2026 Olys Pairs SP PBP - Veni, Vidi, Wedgie

[marbri]

Now to keep expectations realistic. Did the men not, overall, have a very good SP competition as well?

 

[rfisher]

60's bouffant hairdo's FTW!

Have you seen old films of Moskvina and Mishin? That's exactly what she had.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Kam and O'Shea have been such a breath of fresh air this entire Olympics. I know they're not going to win, but I know they're going to enjoy every second of their experience.

I am so impressed with them. Him particularly. I think he is a fantastic male pairs partner. Very considerate and looks after her. Bit like a big brother.

 

[Asli]

The scoring system punishes twice for lots of things -- e.g., flutzes or underrotations -- with reductions in both base value and GOE.

There has been a reduction in both base value and GoE. OTOH the judges are supposed to mark what they see and not what the skaters had intended to do, so for example if a skater does a fully rotated triple when he intended to do a quad but puts a hand down, he's marked for a triple with a hand down and he doesn't get a deduction for a downgraded quad as well.

I don't see how this isn't -3 for "serious problems in the descent of the lift" plus -1 to -3 for "poor turns by man and/or stops in rotation" plus "-1 to -2" weak landing to net out at -5 to -8 off the starting GOE, which could be a maximum of two.

It wasn't a case of poor turns or stops though. It looks like his right elbow got unlocked and that's it.

Anyway, I hope all the skaters recover before tomorrow evening!

 

[rfisher]

I am so impressed with them. Him particularly. I think he is a fantastic male pairs partner. Very considerate and looks after her. Bit like a big brother.

(don't ask Tarah Kayne )

 

[Aussie Willy]

(don't ask Tarah Kane )

Can I ask what the story is?

 

[rfisher]

Can I ask what the story is?

Let's just say the partnership didn't end amicably. Now, Tarah had other issues so their relationship may not reflect who Danny is today which is what's important.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Let's just say the partnership didn't end amicably. Now, Tarah had other issues so their relationship may not reflect who Danny is today which is what's important.

Thanks

 

[Badams]

It's not cool to smear Danny O'Shea because a former partner had issues with their coaching team. The fact that he stood by her and left the situation should not ruin his reputation. I'm sorry that Tarah had struggles, but they were not caused by Danny O'Shea.

 

[rfisher]

It's not cool to smear Danny O'Shea because a former partner had issues with their coaching team. The fact that he stood by her and left the situation should not ruin his reputation. I'm sorry that Tarah had struggles, but they were not caused by Danny O'Shea.

No, but she thought he was part of the problem. As I said, that was her perspective and may not have reflected his reality.

 

[kwanfan1818]

It was because of a post on her Substack she wrote in recent years slamming him IIRC without naming him outright. The stuff I tried to find is limited to paid subscribers, which I'm not, and I'm not linking it, because I can't confirm which one it is.

 

[Prancer]

No, but she thought he was part of the problem. As I said, that was her perspective and may not have reflected his reality.

Danny had some problems back then, too .

 

[Badams]

I just absolutely love Danny O'Shea. Please don't ruin him for me.

 

[Private Citizen]

People can and do change. 10+ years ago, Danny O'Shea had a DUI and was on probation. It's clear he had some issues at the time. Plenty of people have issues. It seems he has moved forward with his life in a positive way. Hopefully perception is reality and he learned important lessons from his experiences.

 

[CantALoop]

How about an Eteri witch?

Nyet! Absolutely not Eteri - do you want to make things even more cursed??

With everything we’ve seen in dance and men’s, we might need more than Etsy witches smudging with sage smoke.

There is only one ESTA with her MAGICK SILK CUT CIGARETTES who can undo the black mark of Tarasova and Usova-level cursedness we’ve experienced so far

 

[Sylvia]

Popping in to post the results, just in case:

1 Q HASE Minerva Fabienne / VOLODIN Nikita GER 80.01 43.91 36.10 9.07 9.14 8.93 0.00 #19
2 Q METELKINA Anastasiia / BERULAVA Luka GEO 75.46 41.45 34.01 8.50 8.46 8.61 0.00 #16
3 Q PEREIRA Lia / MICHAUD Trennt CAN 74.60 42.20 32.40 8.04 8.32 8.00 0.00 #9
4 Q PAVLOVA Maria / SVIATCHENKO Alexei HUN 73.87 41.34 32.53 8.18 8.07 8.21 0.00 #12
5 Q MIURA Riku / KIHARA Ryuichi JPN 73.11 38.14 34.97 8.93 8.57 8.79 0.00 #18
6 Q SUI Wenjing / HAN Cong CHN 72.66 39.28 33.38 8.43 8.46 8.21 0.00 #2
7 Q KAM Ellie / O'SHEA Danny USA 71.87 38.81 33.06 8.32 8.39 8.14 0.00 #14
8 Q CONTI Sara / MACII Niccolo ITA 71.70 37.22 34.48 8.68 8.71 8.54 0.00 #17
9 Q CHAN Emily / HOWE Spencer Akira USA 70.06 39.00 31.06 7.89 7.86 7.61 0.00 #5
10 Q GHILARDI Rebecca / AMBROSINI Filippo ITA 69.08 38.29 30.79 7.79 7.86 7.50 0.00 #13
11 Q HOCKE Annika / KUNKEL Robert GER 67.52 37.72 29.80 7.36 7.54 7.50 0.00 #10
12 Q AKOPOVA Karina / RAKHMANIN Nikita ARM 66.27 38.16 28.11 6.89 7.00 7.25 0.00 #1
13 Q VAIPAN-LAW Anastasia / DIGBY Luke GBR 66.07 36.99 29.08 7.36 7.32 7.18 0.00 #11
14 Q STELLATO-DUDEK Deanna / DESCHAMPS Maxime CAN 66.04 34.97 32.07 8.18 7.93 8.00 1.00 #15
15 Q CHTCHETININA Ioulia / WOZNIAK Michal POL 65.23 36.58 28.65 7.11 7.39 7.04 0.00 #8
16 Q KOVALEV Camille / KOVALEV Pavel FRA 64.65 35.99 28.66 7.32 7.11 7.11 0.00 #4
===
17 DANILOVA Daria / TSIBA Michel NED 64.07 36.87 27.20 6.71 6.86 6.89 0.00 #6
18 GOLUBEVA Anastasiia / GIOTOPOULOS MOORE Hektor AUS 60.69 32.85 27.84 7.04 6.93 6.96 0.00 #3
19 NAGAOKA Yuna / MORIGUCHI Sumitada JPN 59.62 31.46 30.16 7.68 7.25 7.75 2.00 #7

Protocols: https://results.isu.org/results/sea...------QUAL000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf

 

[MINAM]

I enjoyed Hase/Volodin. The last group all had small (and sometimes big) mistakes.

Miura/Kihara post-SP interview:
Kihara: Um, well, it wasn't an "acceptable/good" mistake. I don't know what happened. Well, things happen. Despite a huge mistake, we were able to keep the scores above 70. Ah, so we're 5th. 3rd group. (he looked really deflated here) Do our best tomorrow. Look forward and deliver. It's not over. There are things we can do.

Miura: (on the mistake on the lift) I can't say much since we haven't checked the video. We just didn't know what had happened. All I can say now is that it was not what we were always doing. Lifts are done under the timing of two skaters. I think it went a little bit off. That's why it failed.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

There's Canadian rage?

We channel it into hockey brawls, knitting, curling f-bombs and standing ovations.

 

[fsfann]

Just a question for those of you who know more than I do about how scoring happens. Deanna & Max's lift vs. Riku/Riyuichi.

D&M completed hte lift and botched the landing. They received mainly -3 & -4 GOEs with a few -5s.. Total score on the lift was 4.4 (plus the 1 point deduction for the fall).

M&K botched the lift part way through and it came down. The lift was not completed. They received -2, -3s, -4s and a couple -5s. Their total score on the lift was 3.9.

I realize that the lift was downgraded.... but I'm not understanding how a completely botched lift could still get GOEs of -2 and -3s.... while a lift that was fully completed, with a fall on dismount would be more harshly penalized on GOEs...

Can someone explain? Or is it just the World Champion "boost" that the Japanese benefited from?

 

[Coco]

But they were deemd to have completed an L2 lift, which makes all the difference. Only 0.8 points less than an L4 lift.

Because Deanna fell, and it was deemed to have happened on an element, I would have thought that was mandatory -5, but apparently not. Is that new?

The two teams ended up with virtually the same GOE factor, -3.7, but with different base values.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Because Deanna fell, and it was deemed to have happened on an element, I would have thought that was mandatory -5, but apparently not. Is that new?

A fall doesn't necessarily mean an automatic -5. You start with the GOE you would have given the element if completed successfully then apply the reduction. A fall means you cannot be positive GOE but you don't have to be -5. So a judge could have been giving a +3 if completed without error, then apply the reduction which can take it back to -2.

It is in this communication - page 11.

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Transparency/ISU-Communications/2701-SP-Levels-and-GOE-Season-2025-26-1745584466-4032.pdf

 

[Coco]

Thanks for that.

Last comment for the night: how crazy that there are only 6.38 points between 2nd and 10th!!!

 

[Aussie Willy]

Thanks for that.

Last comment for the night: how crazy that there are only 6.38 points between 2nd and 10th!!!

That is crazy.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Just a question for those of you who know more than I do about how scoring happens. Deanna & Max's lift vs. Riku/Riyuichi.

D&M completed hte lift and botched the landing. They received mainly -3 & -4 GOEs with a few -5s.. Total score on the lift was 4.4 (plus the 1 point deduction for the fall).

M&K botched the lift part way through and it came down. The lift was not completed. They received -2, -3s, -4s and a couple -5s. Their total score on the lift was 3.9.

I realize that the lift was downgraded.... but I'm not understanding how a completely botched lift could still get GOEs of -2 and -3s.... while a lift that was fully completed, with a fall on dismount would be more harshly penalized on GOEs...

Can someone explain? Or is it just the World Champion "boost" that the Japanese benefited from?

D&M had a fall which is a -5 reduction. R&R whilst they had issues, it probably became a poor position or problem with the lift which can be anywhere between -1 to -3. A judge that applied a -5 would have applied a couple of reductions and others maybe used one of the reductions.

I haven't judged a lot of pairs (we just don't have that many here) so it is one of the areas that I am bit hazy on with judging.

 

[Lanie]

...

Henry Cavill grew up on the island I now live on. I've never met him but a lot of people I know have a selfie on their phone with him - when he visits he goes out in town and is apparently very friendly

I'm sure Luke would be delighted by the compliment

Mini and I met him like ten years ago and he was so sweet! I pretended I didn’t know who he was

A friend of mine went to college with his wife/fiancee/whatever.

I fell asleep once we got back from Pompeii and missed all this thank God for FSU PBP. So bummed for Deanna and Max but happy it seems like a mostly good pairs SP!

 

[Theatregirl1122]

In the final position while the Woman is performing the actual deathspiral, both the Man and the Woman must execute a minimum ofone (1) revolution with the knees of the Man clearly bent and in fullpivot position. For a possible higher Level, the Man should stay in alow pivot position. The Woman simultaneously must skate on a clean edge with her head close to the ice surface, however she must not touch the ice with her head or assist herself with the free hand or anypart of the body. The Woman’s body weight is supported by the forceof the spiralling edge and the hold of the Man. The Man must be in acentred position with a fully extended arm. Any kind of position iscounted as a feature if Skaters’ hold lasts for at least one continuousrevolution.

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isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net

This rule has been around for some time.

I heard Sandra mention it but I wasn't watching it at the time. When Kurt said it got a L4 she surmised they maybe didn't she it then.

That doesn't say it's a deduction though? It says it's a possible reduction in level, which did not happen, but that's not a deduction.

 

[Icetalavista]

I want to get a shock collar and shock Tara every time she calls GOE extra credit.

And when she says throw jumps are the length of a bus

 

[Sylvia]

Meagan's Pairs SP recap (9.5 mins.):

Meagan Duhamel on Instagram: "Pairs short. 2026 Milan. Disagreements? Trent and Lia should be second. Sui and Han getting the 4th highest lift score. Shocks? 2 gold medal contenders out of the final group (Riku and Ryiuchi and Sara and Nic)."

413 likes, 24 comments - meaganduhamel on February 15, 2026: "Pairs short. 2026 Milan. Disagreements? Trent and Lia should be second. Sui and Han getting the 4th highest lift score. Shocks? 2 gold medal contenders out of the final group (Riku and Ryiuchi and Sara and Nic).".

www.instagram.com

 

[~tapdancer~]

I agree with Meagan that P/M should be second. They were better in every way than the Georgians. Glad the score is so close.

 

[MacMadame]

Now to keep expectations realistic. Did the men not, overall, have a very good SP competition as well?

It's completely expected for there to be more problems in the FS compared to the SP since it's twice as long and has way more jumps/throws/lifts. Skaters who can get through a 2 min SP may have stamina issues in the FS. Skaters with inconsistent jumps/throw/lifts may be able to get through the few in the SP cleanly most of the time, but more elements mean more opportunities for things to go wrong.

I don't know why people are constantly surprised that there are more falls in the FS.