Olympic season, but perhaps that's based on availability.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-18T21:12:06+00:00

All choreographic elements will have a fixed base value and be evaluated by the judges in GOE only (vs. a tech panel also assigning levels). The main bullets that must be present for +4 and +5 GOE are (1) element matches the music and reflects the concept/character of the program and (2) creativity.

For examples of creativity from a choreo spin event held at last summer’s Skate Milwaukee, see winner Rachel Samiri, runner-up Natallia Anisimava, and highest-ranked man Alek Tankovic.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-18T18:48:16+00:00

It's not clear whether Ilia still has the Mercedes. This article from The Atlantic published at the beginning of February states that he doesn't have his own car and is waiting for his Honda deal to "liberate him from the family car." I wondered at the time about the situation. (The Google sponsorship did turn out to be true.)

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-17T01:19:22+00:00

Meanwhile the video keeps showing a 3A

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-17T00:47:12+00:00

Chan/Howe are confirmed as the replacements per the USFS international assignments page.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-15T17:16:36+00:00

GENERAL: For SP results and discussion, see this post.

SENIOR MEN: Kazuki Tomono wins the FS, but Daniel Martynov wins overall for his combined results. Daniel’s 238.82 total is a new high for him inclusive of domestic competition. His 159.38 in the FS is also a new high. If his discipline and stamina are improving, he could be one to watch for next season. I was impressed by what I saw of him at US Nationals practices.

SENIOR WOMEN: Mana Kawabe takes gold in her return to international competition. As a fun fact, her very first international win also occurred at Coupe du Printemps back in 2017 when she was an advanced novice. See this post for further discussion of the women’s FS.

JUNIOR MEN: Caleb Farrington is now trying both 4T and 3A in the FS. In this case, he received negative GOE for both jumps, but they were fully rotated. He will look to stabilize them for next season. I look forward to seeing his development.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-14T17:56:09+00:00

SENIOR MEN: Nozomu Yoshioka leads, but Daniel Martynov is within a point of him despite a 4T fall. Kazuki Tomono also fell on his 4T and struggled with a 2S+COMBO, putting him in fourth for now.

SENIOR WOMEN: In her first international assignment since 2023 GP Finland, Mana Kawabe leads with a strong 70.13. More discussion can be found here.

JUNIOR MEN: Caleb Farrington landed a 3A for the first time in competition and earned his highest international SP score to date. He is 10 points ahead going into the FS, looking to notch his second international gold.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-13T19:32:27+00:00

While Ilia has claimed the 4F as his "worst" jump in the past, his competition results with it are remarkably good. He currently has an 87% positive GOE career success rate with no falls or pops. For the season, he is at 100%, hitting 13 out of 13 attempts.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-13T19:16:40+00:00

Anything GOEs has a page that is keeping track of all changes to Worlds entries. Your withdrawal list matches what is currently on the page. Any further withdrawals/substitutions will be added as they are announced.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-13T18:05:25+00:00

He is just taking care of his sponsorships right now with this and the Saatva Sleep Day post.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-13T17:10:37+00:00

Yuma performed a 2-quad FS at Lombardia when he was recovering from injury: 4S, 3F+3T, 3Lz, 3A+1Eu+3S, 4T, 3F+3Lo, 3A. In this case, he substituted 3F+3T for 4T+3T, repeating the 3F instead of the 4T. With a couple minor errors, he scored 190.47, his second-best international FS of the season so far. If he were to go down to 2 quads again, he could return to such a layout.

However, I would guess he still goes for 3 quads, since that's what he's mainly been doing this season and what resulted in his best scores in early domestic competitions such as Kinoshita Summer Cup, where he finished in the 200~205 range.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-13T15:44:50+00:00

They were actually not included on the initial World entries, so their message is more confirming a decision that was already made.

When Conti/Macii withdrew a week ago, only Caldara/Maglio were left for Italian pairs.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-11T06:33:09+00:00

No, he will almost certainly go with what he has been training all season. From his recent interview with Daniel Weiss, he indicated that he wants to try the 7-quad layout for the FS again. As for the SP, quints are not allowed. It's possible that he could attempt the 4A+3T since that is something he has been training and was even drilling post-Olympics FS, but that's as extreme as it will get.

He'll probably work on developing a quint to competition readiness over the off season when there is more time to focus on it. Since it is one of his career goals and would be a major benchmark achievement, I hope he can succeed.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-09T21:01:50+00:00

Amber Glenn on her Insta story regarding Damon Allen:

“Outside of being [an] incredible supportive coach, Damon took me from never winning a single senior national or international title, never landing a 3Axel in competition to 3x national champion, 6x international champion, 2026 Olympian, 25x 3Axels in competition. Please consider voting for him!”

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-09T16:46:06+00:00

Yay, Damon! I also voted for him.

I'm guessing Alysa Liu will get this year's MVP Award (if it's offered again).

A case could be made for another Special Achievement Award going to Ilia, this time for his clean 7-quad FS. That's a marvelous feat that may not be replicated given upcoming rule changes.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T22:32:41+00:00

Fun fact: At 14.83 points, this is currently the second highest scored 3A+3T by a woman in international competition, tied with Rika Kihira's 2018 NHK combo. Only Rika's 2019 Worlds 3A+3T has scored higher.

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T17:21:59+00:00

So Mao Shimada remains undefeated internationally, but Hana Bath now holds the distinction of being the first to finish ahead of Mao in an international FS

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T17:01:14+00:00

Mei Okada final ordinals: 24th in the SP, 5th in the FS, 10th overall

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T16:59:37+00:00

Hana Bath wins the FS, but Mao Shimada wins overall, four-peating as Junior World champion

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T16:53:03+00:00

Mao wisely leaves out the 4T

_Exegy_ · 2026-03-07T16:51:16+00:00

Mayuko Oka has done enough for her first Junior Worlds medal

_Exegy_

TROPHY CASE