Next year's Omaha event will be where skaters vie for a spot on the U.S. team at the World Championships (or, in Olympic years, for a chance to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.)
It's the place where some of the sport's biggest names -- Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano, Michelle Kwan, Johnny Weir -- have taken home gold medals. And it's a chance for the sports young, rising stars to start making a name for themselves in novice and junior level competitions.
Check out a retro slideshow of the 1967 National Figure Skating Championships in Omaha.
Buy tickets for next year's 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha.
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This time next year, Omaha will be the center of the country's figure skating universe, as it hosts the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
But for now, the spotlight is on San Jose, Calif., where the 2012 U.S. Championships are underway.
And World-Herald reporter Erin Golden and photographer Rebecca S. Gratz are there. The two will be following Omahans and sending reports from San Jose until the competition concludes on Sunday.
More than a dozen Omaha officials are there, learning the ins and outs of running the big event, selling tickets -- and the city of Omaha -- to skating fans and taking in the spectacle of the competition.
Check back at Omaha.com for updates and pick up the Sunday edition of The World-Herald for full coverage.
-- Erin Golden
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