2025-26 U.S. Ice Dance News, Updates & Discussion - Backstreet Boys & Spice Girls

[Sylvia]

Katarina W. just posted a group photo of the 1 Junior team (Fugate twins are on the far left) and 4 Senior teams (Koncius/Shchepetov, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Bratti/Somerville, Green/Parsons) going to Nationals with Tanith (Greg Zuerlein is not pictured/could still be on holiday, I assume):

Katarina Wolfkostin on Instagram: "Training with the best people this Christmas ❤️🎄 We’re grateful for the past year and looking forward to nationals in two weeks!!"

katarinawolfkostin on December 26, 2025: "Training with the best people this Christmas ❤️🎄 We’re grateful for the past year and looking forward to nationals in two weeks!!".

www.instagram.com

 

[canbelto]

I noticed all the MIDA teams have removed Charlie from their bios as a coach.

Charlie's also scrubbed Tanith from all his pictures on Insta.

 

[Wyliefan]

This is just so sad.

 

[LilJen]

And the answer to the RD change is....the Shibs, according to the US Championships bios linked by @Sylvia on Twitter: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/...rts.com/documents/2025/12/19/athlete_bios.pdf

Their music is now identified as "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai.

I swear if they come out in curly blonde wigs, jeans and "Vote for Pedro" shirts and do whatever the hell they want I may be forced to love them forever, even if Alex is an abusive jerk.

 

[azcalder]

NBC Connecticut 3-min video of/article on Aboian/Veselukhin that includes brief comments by coaches Gregory/Petukhov (Dec. 23-24, 2025): https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/olym...r-hope-to-make-olympic-team-for-2030/3679204/

Veseluhkin actually spent 12/2022-12/2023 partnering with Jane Calhoun in Colorado Springs prior to teaming up with Aboian in Connecticut.

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ The CT reporter did mention that Veselukhin came "from Russia to Connecticut by way of Colorado" in the video story which also brought up the fact that both he and Denis Petukhov are from Kirov.

I came across this 26.5-minute Fox29 Philly news video from a few days ago:

Good Day Uncut: Philadelphia Skating Club

Hank Flynn hits the ice, paying a visit to the Philadelphia Skating Club, the first in the US.

www.fox29.com

Hank Flynn of "Good Day Uncut" is funny to listen to as he reacts to the skating he sees and is introduced to different skaters, including 3 ice dance teams, at the Philadelphia Skating Club in Ardmore. Coaches interviewed on camera included Russ Witherby, Robbie Kaine, Slava Uchitel (Julia Epps/Blake Gilman in Junior and Anna Waugh/Matthew Jacoby in Novice), and Nick Buckland starting at 17-minute mark (Katherine Li/James Zhu in Novice) - the latter 2 ice dance teams are headed to U.S. Nationals.

Upcoming international assignments also are mentioned by the coaches - Epps/Gilman will compete at next month's Sofia Trophy and then Junior Worlds (now representing Israel) and Li/Zhu will have their 2nd Adv. Novice assignment to Bavarian Open (Buckland mentioned at 19:19 that "they are going to compete in Germany at the beginning of February"). Katherine also spoke on camera about their best friends (Angela Yang and Sean Kay) who had died in the plane crash 11 months ago and how they are memorialized on their NDT red jackets, as pictured in this Ice-Dance.com article (Sept. 29, 2025):

Li & Zhu Carry the Dream Forward – Ice-dance.com

www.ice-dance.com

During the Championships back in January, the “campers” had watched some of the events in their red jackets from assigned seats directly in front of the media. The laughter and excitement of the young fans was contagious and ignited the cheering crowd. The jackets were a reminder of happier days.
“Karen and James wanted to do something to honor their teammates,” noted their mother. “I suggested we add words to the red jackets – ”Carry the Dream Forward”.
“This is very important. Angela and Sean worked so hard. They were very dedicated to ice dance. They spent hours on the ice because they had a big goal. They wanted to achieve a very high level.”

 

[just tuned in]

^ Hank Flynn is kind of an idiot, sorry to say. The kids are much smarter.

 

[Cpomfan]

Charlie's also scrubbed Tanith from all his pictures on Insta.

I won’t go into details, but based on what I’ve been told, it’s hard for me to feel much sympathy for him. I feel for Tanith

 

[Flip Jump]

I won’t go into details, but based on what I’ve been told, it’s hard for me to feel much sympathy for him. I feel for Tanith

Based on my sources and without sharing details, I feel the same way. I am glad to see what appears to be support and love from her skaters based off of the sweet Christmas photos Katarina posted.

 

[carriecmu0503]

The MIDA website is now down, saying it is under construction…..

 

[Cpomfan]

The MIDA website is now down, saying it is under construction…..

To be fair, it has been for quite a while

 

[PRlady]

Damn it, I was a big Charlie fan. It’s one thing that most of the guys I picked when I was younger were piles of problems, but skaters? I’m not even dating them.

 

[Aceon6]

Damn it, I was a big Charlie fan. It’s one thing that most of the guys I picked when I was younger were piles of problems, but skaters? I’m not even dating them.

The only difference between them and fans is the public discussion of how f’d up many of us seem to be.

 

[Andrea82]

In the USFS bio he's not. The

OMG It looks like the divorce talk is indeed real. Pretty big news going into the Olympics.

She filed for it on 18th September according to the records of Oakland County court.

Court Explorer

It is case number 2025-538132-DM

 

[ice coverage]

Zingas/Kolesnik and Carreira/Ponomarenko talk about achieving U.S. citizenship and about on-ice progress and goals:

‘Now It’s On Us To Do Our Job On The Ice’
Ice dance teams in full control of their Olympic fate
12/29/2025 10:30:00 AM

‘Now It’s On Us To Do Our Job On The Ice’ - U.S. Figure Skating

Heading into the Olympic season, the biggest question surrounding two of the top U.S. ice dance teams wasn't levels, scores, or medals. It was paperwork.

usfigureskating.org

 

[ice coverage]

I don't know whether Sylvia already made note in Kiss and Cry, but junior dancers Annie Huang/Simon Mintz (fifth in novice at 2025 Nats) have been added to Nats practice groups.
(Apparently replacing Effie Chen/Gordei Chitipakhovian?)

 

[Sylvia]

I don't know whether Sylvia already made note in Kiss and Cry

I hadn't noticed it until you posted so thank you! Yes, Huang/Mintz have replaced Chen/Chitipakhovian:

JUNIOR ICE DANCE
Group A: Grace Fischer and Luke Fischer, Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner, Annelise Stapert and Maxim Korotcov, Aneta Vaclavikova and William Lissauer
Group B: Jane Calhoun and Mark Zheltyshev, Michelle Deych and Ryan Hu, Sophia Feige and Wiles Middlekauff, Clara Fugate and Warren Fugate
Group C: Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin, Marian Carhart and Denis Bledsoe, Effie Chen and Gordei Chitipakhovian, Anaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo

Junior Ice Dance Group C now reads: Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin, Marian Carhart and Denis Bledsoe, Annie Huang and Simon Mintz, Anaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I don't know whether Sylvia already made note in Kiss and Cry, but junior dancers Annie Huang/Simon Mintz (fifth in novice at 2025 Nats) have been added to Nats practice groups.
(Apparently replacing Effie Chen/Gordei Chitipakhovian?)

Oh no I really enjoyed them at the Dance Final

 

[Sylvia]

2026 ISU Four Continents Championships (Jan. 21-25 in Beijing) preliminary entries were published online today and the USFS is being allowed to submit their entries & subs after Nationals (FD is on Saturday, Jan. 10).

All 15 ice dance teams currently scheduled to compete at 2026 Nationals have the 2026 4CC minimum CTES of 85 (the 3 teams selected for the Olympic team will bypass 4CC):

Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES USA 128.43
Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO USA 117.08
Emilea ZINGAS / Vadym KOLESNIK USA 115.28
Caroline GREEN / Michael PARSONS USA 112.50
Emily BRATTI / Ian SOMERVILLE USA 109.85
Oona BROWN / Gage BROWN USA 108.53
Eva PATE / Logan BYE USA 105.80
Leah NESET / Artem MARKELOV USA 104.08
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 102.96
Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Dimitry TSAREVSKI USA 102.92
Amy CUI / Jonathan ROGERS USA 102.40
Elliana PEAL / Ethan PEAL USA 100.86
Raffaella Adele KONCIUS / Alexey SHCHEPETOV USA 96.21
Vanessa PHAM / Anton SPIRIDONOV USA 94.92
Isabella FLORES / Linus Colmor JEPSEN USA 94.25

(First alternates Caroline MULLEN / Brendan MULLEN scored 83.18 CTES at their Senior international debut at the 2025 Lake Placid IDI.)

ETA: 2026 Worlds minimum CTES is 98.

 

[Sylvia]

9 of the 12 Junior teams currently scheduled to compete at 2026 Nationals have the 2026 Junior Worlds CTES of 71 (U.S. has 3 spots; dates are March 3–8 in Tallinn):

Hana Maria ABOIAN / Daniil VESELUKHIN USA 93.86
Jasmine ROBERTSON / Chase ROHNER USA 85.47
Jane CALHOUN / Mark ZHELTYSHEV USA 83.56
Grace FISCHER / Luke FISCHER USA 80.33
Annelise STAPERT / Maxim KOROTCOV USA 78.86
Michelle DEYCH / Ryan HU USA 78.79
Sophia FEIGE / Wiles MIDDLEKAUFF USA 72.46
Clara FUGATE / Warren FUGATE USA 72.28
Anaelle KOUEVI / Yann HOMAWOO USA 72.15

Aneta VACLAVIKOVA / William LISSAUER (new this season) - she last competed internationally for SVK on Feb. 9, 2025;
Olivia ILIN / Dylan CAIN 78.77 have taken this season off due to her injury/surgery.