2025 Skate to Milano Pairs Free Skate

[4everchan]

Footage of Nagaoka/Moriguchi in the mixed zone while they look at Kovalevs getting their scores

https://www.x.com/CGTNSportsScene/status/1969327359984607623

So nice

And then some people still believe Olympics are not a big deal. It's everything for these guys

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

So nice

And then some people still believe Olympics are not a big deal. It's everything for these guys

Since this is an obvious dig at me, I'll bite.

They are a big deal. Because EVERY competition is a big deal. It is the way so many people place the Olympics on a pedestal above other events that gets me so angry. Because by doing that, you are belittling those athletes that do not get to compete at them (which is particularly galling because the IOC is artificially keeping the number of participants down for financial reasons). And you are belittling achievements that were achieved at other events.

There are lots of cases of athletes that have won multiple European and World Championships in their sport, but the media aren't interested in them because they haven't won the Olympics. That is not right.

It is this giving precedence to the Olympics that turned me off them.

We should be giving recognition to all competitions. Not just the Olympics.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[4everchan]

Since this is an obvious dig at me, I'll bite.

They are a big deal. Because EVERY competition is a big deal. It is the way so many people place the Olympics on a pedestal above other events that gets me so angry. Because by doing that, you are belittling those athletes that do not get to compete at them (which is particularly galling because the IOC is artificially keeping the number of participants down for financial reasons). And you are belittling achievements that were achieved at other events.

There are lots of cases of athletes that have won multiple European and World Championships in their sport, but the media aren't interested in them because they haven't won the Olympics. That is not right.

It is this giving precedence to the Olympics that turned me off them.

We should be giving recognition to all competitions. Not just the Olympics.

CaroLiza_fan

It wasn't personally aimed at all I let the athletes decide for themselves which events are more meaningful to them.

 

[Dpbthomas1]

Controversy? There's controversy?

But yes, I have been baffled by the choice to send them and remain baffled. They're so new and it's a lot of pressure on a young team that frankly is still struggling in some places.

I agree. Wondered why Chan/Howe weren’t sent.

 

[lariko]

I am more curious why France still didn't develop succession in pairs. It's been a while since the notable scandal, and they only
have 3 entries in jgp

 

[4everchan]

I am more curious why France still didn't develop succession in pairs. It's been a while since the notable scandal, and they only
have 3 entries in jgp

their juniors are promising

 

[labgoat]

I agree. Wondered why Chan/Howe weren’t sent.

The discussion on this can be found here

B

Thread '2025-26 U.S. Pairs Figure Skating'

Jun 30, 2025

Recreating this thread as the previously created thread for the new season was lost due to technical issues.

International Selection Pool (ISP) for U.S. Junior and Senior Pairs:

Saya Carpenter and Jon Maravilla
Emily Chan and Spencer Howe
Nica Digerness and Mark Sadusky
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov
Olivia Flores and Luke Wang
Sofia Jarmoc and Luke Witkowski
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea
Milada Kovar and Jared McPike
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman
Addyson McDanold and
Aaron Felberbaum
Juliet Meek and Devin Meek
Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano...

• BlissfulSynergy
• Replies: 505
• Forum: Skate of the Nations

 

[TallyT]

We should be giving recognition to all competitions. Not just the Olympics.

We can, but we can't make other people - not the public, not the press, not the skaters. I do understand where you are coming from, but for a niche sport... it is what it is.

 

[jersey1302]

I was very impressed with the Armenian team. Good on them. They need to work on skating the second half and be not so timid. Excellent throw jumps

 

[Skater Boy]

To be fair, whatever American team was sent was a bit of a crapshoot. But I did expect them to come through and certainly not do this poorly. On the other hand they don't have a lot of top eleigible teams. Still it must be hard to know you had a chancced and you weren't even close..

 

[Budapest2006]

I am more curious why France still didn't develop succession in pairs. It's been a while since the notable scandal, and they only
have 3 entries in jgp

Pairs have never been a thing in France under new system. What we had in 2018 was almost the best French pair ever and tbh, was a bit unexpected at this level. It was an exception. But we have always had only a few pairs.

Add to the mix a bunch of injuries, early end of careers and splits and this explains the current situation

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Pairs have never been a thing in France under new system. What we had in 2018 was almost the best French pair ever and tbh, was a bit unexpected at this level. It was an exception. But we have always had only a few pairs.

Add to the mix a bunch of injuries, early end of careers and splits and this explains the current situation

Perhaps the new French pairs team, Wessenberg/ Strekalin will fare well.

The most historically famous French pairs team are from the 1920s to early 1930s, Andrée Joly Brunet & Pierre Brunet (they were a married couple, similar to the Kovalevs). The Brunets won three Olympic medals (bronze in 1924; gold in 1928 and in 1932). Plus, a European championship in 1932, and four World championships, along with a silver at Worlds.

The next most decorated French pairs team are Vanessa James & Morgan Ciprés (seven French National championships, multiple GP medals, one GPF championship, one European championship in 2019, along with a bronze in 2017, and a 2018 World bronze). Vanessa also won a bronze at 2022 Worlds with Eric Radford, for Canada. In addition, Vanessa shared early pairs success for France (if not major podium placements) with Yannick Bonheur; they competed together at the 2010 Olympics.

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, there was also Sarah Abitbol and Stéphane Bernadis. They won bronze at 2000 Worlds.

In the men's FD thread, someone mentioned that Geynish/Chigirev who repped Uzbekistan, are rumored to have split, which would make the Kovalevs next in line to get an Olympic spot in individual pairs. Reportedly, the Kovalevs are already slotted to compete for France in the Team competition.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Wow, this weekend has been a marathon. I have lost sleep, so I'll have to catch up today. I didn't watch all of the early groups in the women's event. I still have to watch ice dance FD, but I'll probably skip the early groups. Pairs and men are my favorites, so I watched both in full except for the first two groups in the men's fp, which I might catch up with later.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Mark Hanretty commented after Audrey/ Balazs' fp about how much respect he gives to Audrey & Balazs for how they conducted themselves. For sure, they have worked hard, they have improved, and they should feel encouraged by their hard work. Hanretty went on to say, "They secured the representation for America based on the Champs Camp and the criteria. Beyond that they had then been beaten by some other American teams, and I saw a whole lot of debate as to why they were selected for this event. I saw it, and they must have felt the debate about their participation... They have come out and held their heads up high and did their best and can now go back with renewed determination to fight at U.S. Nationals." Ted Barton added, "And this opportunity is not their fault. They earned their spot, and they came out and did the best they could..." Hanretty then said, "For those watching, back your teams, give them support, give them positive reinforcement, so that they'll feel good and you can see the best results."

Fans can and do root for the teams they care about. Dedicated fan support is never a slam dunk for seeing skaters' "best results."
I'm sure Ted and Mark believe they are being complimentary in an effort to put a positive frame on things. Yes, that's part of their job. But what they said overly simplifies a complicated set of circumstances. Plus, in a way, what they said positions Audrey & Balazs not only as "amazing humans who handled themselves well," but also as piled-upon 'poor things' who "did the best they could." There will never not be debate in figure skating. No athlete should allow themselves to be deflated by fan debate. Anyone who allows themselves to feel down about debate and fan critiques will always have a hard time. Debate and questioning is a normal response to U.S. figure skating's unclear, clueless way of going about making the Beijing selection. Champs Camp is not a public event. The so-called 'criteria' was seemingly last-minute and after-the-fact. Why wouldn't results at John Nicks factor into the selection? USfigsk also poorly managed the third pairs selection for Worlds 2024, so I hope they don't botch how they handle it for Worlds 2026!

Audrey's fans were excited about her switch to pairs and many fans have supported the Audrey/ Balazs partnership and have positively looked forward to their development as a team, despite the questionable factors surrounding how they were paired. They made good progress at 2025 U.S. Nationals, and should have been allowed to build on that progress, instead of being rushed to show good results at 4CCs. Unfortunately, S/N experienced a blowout at 4CCs and had to regroup. It takes time for new partnerships to develop. U.S. fed should learn to practice more patience instead of pressing for quick results. No one 'blames' Audrey & Balazs for being sent to Beijing. The questions are squarely about U.S. fed's faulty decisionmaking. Bottom line: many fans and podcasters did not highly rate the U.S.'s chances of securing a third Olympic spot for pairs, especially when Sui/ Han announced a comeback, and when it was believed that a top Russian pair might qualify to compete for a spot. As it turned out, of course, two junior teams (one recently turned senior) from Japan and China ended up being favored. Plus, a young Russian team qualified to rep Armenia. Had U.S. fed used better reasoning and desired to truly fight for the spot, it made good sense to send a more experienced pair in McBeath/ Parkman, despite the still pending citizenship issue. McB won bronze at John Nicks, beating Shin/Nagy, Akopova/ Rahkmanin, et al.

There's no guarantee M/B would have won a third spot in Beijing, but they certainly had a greater fighting chance to do so, especially perception and results-wise, aside from the existing politics that obviously favored the Chinese and Japanese teams. While A/R skated better in Beijing on a superior ice surface than they did on the rinky dink in NYC at John Nicks, Nagaoka/ Moriguchi did not show their strongest results in Beijing, albeit they were still popularly favored and said to have improved under their new, Russian coaches. When Miura/ Kihara retire, N/M will obviously be championed to take their place.

 

[FlossieH]

@BlissfulSynergy there is still a possibility that the US could end up with a third pairs spot. Pairs is the category with the least certainty with regard to countries actually being able to use their spots. There are strong rumours that the Uzbek pair have split, which would give their spot to the Kovalevs and the USA would then become the third reserve. There are also questions about whether the Dutch fed will allow Danilova/Tsiba to go. At the moment, they are putting extra requirements in their way. A lot of countries only have one senior pair. If the Uzbek and Dutch spots end up going to the Kovalevs and Holichenko/Darenskyi, then it would only take injuries to two pairs from countries without replacements for the USA to get a third spot. Georgia, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Australia, Poland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ukraine (replacement) and Czechia (replacement) each have just the one senior pairs team. Japan only has two senior pairs teams, and two spots to fill. I would put the USA's chances of securing at third spot at around 25%.

I actually feel sorry for Audrey Shin. With Chelsea Liu having been a fan favourite, and Audrey having replaced her in the partnership with Balazs Nagy, there are a lot of fans who will always hate Audrey simply because she isn't Chelsea. I have never really understood this aspect of US fandom, but anyone who is perceived to take the place of a favourite gets absolutely lynched by the US mob. It happened to Vincent Zhao at the last Olympics, and Adam Rippon before that. I suspect that Sarah Everhardt will get the same treatment if she ends up with an Olympic spot instead of either Amber Glenn or Isabeau Levito. US fans seem to love to destroy certain skaters, rather than getting behind those who have been selected to represent the country. Audrey seems to have already become a scapegoat.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Thanks @FlossieH. I actually heard more specifics about the Uzbekistan pair from the Skating Session podcast on YouTube. I will link it here:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

In this first day of Beijing coverage episode, the hosts, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu, explain that Chigirev decided to retire. Geynish wants to continue and she's considering partnering with Marco Zandron, but the citizenship issue would prevent them from attending the 2026 Olympics together as a pair. So, if Geynish was able to find a partner who has Uzbekistan citizenship, then maybe the earned Olympic spot could still be used, but that sounds like a longshot. So, there's a lot that's yet to be figured out.

Ice dance RD is discussed prior to pairs sp in this Skating Session episode, but it's worth listening to for many reasons, including Wheeler's former prescient observation from 2010 about how the Olympic selection process and entries limit, for pairs and ice dance especially, would eventually lead to a country or countries unfairly missing out on earned Olympics spots. It happened to U.S. pairs in 2017, in the lead-up to 2018 Olympics, where two spots were earned but only one spot was available for the U.S. in pairs.

 

[ramurphy2005]

@BlissfulSynergy there is still a possibility that the US could end up with a third pairs spot.

Nope, the only chance was getting the top 3.

Spots that are reallocated can only go to countries that are not qualified and not yet represented.

 

[Seven Sisters]

I actually feel sorry for Audrey Shin. With Chelsea Liu having been a fan favourite, and Audrey having replaced her in the partnership with Balazs Nagy, there are a lot of fans who will always hate Audrey simply because she isn't Chelsea. I have never really understood this aspect of US fandom, but anyone who is perceived to take the place of a favourite gets absolutely lynched by the US mob. It happened to Vincent Zhao at the last Olympics, and Adam Rippon before that. I suspect that Sarah Everhardt will get the same treatment if she ends up with an Olympic spot instead of either Amber Glenn or Isabeau Levito. US fans seem to love to destroy certain skaters, rather than getting behind those who have been selected to represent the country. Audrey seems to have already become a scapegoat.

I think Audrey has made excellent progress in learning pairs. I was impressed that she landed that last throw jump in the LP—the throw looked like it was going all kind of sideways, but she saved it.

They just need time and experience working with each other. We certainly can debate if this was the right assignment to help them gain it, but I think they will eventually do just fine.

 

[Budapest2006]

Thanks @FlossieH. I actually heard more specifics about the Uzbekistan pair from the Skating Session podcast on YouTube. I will link it here:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

In this first day of Beijing coverage episode, the hosts, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu, explain that Chigirev decided to retire. Geynish wants to continue and she's considering partnering with Marco Zandron, but the citizenship issue would prevent them from attending the 2026 Olympics together as a pair. So, if Geynish was able to find a partner who has Uzbekistan citizenship, then maybe the earned Olympic spot could still be used, but that sounds like a longshot. So, there's a lot that's yet to be figured out.

Ice dance RD is discussed prior to pairs sp in this Skating Session episode, but it's worth listening to for many reasons, including Wheeler's former prescient observation from 2010 about how the Olympic selection process and entries limit, for pairs and ice dance especially, would eventually lead to a country or countries unfairly missing out on earned Olympics spots. It happened to U.S. pairs in 2017, in the lead-up to 2018 Olympics, where two spots were earned but only one spot was available for the U.S. in pairs.

I'm sure he has good reasons for this, but it is so .... unexpected to retire few months before Olympics once you put so much efforts and sacrifices to get Olympic qualification and actually earned it.....

Uzbekistan does have a few male skaters, not many but most are too young, or not trained to pair skating, or simple doesn't have the level yet to reach TES in time so indeed it is almost certainly impossible for them to use the spot....

Maybe they hope for Chigirev to change his mind, or they managed to find a russian skater with Uzbek background (for faster citizenship change) good enough to go, if not I wonder why they haven't already released the quota

 

[ajingmarg]

Thanks @FlossieH. I actually heard more specifics about the Uzbekistan pair from the Skating Session podcast on YouTube. I will link it here:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

In this first day of Beijing coverage episode, the hosts, Tony Wheeler and Thomas Vu, explain that Chigirev decided to retire. Geynish wants to continue and she's considering partnering with Marco Zandron, but the citizenship issue would prevent them from attending the 2026 Olympics together as a pair. So, if Geynish was able to find a partner who has Uzbekistan citizenship, then maybe the earned Olympic spot could still be used, but that sounds like a longshot. So, there's a lot that's yet to be figured out.

Ice dance RD is discussed prior to pairs sp in this Skating Session episode, but it's worth listening to for many reasons, including Wheeler's former prescient observation from 2010 about how the Olympic selection process and entries limit, for pairs and ice dance especially, would eventually lead to a country or countries unfairly missing out on earned Olympics spots. It happened to U.S. pairs in 2017, in the lead-up to 2018 Olympics, where two spots were earned but only one spot was available for the U.S. in pairs.

Uzbekistan can just give out citizenship. It's not a problem