How was the U.S. figure skating team chosen for the 2026 Olympics?

The selection committee met and deliberated after each field completed its final section at the national competition. Committee members considered each skater’s recent body of work and reviewed data points and strength of performance. After two days of deliberation, fun announcements, and tough conversations, USA Figure Skating has officially announced the roster of athletes aiming for a medal podium in Milan-Cortina.

“I think we can all agree that we have some phenomenal athletes as part of Team USA traveling to Milan,” said Justin Dillon, USFS chief performance officer.

Each field meeting used up the allotted 90 minutes. The committee also selected athletes to compete in the World Championships and the Four Continents Championships. But that doesn’t mean all the Olympic team decisions were difficult. The women’s team, for example, was straightforward: Amber Glenn, Alisa Liu, and Isabeau Levitt finished with gold, silver, and bronze at the national championships, each completing the short program and free skate, making it clear they were a trio. The same can be said for top male skater Ilia Marin, who is a gold medal favorite at the Milan Games.

The difficult decision was which two men would join Marinin.

Heading into the weekend, veteran and fan favorite Jason Brown has earned a spot. Things changed after he struggled mightily in the free skate. This performance sent him plummeting to eighth place, and he was removed from the competition, taking his place as an alternate.

“Jason Brown is loved by our skating community. He’s a great athlete. He’s someone we’ve been able to admire in several competitions, performances, seasons, years, etc.,” Dillon said. “Everyone was subject to the same selection criteria.”

As a result, the last two spots were given to Andrew Tolgashev and Maxim Naumov, who took second and third place respectively at the national championship. Although the USFS uses the past two seasons to determine who qualifies, Dillon noted that the national championship is “the most important thing.”

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Tolgashev had an impressive free skate, jumping from fifth place after the short program to second place overall with 267.62 points. Naumov showed an impressive short program and a solid free skate, earning a total of 249.16 points.

“We went through the list from top to bottom of the people who are in contention or who are qualified to reach the conclusions that we came to,” Dillon said.

The same pattern followed for the three pairs of ice dancers. Seven-time champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates were the obvious choices, with other podium teams Emilia Dzingas and Vadim Kolesnik and Christina Carrera and Anthony Ponomarenko taking the remaining two spots.

Pears was more complicated. Back-to-back champions Alisa Efimova and Mischa Mitrofanov failed to qualify because Efimova, a Finnish native, was unable to obtain U.S. citizenship in time despite a last-ditch effort.

On Friday, USFS CEO Matt Farrell said the selection of the pair would be decided on Saturday morning and that Efimova would need citizenship approval by the end of the meeting or she would not be selected. In the end, the uncertainty kept them away from the conversation.

“The process was a very long, complicated, inexact science, and at the end of the day, despite heroic efforts by various parties, nothing was concrete enough to make it feel real until the very last moment,” Farrell said.

Second-placed Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea qualified for the Olympics, along with fourth-placed Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, who moved up the rankings with a strong free skate.

Chan and Howe, who finished fourth in the national competition, earned a spot in the Olympics ahead of the third-place team of Katie McBeath and Danielle Parkman, as Parkman, who is from Russia, does not have American citizenship. Dillon noted that Parkman is not as close to getting Efimova as she is.

“McBeath and Parkman were just beginning the process, so they knew that addressing this issue was not something they should consider,” he said.

After all the discussions and meetings, a new part of the process began. It’s about communicating the decision to the athlete. Previously, people would receive news via email or text, but officials felt this needed a more personal touch.

This year, both successful and unsuccessful skaters convened to hear the news firsthand. The men were the last group to learn their fate, and the conversation took place Sunday morning in St. Louis, about three hours before the team was made public.

There are many incredible aspects to the people who make up this team, and the past few days have provided some memorable moments that make this Olympic send-off truly special.

“This is the best thing for the future of the sport,” Farrell said. “All eyes are on the U.S. Olympic team that we can all be so proud of.”