2025-26 US Pairs Discussion - Milano-Bound By Way of Beijing & St. Louis

VGThuy said:
This was juicy. I enjoyed reading every moment of this,
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I 100% agree! And I thank you, @Karen-W, for writing it and giving me a chance to re-experience my feelings of outrage ... and my convictions ... about the USFS pushing ShiNagy at the expense of the teams who were outperforming S/N and much more deserving. Like VGThuy said, your post was juicy. And it was all very accurate.
 
Wyliefan said:
BRB, going to look up his height and Starr's ...
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Uhm... No.

Stylistically, I can't see them being a good match. Plus, he is a few years younger than her. His DOB is Feb 11, 2005, so he has 2 more seasons of junior eligibility. He probably needs a somewhat experienced junior pairs girl. If he's interested in moving to LA then both Sonia Baram and Ellie Korytek spring to mind. Addyson McDanold (Chicago) is also on IPS searching for a partner, so she could be a good option too.
 
Karen-W said:
Uhm... No.

Stylistically, I can't see them being a good match. Plus, he is a few years younger than her. His DOB is Feb 11, 2005, so he has 2 more seasons of junior eligibility. He probably needs a somewhat experienced junior pairs girl. If he's interested in moving to LA then both Sonia Baram and Ellie Korytek spring to mind. Addyson McDanold (Chicago) is also on IPS searching for a partner, so she could be a good option too.
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I think he lives in L.A.? He was training with Jon Cassar but may have moved when he stopped skating for awhile.
 
Sylvia said:
Beck has been training with LA Elite Ice (Cassar) and Starr's group in Lakewood, CA for the past few years.
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Gotcha.

Well, I still don't think he and Starr would be a good match stylistically, plus he does have the junior eligibility left.
 
PRlady said:
I hope he’s lifting weights, I remember him as very slender.

But any and all experiments in US pairs are welcome, I don’t see anyone in seniors lasting til 2030. Either age, injuries or citizenship will do most of them in.
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I guess we'll see. Apart from KamO, all of them are young enough for another Olympic cycle; and apart from McBark, all of them have or should have citizenship by 2030.
 
For those who can't view Instagram stories:

Beck answered my question :) - What qualities are important to you in an ideal pairs partner? "Creativity and a great work ethic !"

Do you have a favorite pair couple? If so, who? "Sui/Han and Gordeeva/Grinkov my goats"

What made you decide to pick pairs over ice dance? "Jumping is fun !"

Will you be doing juniors or seniors when you switch to pairs? "I'll be starting in junior!"

Do you hope to carry your creative costume and makeup looks into pairs? Diva! "I wouldn't be caught dead in a boring costume."

ETA: Since Beck turned 21 last month, he currently is ISU Junior age-eligible in pairs through the 2027-28 season. An ISU Junior age-eligible partner in the coming season would not yet have turned 21 as of June 30, 2026.
 
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With S/N now seeming to have broken up if K/O and C/H also call it quits the US will really have no depth in Pairs for the next few years. Ironically the top 2 teams coming back will be the teams that were ineligible to go to the Olympics.
 
Congrats to Jessica Calalang and Zack Sidhu who were married yesterday in Escondido, CA! :) Sidhu was her second partner after Danny O'Shea (C/O placed 5th in Novice Pairs at 2010 Nationals). I had forgotten how long C/S were a team together - from August 2010 through 2018 Nationals (JGPs to 3 Grand Prix comps): https://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00012868.htm
From the Instastories I've seen so far, Alexa Knierim was one of the bridesmaids, and Megan Wessenberg, Jenni Meno & Todd Sand were among the guests. I'll post a few photos in the Weddings thread later.

ETA: Brian Johnson also was there, as well as Brandon Frazier (with Mariah) per Alexa's Instastories.
 
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Karen-W said:
How on earth did the USFS backtrack on them?

At no point during their two seasons together have ShiNagy beaten KamO, EfiMit, McBark or ChanHowe - not at any international comps where those teams faced each other nor at Nationals in 2025 or 2026. Despite that unavoidable fact, the USFS chose to send them to 4CCs in 2025 after they finished FIFTH while McBark, the silver medalists, were sent to the Road to Milano test event. At the time, it also seemed inexplicable as to why ChanHowe were passed over for 4CCs too but in retrospect we know it was because Spencer was headed off to basic training.

Then, the USFS used a CLOSED, simulated competition at Champs Camp to determine the Skate to Milano assignment instead of waiting until later in August - mind we sent teams to compete at Robin Cousins Cup the third week of August and only KamO skipped John Nicks IPC at the beginning of September. A decision that was questionable at the time given that PlaFern had only been back on the ice about 7-8 weeks and ChanHowe about 5 weeks. And, lo and behold, ShiNagy "won" this simulated competition "handily" according to Meagan Duhamel's leak to Dave Lease - though because it was a closed event no protocols were ever released and we'd just seen them the week before at Glacier Falls only manage a 170-ish score due to multiple errors.

Then after they LOST at John Nicks IPC to not only EfiMit, McBark, ChanHowe and the brand new team of LiuBed (meanwhile PlaFern also scored higher at their Challenger in Japan than ShiNagy did at John Nicks), the USFS still doubled down on sending them to Skate to Milano. Clearly McBark were ready to compete since they did Nebelhorn the week after Skate to Milano, though by then it didn't matter because ShiNagy failed to secure the third spot.

Oh, and based on the Champs Camp simulated competition, the USFS put their names down as filling the SkAm TBD host spot when the ISU deadline arrived in late September, even after they'd bombed badly at Skate to Milano, and kept them in that spot while giving them a 4th int'l assignment at IceChallenge to try and 1) earn the Worlds CTES mins (which they failed to do at GPdF but they did finally manage at this Sr B) and 2) beat ChanHowe's 193.70 posted at Trialeti Trophy. How embarrassing to then lose to that brand new team of LiuBed a SECOND time in two months. At that point, and only at that point, did the USFS "backtrack" by taking away the SkAm TBD host spot and giving it to ChanHowe - hard to argue since ShiNagy hadn't managed to beat ChanHowe's lowest score to that point in the season.

And yet, the USFS still tossed them the bone of a 5th int'l assignment (more than any other US pairs team this season) - Golden Spin - where they barely pipped past ChanHowe's then SB of 193.70 with a whopping 194.00 score; so they came into Nationals with a miniscule edge in that regard, but an even bigger edge because they clearly had the backing of some powerful figures within the USFS (Troy Goldstein & the SCoNY if Dave Lease is to be believed). And they had a fantastic SP that put them in the driver's seat - and not just because of ChanHowe's disastrous SP. They couldn't keep it together during the FS and the results were what they were.

They didn't beat any of the four teams who are clearly better right now, at this point in time, than they are. As a team, there was/is certainly potential there but there were obvious weaknesses with their triple twist, their spins (both SBS & pairs combo), their death spiral (which they had invalidated at least twice during the season), their throws (just as inconsistent as any other US pairs team), and even their FS program composition with a throwaway choreo sequence.

On paper alone, when they skated about as clean as can be expected (-.80 GOE on the SP throw; q & < on the SBS jumps in their FS) like they did at Golden Spin, they could still only muster a 194.00; meanwhile the other four teams ahead of them were scoring 200+ when mostly clean (EfiMit & KamO) and in the high 180s-low 190s range with major errors in at least one program (ChanHowe & McBark).

It's hard for me to feel like the USFS backtracked on them - more like the USFS jumped on their bandwagon WAY too fast and was still willing to ride that wagon even after 2026 Nats by naming them as Worlds 1st Alternates over ChanHowe. Most of us ChanHowe truthers weren't interested in litigating that slight since ChanHowe made the Olympic team & would at least have the opportunity to improve their SB & earn WS points in Milan, which they did. And ShiNagy were certainly in a good position even without the Worlds assignment, to get 2 GPs next season, so they would have continued to receive support & assistance from the USFS - hopefully with less pressure to deliver medals as they worked on improving those weaker pairs skills that cost them the Olympic spot this season (which is really what it boiled down to in the Nats FS - their GOE on most of their elements was as much the difference in losing to ChanHowe as that last lift which came down early).

Honestly, this feels like just another, repetitive chapter in the Balazs Nagy story - fails to have stunning success within the first two seasons of a new partnership & he takes off - maybe for greener pastures, maybe not - either way, he never sticks with a partnership long enough to go anywhere. He's talented but he's no Brandon Frazier or Danny O'Shea, both of whom skated for years with one partner before finding ultimate success & Olympic gold with their last partners.

As it is, there's lots of speculation floating around about who is available for Audrey (March 12, 2004), Starr (June 23, 2001) and, potentially, Ellie (Dec 20, 2004).

As far as I can tell/have read, the following pairs guys are in the market for partners -
Danny Neudecker - March 2, 1996
Mark Sadusky - February 19, 1998
Balazs Nagy - July 9, 1998
Timmy Chapman - September 25, 2000
Aaron Felberbaum - January 7, 2005
Jon Maravilla - February 5, 2005

Might be in the market?
Danylo Siianytsia - September 9, 2000

Should be in the market -
Keyton Bearinger (he's the stronger skater in his partnership with Linzy Fitzpatrick) - January 20, 1999

Personally, I'd love it if Audrey were to make the move do Detroit and learn better twist technique from Jim Peterson & Amanda Evora. The idea of Audrey & Keyton is an intriguing one to me. Who knows what Starr's plans are - if she wants to move to Colorado Springs then Sadusky could be a good option. I also wouldn't mind seeing the Oakton team (Chris, Alexa & Tim) taking on the development of a new senior team and Felberbaum has proven to be a pretty decent pairs guy as he's developed in juniors.
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Came across an interesting post going down the fstwt rabbit hole... the amount of opportunities S/N got last season over other more deserving teams was fishy but I guess we can gather why that happened now...

https://x.com/Sumi_S312/status/2034698355390259444
"Many have raised questions this season about how competition assignments/development opportunities are being decided in U.S. pairs skating. When personal relationships could influence selections, it’s vital that high-performance staff avoid any potential conflicts of interest."
HDyzXuIboAAGzXR
 
MiaClarke said:
Came across an interesting post going down the fstwt rabbit hole... the amount of opportunities S/N got last season over other more deserving teams was fishy but I guess we can gather why that happened now...

https://x.com/Sumi_S312/status/2034698355390259444
"Many have raised questions this season about how competition assignments/development opportunities are being decided in U.S. pairs skating. When personal relationships could influence selections, it’s vital that high-performance staff avoid any potential conflicts of interest."
HDyzXuIboAAGzXR
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Ehhhhh. They’ve been dating several years. One would think if they were a good match as a pairs team then they would have partnered up after he dumped Pavlova 4 years ago. Instead, he's gone through 2 other partners. If anything, I'd say Tarah recognizes that skating together more than recreationally would likely spell the end of their personal relationship.
 
I don't think the insinuation in the post preceding Karen's has anything to do with the idea of a K/N on-ice partnership?

(No comment from me on the post's actual [IMO] insinuation, which seems to be nothing more than speculation from one random fan who is on X.)
 
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