For more information, contact:
The St. Louis Sports Commission
314-992-0687
dbray@stlouissports.org

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD:
ST. LOUIS LANDS THE 2006 U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

ST. LOUIS — Nov. 4, 2002 — Add one of the marquee Olympic sports events to St. Louis’ future event calendar. And get ready to welcome the biggest names in U.S. figure skating to town for the sport’s most important national competition. At its fall meeting this past weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo., the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s board of directors awarded the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships to St. Louis. Members of the St. Louis bid team celebrated the selection today at an afternoon news conference. Savvis Center will host the competition Jan. 7-15. Secondary events and practices will take place at the America’s Center convention complex.

The St. Louis Sports Commission and the Heartland Inter-Club — an organization made up of seven local figure skating clubs — put together the winning bid. The United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) selected St. Louis over three other finalist cities: Cincinnati, Cleveland and Minneapolis. This will be the first time St. Louis hosts the event, which will precede the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.

"It means a lot to us that St. Louisans will have the wonderful opportunity to see the nation’s best skaters compete on one of figure skating’s biggest stages," said David Klarich, Missouri state senator and chair of the St. Louis Local Organizing Committee. "And it’s very special to know that their presence in the Gateway City will go a long way toward inspiring the young people in the area who look up to these athletes. Hosting the Championships will certainly grow the sport locally and make our figure skating community stronger for the future."

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is the premier event conducted each year by the USFSA. It features 350 skaters competing for titles in three divisions (Championship, Junior and Novice). In recent years, total attendance for the Championships approached 125,000. The Championships have also enjoyed impressive ratings on ABC, ESPN and ABC Family.

In 2006, the event will attract more than 1,500 athletes, coaches and officials to St. Louis. They will be responsible for filling 9,000 hotel room nights at a time of year when hotel occupancy rates in the region are normally at their lowest. Based on previous Championships and future projections, the economic impact of the event could be $15 million or more.

"The U.S. Figure Skating Championships have been at the top of our wish list for a while," said Sports Commission President Frank Viverito. "So it’s gratifying for all of us at the Commission and within our local figure skating community to have been successful in this effort. A lot of thought and hard work goes into deciding which events we should pursue for St. Louis. And this is one we really covet because of how much it will matter to our region and how much prestige it will bring to us as a host city."

The seven member clubs of the Heartland Inter-Club are: the Creve Coeur Figure Skating Club, Diamond Ice Figure Skating Club, Jefferson City Figure Skating Club, Metro Edge Figure Skating Club, Show Me Blades Skating Club, St. Peters Figure Skating Association, and the St. Louis Skating Club. The presidents and members of these clubs — in addition to other members of the St. Louis community — will create a non-profit organization to manage the Championships. The Local Organizing Committee’s executive committee includes Klarich, Viverito, Heartland Inter-Club President Dennis Sveum, Heartland Inter-Club Vice President Elaine Theisen, and Stifel Nicolaus CEO Bert Walker III.

The 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships are the latest addition to a lineup of high-profile events that will take place in St. Louis in the coming years: