The inaugural U.S. Championships took place in 1914 in
New Haven, Connecticut, and was contested by skaters from both the United States and Canada.
Norman Scott of Canada won the men's event, as well as the pairs event with his partner,
Jeanne Chevalier. The championships returned in 1920 and have been held without interruption since. Men's singles, women's singles, and pair skating have been contested since the championships began. Ice dance was added in 1936, incorporating the
waltz, fourteenstep, tango, and foxtrot. A live orchestra provided the music. There were no full cancellations of the championships due to
World War II as there had been during World War I; only the senior men's events were cancelled in 1944 and 1945, because all but one of the skaters who would have competed had enlisted in the military. All passengers on board
Sabena Flight 548 were killed, including all of the recently crowned U.S. champions: men's champion
Bradley Lord, women's champion
Laurence Owen, pairs champions
Maribel Owen and
Dudley Richards, and ice dance champions
Diane Sherbloom and
Larry Pierce. Nine-time U.S. champion and coach
Maribel Vinson-Owen, mother of both Laurence and Maribel, was on the flight as well. Also killed were men's silver medalist
Gregory Kelley, women's silver medalist
Stephanie Westerfeld, women's bronze medalist
Rhode Lee Michelson, pairs silver medalists
Ila Ray Hadley and
Ray Hadley Jr., pairs bronze medalists
Laurie Hickox and
William Hickox, ice dance silver medalists
Dona Lee Carrier and
Roger Campbell, and ice dance bronze medalists
Patricia Dineen and
Robert Dineen, in addition to fourteen family members, coaches, and skating officials who were accompanying the team. Out of respect, the 1961 World Championships were cancelled the next day. Beginning with the
1988 U.S. Championships,
pewter medals have been awarded to the fourth-place finishers in each event. Subsequent investigations determined that the assailant had been hired by the ex-husband of fellow skater
Tonya Harding, with the intention of preventing Kerrigan from competing at the U.S. Championships and the upcoming
Winter Olympics in
Lillehammer. Three days after the
2025 U.S. Championships, a group of twenty-eight skaters, coaches, and family members flying to
Washington, D.C., were killed when their airplane
collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the
Potomac River. Coaches
Evgenia Shishkova and
Vadim Naumov, the parents of U.S. skater
Maxim Naumov, who had just won the pewter medal in the senior men's event, were among those killed. The
2027 U.S. Championships are scheduled to be held from January 5 to 10 at the
Maverik Center in
Salt Lake City, Utah. ==Qualification==