SPOKANE, Wash. (May 5, 2008) -- U.S. Figure Skating today announced the selection of Spokane, Wash., as the host city for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event is 11 days of competition, culminating with the selection of the athletes that will represent the United States at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. The competition will be held January 14-24, 2010.
The 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be hosted locally by Star USA. Star USA spearheaded the effort that led to Spokane's hosting the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which attracted a record attendance of 154,893. Star USA also hosted 2002 Skate America, which attracted a record attendance of 28,664 for the four-day event.
"We couldn't be prouder or more excited for our hometown." said Toby Steward, president of Star USA. "The world will be riveted to the excitement of the Olympic Winter Games, and the Pacific Northwest will be in the spotlight. Spokane will now have a direct connection to that excitement."
"We know the other three finalist cities all hosted the Championships before, and did an excellent job." stated Barb Beddor, vice president of Star USA. "We recognize the mandate from U.S. Figure Skating to again raise the bar, and we believe Spokane can do it."
Senator Lisa Brown stated "Congratulations and thanks to Star USA for helping to promote Spokane and Washington State. I am committed to helping make these Championships a success."
The 2007 U.S. Championships received the prestigious honor of being recognized as the "Sports Event of the Year" and "Amateur Sporting Event of the Year" by SportsTravel magazine. Past recipients of the SportsTravel "Sports Event of the Year" were:
All Event Ticket Packages for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will go on sale beginning Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. and will be available at the TicketsWest box office or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT and at www.spokane2010.com. The All Event Ticket Package will offer the buyer great seats for all of the sessions during the 11-day event.
The 2010 U.S. Championships represent a unique opportunity for U.S. Figure Skating to showcase the phenomenal talent that is rising within the sport just 18 days before the world meets in Vancouver, 410 miles north of Spokane. Due to the Olympics, the event schedule has been adjusted to allow the athletes the maximum amount of preparation time. Therefore, all the senior events will be taking place over two weekends, with senior-level men's and pairs the first weekend, and senior-level ladies and ice dancing the second weekend.
NBC will provide more than 10 hours of live coverage of the event, including all senior-level finals, while the remainder of the competition will be shown on icenetwork.com.
With the 2010 Olympics beginning in Vancouver just 18 days after the completion of the 2010 U.S. Championships,
All of the competitive events will take place at the Spokane Arena, a world-class 10,500-seat multi-use facility.
As with both the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and 2002 Skate America, the beautiful historic Davenport Hotel and the exquisite new Davenport Tower will serve as the headquarters hotel for the event.
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 1,425 member clubs and Basic Skills Programs representing approximately 184,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.
