U.S. WORLD TEAM
SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED At the conclusion of the 2015 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, U.S. Figure Skating an- nounced the athletes who will represent Team USA at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships March 23–29, in Shanghai; and the World Junior Figure Skating Championships March 2–8, in Tallinn, Estonia.
2015 U.S. WORLD TEAM LADIES
Polina Edmunds Gracie Gold Ashley Wagner Alternate No. 1 – Samantha Cesario Alternate No. 2 – Courtney Hicks Alternate No. 3 – Mirai Nagasu
MEN
Jason Brown Joshua Farris Adam Rippon Alternate No. 1 – Max Aaron Alternate No. 2 – Jeremy Abbott Alternate No. 3 – Ross Miner
PAIRS
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim Alternate No. 1 – Tarah Kayne and Daniel O’Shea Alternate No. 2 – Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage Alternate No. 3 – Jessica Noelle Calalang and Zack Sidhu
ICE DANCE
Madison Chock and Evan Bates Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani Alternate No. 1 – Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker
Alternate No. 2 – Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin McManus
2015 U.S. WORLD JUNIOR TEAM
LADIES Karen Chen Tyler Pierce Alternate No. 1 – Bradie Tennell Alternate No. 2 – Hannah Miller Alternate No. 3 – Leah Keiser
MEN
Nathan Chen Kevin Shum Andrew Torgashev Alternate No. 1 – Paolo Borromeo Alternate No. 2 – Spencer Howe Alternate No. 3 – Shotaro Omori
PAIRS
Caitlin Fields and Ernie Utah Stevens Chelsea Liu and Brian Johnson Alternate No. 1 – Olivia Allan and Austin Hale Alternate No. 2 – Lindsay Weinstein and Jacob Simon
ICE DANCE
Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons Elliana Pogrebinsky and Alex Benoit Alternate No. 1 – Holly Moore and Daniel Klaber Alternate No. 2 – Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Alternate No. 3 – Emily Day and Kevin Leahy GREENSBORO, N.C. SOCIAL MEDIA From the casual fan to the biggest
names in figure skating, it seemed ev- eryone was sharing the Championships via social media. Using the hashtag #NC2015, hundreds of tweets were shown on the Greensboro Coliseum’s video board, eliciting great reactions. Olympic champion Brian Boita- no and friends made the arena chuck- le. Fan selfies with Team USA skaters past and present made the crowd cheer. Even Michelle Kwan, who was unable to attend, tweeted her frustration at missing part of the ladies event as she ran through New York’s Times Square trying to find a TV.
And with the Championships
held in the South, of course NASCAR got in on the action. Joey Logano — who drives Team Penske’s No. 22 car — tweeted a photo of the crowd shot through the windshield of the car he and his dad drove around the ice during the Opening Ceremony. Outside the arena, thousands of fans joined the action. Troughout the eight-day event, #NC2015 was shared 25,000 times. In the final four days alone, the hashtag was seen by more than 5.2 million people 121 million times! #NC2015 and “JasonBSkates” (Jason Brown) trended worldwide, while Brown, Rippon, Chen and Gracie Gold trended nationwide. After being seen by well over 2 mil- lion people, U.S. Figure Skating’s social media accounts gained thousands of followers. For a look at some of the best #NC2015 tweets, visit the Social Scene at
USFigureSkatingFanZone.com.
TV RATINGS More than 7 million people tuned
in to NBC’s eight hours of live cover- age from the Championships, lifting the network to the No. 2 spot Saturday night behind CBS. Viewership peak- ed for the conclusion of the ladies free skate (10:30–11 p.m. ET), which saw defending champion Gold and two- time champion Wagner squaring off for the title, with more than 4 million view- ers watching. On Sunday, the men’s final proved a hit with those watching at home as well. More than 3 million fans tuned in to watch Brown earn his first U.S. title
in a tightly contested event that fea- tured Rippon’s record-setting free skate.
ATTENDANCE
More than 118,000 people experi- enced the U.S. Championships inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Of those, more than 99,000 people watched competitions in the Coliseum or on the secondary ice surface. Like the TV audi- ence, the ladies free skate drew the larg- est audience, with 11,416 fans. Tat set a record for single-session figure skating attendance in Greensboro, which also hosted the 2011 U.S. Championships. An additional 19,000 people visited FanFest, a free and interactive hub for fans of all ages that featured a mini-ice sheet, Frozen sing-a-longs, historical figure skating exhibits and the WFMY News 2 television remote set.
SKATE RADIO
Te arena literally was buzzing all Championships weekend, as Prudential gave away 12,000 Skate Radios, allow- ing fans an insider’s perspective on what was happening on the ice. Te Pruden- tial Skate Radios were so popular that their murmur could be heard in the background of the arena as the ladies awaited their free skate scores. Realizing the challenges fans face in understanding the scoring system, Pru- dential and U.S. Figure Skating teamed up to provide the unique experience. Using the Prudential Skate Radio, fans had the opportunity to listen to one of three live commentaries: For a technical perspective, fans tuned in to Charlie Cyr — one of the world’s most experienced and high- est-rated technical experts. Commenta- tors also included David Santee, Meryl Davis and Judy Blumberg. PSA Presi- dent Jimmie Santee explained in real time how each skate was being called and scored by the judges’ panel. For a play-by-play feel, fans chose
the live feed of
icenetwork.com, which featured commentary from former U.S. champions and special guest appearanc- es at the Ice Desk by America’s best, past and present. For those who enjoy NBC’s broad- casts, fans inside the Coliseum could listen and watch Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski work from the NBC booth.
SKATING 9
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