Spokane lands 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals

Spokane landed a big one Monday — the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals, an event that also doubles as the Olympic trials for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

The city won the event on the strength of its strong performance hosting the same event in 2007, when it set event attendance records of more than 154,000 fans. Men's champion Evan Lysacek said skaters "felt like rock stars" in the Lilac City.

"There is huge support for this event from the city of Spokane that goes well beyond the figure skating community," said Ron Hershberger, U.S. Figure Skating's president. "These factors, and the excellent facilities in Spokane, will provide an extraordinarily positive atmosphere for our athletes. The enthusiasm we experienced in 2007 certainly proved that Spokane can host a truly outstanding event."

The venue again will be the 10,500-seat Spokane Arena, built in 1995. NBC will provide more than 10 hours of live coverage for the event.

The event will take place from Jan. 14-24, 2010; its scope has recently been expanded to spread major competitions across consecutive weekends, to maximize prime-time TV exposure. Men's and pairs competition will take place during the first weekend; women's finals and ice dance finals will fall on the second weekend.

All-event ticket packages will go on sale May 31 by calling 800-325-SEAT or online at www.spokane2010.com. Single tickets typically are sold later, but they're often very limited because package buyers get dibs on prime events.

U.S. Figure Skating didn't name the other candidate cities, but two were rumored to be Providence, R.I., and Portland, Ore.

Ron Judd: rjudd@seattletimes.com or 206-464-8280.