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

[just tuned in]

Booo! He was good with McBeath.

 

[PRlady]

Not knowing much about pairs. Can someone explain what Daniel gets in trading existing partners for another ex-singles skater?

 

[Ross H]

Starr Andrews & Daniil Parkman are official!

Starr☆ on Instagram: "New chapter. New discipline. Same love for the ice ⛸️ Excited to officially announce my partnership with Daniil Parkman! I can’t wait to see where this journey will takes us! Honored to be working with Brandon Frazier and the T

18K likes, 483 comments - starrandrews on May 11, 2026: "New chapter. New discipline. Same love for the ice ⛸️ Excited to officially announce my partnership with Daniil Parkman! I can’t wait to see where this journey will takes us! Honored to be working with Brandon Frazier and the Todd and...

www.instagram.com

Glad to see this confirmed! It also shows that a lot of the rumors/engagement farming floating around the internet are false.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Outwardly, Katie and Daniil looked like a good team. I wonder why they broke up.

 

[BittyBug]

Her post includes several clips - one of an off-ice lift, another of an on-ice lift, SBS jumps and a death spiral - all look really good for a brand-new to pairs skater and team.

Exactly what I was thinking - she is a quick learner! I’m excited to see how they progress.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

Mc Beath is 31yo but her jump consistency was no longer there. Her 3F used to be huge but she could barely land them last season.
Starr is younger than Parkman and can do 3S, 3T-3T, 3Lo in her sleep. It was impressive to see her go for lutz and flips this season.
Parkman can probably still land all triples and potentially a 3T-3T.
On paper, Andrews-Parkman could do 2 olympic cycles or break up after their first nationals.

 

[BlueRidge]

Good luck to Starr! I think going to pairs is a good move. I look forward to seeing them.

 

[Belsornia]

Not knowing much about pairs. Can someone explain what Daniel gets in trading existing partners for another ex-singles skater?

Star(r) power?

She’s got the it factor, and Katie just doesn’t.

(I hope Katie also finds a new partner - who isn’t Balasz Nagy - if she’s looking to continue.)

 

[Karen-W]

Star(r) power?

She’s got the it factor, and Katie just doesn’t.

(I hope Katie also finds a new partner - who isn’t Balasz Nagy - if she’s looking to continue.)

If US Pairs are going to keep playing musical partners, I'd rather see Katie with Danny O'Shea.

 

[Tinycities]

Looking forward to seeing Starr and Daniil. I won’t deny that some of their pairing up feels USFS influenced. I’m expecting them to get pushed like Shin/Nagy even with some more experienced pairs in the mix.

I want to see more of Liu/Bedard.

 

[mtnskater]

Will Parkman be a citizen by the next Winter Olympics? Would love to see Starr make a U.S. Olympic team. She looks soooo tiny next to him. They do look great already in the clips they shared. Getting that triple twist level 3-4 will likely be the hardest element for her to master. I’ll be excited to follow their development!

 

[Tinycities]

Will Parkman be a citizen by the next Winter Olympics? Would love to see Starr make a U.S. Olympic team. She looks soooo tiny next to him. They do look great already in the clips they shared. Getting that triple twist level 3-4 will likely be the hardest element for her to master. I’ll be excited to follow their development!

Unless he’s had a green card for a few years it’s unlikely. I think I remember someone saying he only recently got it.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I'm glad she didn't pick Nagy. But those clips Starr posted. She must've started learning pair moves before she ended her singles career. I wish her the best as I do all our other American pair skaters.

 

[miffy]

I am so excited for Starr and Daniil! I love it when we get new pairs skaters. Yes they might take a bit longer to get the highest levels on twist, death spiral, etc, but already they look so good.

I can tell I’m going to be one of those annoying uber-fans already. Sorry in advance everyone

 

[skatfan]

Her post includes several clips - one of an off-ice lift, another of an on-ice lift, SBS jumps and a death spiral - all look really good for a brand-new to pairs skater and team.

She looks fabulous in the lift and their sbs Sals are perfectly timed. No throw jump, which is probably the hardest for new teams.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I want to see more of Liu/Bedard.

They are still together and there’s been changes. And I’m looking forward with them making some new announcements . They’re my favorites.

 

[skylark]

They are still together and there’s been changes. And I’m looking forward with them making some new announcements . They’re my favorites.

what changes?

 

[terisa]

I'm looking forward to seeing how they work together! On to 2030 O's!!!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

what changes?

Not my business to tell, they will tell I guess when they put it on their socials or are ready.

I only even replied in the first place, because somebody brought them up. I love them. I can’t wait to see their twist again. I think two grand prix assignments will be theirs.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The Runthrough’s latest episode summary is

“ The end of LaLa, the beginning of Starkman (we don't know we just made it up)”

 

[Karen-W]

The Runthrough’s latest episode summary id

“ The end of LaLa, the beginning of Starkman (we don't know we just made it up)”

It works!

 

[skylark]

Not my business to tell, they will tell I guess when they put it on their socials or are ready.

I only even replied in the first place, because somebody brought them up. I love them. I can’t wait to see their twist again. I think two grand prix assignments will be theirs.

I love them too. They both look really happy to be skating together and are very tender and respectful to each other.

Go Chelsea and Ryan!

 

[ChillSkate]

I'm surprised Starr chose to partner with Parkman given he is very unlikely to get citizenship by 2030 (unless she marries him soon I guess, lol).

I feel sad for Katie McBeath. I remember how THRILLED she was when she & Daniil won the Silver at the 2025 Nationals. I distinctly remember her on the medal stand jumping up and down and so full of joy over her first Nationals medal.

I hope she finds another partner if she chooses to continue. I wonder if there is any chance she could partner with Max Fernandez.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm surprised Starr chose to partner with Parkman given he is very unlikely to get citizenship by 2030 (unless she marries him soon I guess, lol).

I feel sad for Katie McBeath. I remember how THRILLED she was when she & Daniil won the Silver at the 2025 Nationals. I distinctly remember her on the medal stand jumping up and down and so full of joy over her first Nationals medal.

I hope she finds another partner if she chooses to continue. I wonder if there is any chance she could partner with Max Fernandez.

She's too tall for Max.

 

[ChillSkate]

She's too tall for Max.

Really? According to Google, she is 5 foot 1 inch and Max is 5 foot 7 inches and a 6 inch height difference is the same as Cain & Le Duc, Hase & Volodin, and ConMac.

It's just idle speculation in any case, I feel Max is better than the results he's been able to achieve with Valentina.

 

[PRlady]

Daniil is 27. It’s now or never, and with all the breakups and retirements and partner switches, real and rumored, I’m sure he wants to go to Worlds and maybe next Olys if he has his green card. I don’t blame him for wanting a more charismatic partner but the whole Audrey Shin experience demonstrates that the technical pair knowledge is really important.

 

[Karen-W]

Daniil is 27. It’s now or never, and with all the breakups and retirements and partner switches, real and rumored, I’m sure he wants to go to Worlds and maybe next Olys if he has his green card. I don’t blame him for wanting a more charismatic partner but the whole Audrey Shin experience demonstrates that the technical pair knowledge is really important.

Danny O'Shea is 35, so it seems possible that Daniil has at least a couple of Olympic cycles in him should he not have his passport by 2030.

 

[PRlady]

Danny O'Shea is 35, so it seems possible that Daniil has at least a couple of Olympic cycles in him should he not have his passport by 2030.

But Danny is kind of an outlier, right? I mean neither Brandon nor Chris nor Tim nor Nate made it that long, jury is out on Misha.

 

[haribobo]

So as it stands right now...def will change...send corrections, just trying to make sense of it

1 Efimova/Mitrofanov
2 Liu/Bedard
3 Plazas/Fernandez
4 Shin/Howe (or no?)
5 Andrews/Parkman

TBD- some conglomeration of O'Shea, Nagy, McBeath, Stellato, Chan, Kam, Flores, and Wang

 

[Karen-W]

So as it stands right now...def will change...send corrections, just trying to make sense of it

1 Efimova/Mitrofanov
2 Liu/Bedard
3 Plazas/Fernandez
4 Shin/Howe (or no?)
5 Andrews/Parkman

TBD- some conglomeration of O'Shea, Nagy, McBeath, Stellato, Chan, Kam, Flores, and Wang

The only person who has announced that Shin/Howe are forming a new partnership is Dave Lease, so take that for what it's worth.

At this point Chan/Howe and Kam/O'Shea are still intact.

Really? According to Google, she is 5 foot 1 inch and Max is 5 foot 7 inches and a 6 inch height difference is the same as Cain & Le Duc, Hase & Volodin, and ConMac.

It's just idle speculation in any case, I feel Max is better than the results he's been able to achieve with Valentina.

There's no way Max is 5'7" - there are plenty of 5' and 5'1" pairs girls out there and I know their team has talked about how difficult it was for him to find a partner who was short enough.