Countdown to US Figure Skating Championships: 19 Days!

Ryan Bradley (Broadmoor SC)

• 2006-08 US Collegiate Champion
• 2007 US Silver Medalist
• 2008 US Nationals 5th 
• 2009 US Nationals 4th
• 2010 US Nationals 4th
• 2010 Four Continents Championships 5th

Ryan is one of those skaters who seems like he has been around for years just waiting to strike but unfortunately he has never been able to peak at the right time. His best national finish was 2nd in 2007, and he has finished just off the podium many times but unfortunately never qualified for the Olympics. He was so close last season too, finishing 4th and just a hair behind Johnny Weir. He has not had a lot of international success with disappointing 15th and 18th place finishes at his trips to senior worlds. He did not compete on the Grand Prix circuit this season so I'm assuming that his return to Nationals this season is an attempt to qualify for the World team and redeem himself from those low finishes at past Worlds. I've always enjoyed Ryan's skating, but I am afraid that it may be time for him to move on as the next generation is moving up the ranks and Ryan will have his work cut out for him if he wants to make the World team. I do wish him well though in Greensboro and maybe he will prove me wrong. 

Countdown to US Figure Skating Championships: 31 Days!

Adam Rippon (SC of New York)

• 2007 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion 
• 2008 US Junior Champion 
• 2008 Junior World Champion 
• 2009 Junior World Champion  
• 2010 Four Continents Champion 

Adam finished an impressive 5th last season on his second trip to the US Senior Nationals where he qualified for the Four Continents Championships and pulled off a surprise win. This win established Adam as a top international senior competitor and when teammates Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek decided not to compete at the 2010 World Championships, Adam was given the chance to compete and placed a respectable 6th. He began this 2010 Grand Prix Series with a bronze medal at Skate Canada and looked to medal again at Skate America but finished 4th after a rocky free skate. Adam was the 3rd alternate for this season's Grand Prix Final. With Lysacek and Weir retired, at least temporarily, Rippon looks to make a big move this year and land on the 2011 Senior Mens National Podium. His primary competition will come from reigning US champion Jeremy Abbott, but Brandon Mroz and Armin Mahbanoozadeh have also medaled on the Grand Prix this season and will be in the medal hunt. Veteran skater Ryan Bradley is also set to compete and is always a podium threat. Though he did not perform it on the Grand Prix, Adam is rumored to be training a quad under the watchful eyes of coach Brian Orser and he may need it to win. He has solid technical numbers, but the quad would give him a nice boost, and he is also a wonderfully expressive skater with long lines and great flow. Look for his signature move, the Rippon lutz, a triple lutz with both arms overhead, modeled after the one-arm Tano Lutz made famous by 1988 Olympic Champion Brian Boitano.