♪♪ The 2026 U.S.

Figure Skating Championships took over downtown St.

Louis, bringing in thousands of spectators and dozens of athletes from across the U.S.

This isn't the first time our city has hosted this event, but President of the St.

Louis Sports Commission Marc Schreiber was set on bringing it back.

I think there's the element of just the boost it gives to our community, the value of entertainment and having something that also sort of inspires us as well, especially when it comes to young people, to be able to be here at Enterprise Center and see such great talented athletes and role models that a month from now are going to be competing on the Olympic stage is huge.

And so to have St.

Louis in that spotlight, it brings like added relevancy to our region and something we can celebrate.

Figure skating is the oldest sport of the Olympic Winter Games, and St.

Louis is America's first Olympic city.

We are the birthplace of the Olympic gold medal.

Celebrating that legacy and putting St.

Louis on the map is a goal of the St.

Louis Sports Commission.

You know, we have that special place at a unique table.

Only a handful of cities can say they're an Olympic city, and we join the world's greatest communities across the globe of having that claim to fame, and we should make the most of it.

It took years to secure St.

Louis as the location for the 2026 U.S.

Figure Skating Championships, and it takes a lot to turn a city into an Olympic destination.

Although there may be some challenges to supporting a large influx of people to our region, Explore St.

Louis' Catherine Neville says events like this are critical to our local economy.

It's raising tax revenues, it's putting money directly in the pockets of independent business owners, it is filling hotel rooms, which impacts everyone from the people who clean the rooms to the folks who are working the front desk.

So this impacts average everyday St.

Louisans in a truly tangible way.

Neville estimated an economic impact of around $20 million, with almost $15 million coming from direct spending.

The six-day event alone brought in over 90,000 attendees.

Not only are people here spending money, but they are exploring our city in ways Neville says we may not realize.

I think a lot of folks in St.

Louis maybe don't think of us as a tourist town, but we have millions of people who come to St.

Louis for tourism, whatever shape that might take.

It could be a girls weekend, it could be an event like this, but all of that adds up to economic impact and also pride, civic pride of welcoming people here.

And when people come to St.

Louis, they leave singing our praises.

Schreiber hopes to host more Olympic events in the future, especially given our historic ties to the Olympic Games.

It's like he told me, "We're going to always be an Olympic city."

They say once an Olympic city, always an Olympic city.

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