The 1998 U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place on January 4–11, 1998 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Skaters competed in five disciplines across three levels. The disciplines of the competition were men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, ice dancing, and compulsory figures. The levels of competition were senior, junior, and novice. Medals were awarded in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth).
The event served to help choose the U.S. teams to the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 1998 World Championships. The 1998 World Junior Championships had been held prior to the national championships and so the World Junior Championships team had been chosen at a World Juniors selection competition earlier in the year.
This was the penultimate year of compulsory figures being competed at the U.S. Championships. The novice competitors skated one figure, the juniors and seniors skated three.
Competition notes
During this competition, Michael Weiss attempted a quadruple lutz jump in his free skating. He put his free foot down on the landing and so the jump was not ratified as complete.[1]
In the senior ladies event, Amber Corwin, Andrea Gardiner, and Sydne Vogel tied for 7th place in the free skating on Majority Of Placements. Through the Total Ordinary Majority (TOM) tiebreak, Vogel's portion of the tie was broken and she placed 9th in that segment. Corwin and Gardiner's tie was unbreakable and so they shared the placement of 7th in the free skating.
