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

[Stephanie]

I assume there was also pressure and/or expectations from USFS for them to go to help earn spots for US pairs teams next year. Maybe they felt they couldn’t say no to USFS in order to stay in their good graces.

 

[Sylvia]

Haven and Brandon were pretty successful in seniors with a national title

And a Junior World title in 2013.

Junior international careers for many pairs often are developmental and long-term partnerships from Junior (and lower levels) to Senior (Denney/Frazier, Martins/Bedard) are rare. Jenni Meno started pairs when she was 19, for example, when she paired up with Scott Wendland and Todd Sand later.

Sorry if my comment sounded snide, my point was not to demean any pairs who have not stuck together, just to say that if this or any junior team were to split as some seem to be hinting could be happening

Apologies if I appeared to be hinting that I know anything definitive about the future of Flores/Wang - I don't.

Sometimes it seems amazing to me that any teams stay together at all.

Yup!

 

[Rukia]

I assume there was also pressure and/or expectations from USFS for them to go to help earn spots for US pairs teams next year. Maybe they felt they couldn’t say no to USFS in order to stay in their good graces.

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking. I mean sure, they could turn it down, but it's a worlds competition (even if junior) and they could have been getting pressure from the fed. Or maybe it felt like a good idea at the time and then they got into changing programs and realized it was not as chill as they had first thought it would be. Things change quickly sometimes.

I don't have any insight into whether they'll stay together or not. I just don't think junior worlds was any indicator yes or no.

 

[Sylvia]

CBS Colorado interview with Ellie & Danny (March 2):

Gold medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea get big welcome home in Colorado: "You sacrifice so much to get to that moment"

Olympic City's newest celebrities are back home in Colorado with new hardware. Just weeks after competing at the Games, Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea are already back on the ice and others at the rink are eager to see them.

www.cbsnews.com

Also on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd9tw3BDrWM

Ellie's father, Dr. Ben Kam was interviewed by Hawaii New Now (he grew up there) after U.S. won the team event gold medal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VIX0XIeXIo

 

[Sarah]

Danny/Ellie are out of worlds

Danny O'Shea on Instagram: "We’ve made the tough decision to withdraw from World Championships next week. The team has been dealing with an injury and after a lot of conversation, we both agreed that prioritizing health and giving the U.S. team the s

368 likes, 9 comments - dannyoshea213 on March 16, 2026: "We’ve made the tough decision to withdraw from World Championships next week. The team has been dealing with an injury and after a lot of conversation, we both agreed that prioritizing health and giving the U.S. team the strongest path...

www.instagram.com

 

[skatfan]

Kam and O’Shea out of worlds:

Danny O'Shea on Instagram: "We’ve made the tough decision to withdraw from World Championships next week. The team has been dealing with an injury and after a lot of conversation, we both agreed that prioritizing health and giving the U.S. team the s

383 likes, 9 comments - dannyoshea213 on March 16, 2026: "We’ve made the tough decision to withdraw from World Championships next week. The team has been dealing with an injury and after a lot of conversation, we both agreed that prioritizing health and giving the U.S. team the strongest path...

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Emily Chan/Spencer Howe are listed on USFS' International Assignments and Results page as Kam/O'Shea's replacements:
Kam/O'Shea (withdrawn 3/16)
Chan/Howe (added 3/16)

Shin/Nagy were the first alternates and must have declined.

 

[Tinycities]

Shin/Nagy were the first alternates and must have declined.

Audrey has also deleted all the posts featuring both of them on IG, except for one from golden spin and they are no longer following each other. I’m guessing they’ve split.

 

[Karen-W]

Emily Chan/Spencer Howe are listed on USFS' International Assignments and Results page as Kam/O'Shea's replacements:
Kam/O'Shea (withdrawn 3/16)
Chan/Howe (added 3/16)

Shin/Nagy were the first alternates and must have declined.

Audrey has also deleted all the posts featuring both of them on IG, except for one from golden spin and they are no longer following each other. I’m guessing they’ve split.

I have to agree with @Tinycities assessment. She had an IG story over the weekend that featured her doing solo jumps and a rather vague comment that alluded to making the best of things. I can't recall the exact wording but I did find it curious and wondered if Balazs had dumped her - which has certainly become an established pattern with him, IMO.

 

[HeatherC]

Bummed for Ellie & Danny's withdrawal but I'm happy that Spencer and Emily get to compete at Worlds.

 

[Private Citizen]

Have Chan and Howe been training? We've all been assuming (perhaps wrongly!) that the Olympics were it for them as a team, and I can't imagine they'd have expected the second alternates would be called upon.

It's a shame about Shin and Nagy. He's a great skater but seems to be living up to his reputation. The extra pressure from the USFS obviously favoring them, and then backtracking, hasn't helped either, I'm sure.

 

[Sarah]

Have Chan and Howe been training? We've all been assuming (perhaps wrongly!) that the Olympics were it for them as a team, and I can't imagine they'd have expected the second alternates would be called upon.

They did make a comment about next season which shocked me. But, I hope they knew Danny/Ellie were likely to withdraw and maybe were more aware of Shin/Nagy than the rest of us?

 

[Karen-W]

I presume they've been training some since they did Ice Chips and are signed for SOI. Hard to say how much they've been training their competitive programs, though I'd guess the USFS probably has kept all of the interested parties informed.

 

[VGThuy]

I guess we’ll find out. How exciting.