The 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin on Wednesday in St. Louis, Missouri, airing live on NBC and USA Network as well as streaming on Peacock. While national titles are on the line, the larger stakes come on Sunday, January 11, when U.S. Figure Skating will name its Olympic roster.

In total, three men, three women, two pairs teams, and three ice dance teams will be selected. Unlike many sports’ Olympic Trials, this event is not winner-take-all. U.S. Figure Skating relies on a body-of-work evaluation that considers a full year of results, beginning with the 2025 U.S. Championships. The goal simply is not to reward placement in St. Louis, but to select the skaters most capable of producing medal-worthy performances in Milan.

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There is little suspense at the top of the men’s field. Ilia Malinin enters nationals both as the overwhelming favorite for the U.S. title and the Olympic gold-medal favorite in Milan. The 21-year-old has been undefeated for over two years, recently delivered a record-breaking seven-quad free skate at the Grand Prix Final, and continues to redefine the technical ceiling of the sport. Though a fourth national title appears likely, Malinin has been clear that his priority is February, noting that he does not “intend to take any unnecessary risks" this week.

Behind him, Jason Brown is positioned to earn a berth at what would be his third Olympic Games. Now age 31, Brown remains one of the most artistically compelling skaters in the world, with skating skills and consistency that has kept him near the top of the U.S. field despite competing without quadruple jumps. In what could be his final season, he returns once again to ‘Riverdance’ — the same program that helped launch his Olympic journey more than a decade ago.

The intrigue lies in the final Olympic spot. Maxim Naumov is among the leading contenders, skating less than a year after losing both parents in a plane crash and assuming leadership of their skating school at The Skating Club of Boston. He is joined in the mix by Andrew Torgashev, Tomoki Hiwatashi, and Jacob Sanchez, creating a scenario where a strong performance, or a costly mistake, could prove decisive.

The U.S. women arrive in St. Louis with rare depth and a realistic chance to contend for Olympic medals. The expected Olympic trio of Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito, and Alysa Liu combines experience, consistency, and technical ambition — and all three are former U.S. champions.

Glenn and Liu appear to be the primary contenders for the national title. Glenn, now age 26, steadily has built toward this moment and could become the first woman to win three consecutive U.S. titles since Michelle Kwan. Her path has been defined by persistence, and a strong showing here would cap a breakthrough Olympic season.

Liu, the reigning world champion, returned to competition last season after retiring shortly after the Beijing Games. At just 20 years old, she skates with a distinctive mental approach and is expected to debut a new free skate, potentially including a triple Axel. Her return already has reshaped the U.S. women’s landscape.

Levito, still only 18, may not match the technical ceiling of Glenn or Liu, but her consistency has made her one of the most reliable skaters in the world this season. With family ties to Milan, she enters nationals firmly in the Olympic picture.

If there is a challenger, it is Bradie Tennell, a two-time U.S. champion whose career has been interrupted by multiple major injuries. While she has openly spoken about fighting her way back, technical under-rotations have limited her scoring potential, making her Olympic path narrow.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates are three-time world champions, three-time Grand Prix Final champions and after 15 years competing together, the de facto royalty of U.S. Figure Skating. The married couple is favored to win a record seventh U.S. title as they continue their pursuit of Olympic gold in Milan. Their recent victory over newly-formed French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry and reigning Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron at the Grand Prix Final underscored their standing as legitimate contenders for Gold in Milan.

Just behind them, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik have emerged as one of the season’s most compelling stories. Zingas transitioned from singles skating only a few years ago, while Kolesnik continues to compete with close family still living in Ukraine. Their consistency this season positions them well to earn their first Olympic selection.

The final Olympic spot remains the most unpredictable race in the discipline. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, silver medalists at the past two U.S. Championships, are attempting to regain momentum after a difficult Grand Prix season. Caroline Green and Michael Parsons remain in contention as well.

Lurking as a true wild card are Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, who returned to competition this season after more than seven years away. The 2018 Olympic bronze medalists struggled early in their comeback, but they arrive in St. Louis with a new rhythm dance and renewed belief that they can factor into the Olympic conversation.

In pairs, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea appear poised to seize their Olympic moment. After an offseason marked by surgery for O’Shea and a concussion for Kam, the pair regained form late in the Grand Prix Series and now enter nationals as favorites to claim both a title and an Olympic berth. O’Shea, who will turn 35 during the Games, would become the oldest U.S. Olympic pairs skater nearly in a century, completing a remarkable comeback after stepping away from the sport twice earlier in his career.

The second Olympic spot far less is certain. Reigning champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov are among the top teams in the field, but Efimova is not yet a U.S. citizen, leaving their Olympic eligibility unresolved as team naming approaches.

With that uncertainty, the door remains open for challengers including Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy, and Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez, making pairs one of the most fluid Olympic selection battles of the week.