2026 US Nationals Pairs FS "Ghosted (by my triples)"

[BittyBug]

If Chan/Howe hadn’t had an absolute disaster short, along with a record of inconsistency going way back, I’d say that’s the way the cookie crumbles, send them. But it’s that rare occasion I agree with Johnny and Tara.

Danny has his own injury history. If Chan/Howe have to skate a TE segment and flub it, no one at USFS is going to be able to say they didn’t know.

The only reason the committee is even in the position of having to choose is because the U.S. failed to earn a 3rd spot, and while any other team might have flubbed the opportunity as well, the team that failed to get it done was Shin and Nagy. So I really don't see an argument for choosing them over Chan and Howe, who have higher season's best scores and beat Shin and Nagy at nationals, even if just by a hair.

 

[Vagabond]

One of the judges had Chan/howe in first??

https://x.com/skatingscores/status/2009807223229153494

Skating early gives an unfair advantage in PCS and GOE. Everyone knows this.

​

 

[ilovesalchows]

Chan and Howe have better pairs skills by a lot. Shin and Nagy have much lower scoring potential because of this. I don’t think Audrey’s better jumps make it up.

 

[her grace]

Alright then... With the conclusion of the Pairs event, here is who is in the Selection Pools for the Olympics, Worlds/4CCs and Jr Worlds -

Skater

Level

Age Eligible

ISU Min Score (91/75/63)

2026 U.S. Nats

GPF

GP/ JGP 1

GP/ JGP 2

GP/ JPG Highest

GP/ JGP Avg

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int 1

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int 2

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int Highest

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int Avg

Pairs Final (Top 2 in each Section JR/SR)

NQS Score (Top 2 in each Section JR/SR)

Prev Yr Final Number

Total

Chan, Emily/Howe, Spencer

S

Y

Y

186.52​

0.00​

187.40​

180.02​

187.40​

183.71​

183.22​

193.70​

193.70​

188.46​

0.00​

0.00​

0​

1545.01​

Shin, Audrey/Nagy, Balasz

S

Y

Y

185.10​

0.00​

173.30​

138.64​

173.30​

155.97​

179.25​

194.00​

194.00​

186.63​

0.00​

170.77​

0​

1528.65​

I don't see how Shin/Nagy could possibly get chosen over Chan/Howe if the decision is based on any data. Chan/Howe beat them in every head-to-head competition this season, had the higher nationals finish, have the higher WS, had the higher average scores, and had the higher placement in the GP this season.

Shin/Nagy earned their 4CC assignment and hopefully, they can be proud of that accomplishment.

 

[ilovesalchows]

And lest we forget, Shin and Nagy are the reason Shin and Nagy don’t have a spot.

 

[Carolla5501]

The US Olympic team selection fantasy is getting pretty entertaining

Let’s pick a team for the future because we know they’ll still be together in four years! us pair teams never break up or anything so if we send them now, they’ll be really good in four years because they’re going to get better and get all their triples.

Or magically Congress will reconvene today and produce citizenship for skaters that don’t qualify for a passport because Johnny asked them to

 

[PRlady]

All I’ll say is that all that reviewing and lowering of levels for Shin/Nagy reminded me of what happened to the Swedish dance team in Beijing. And even the big C/H fans admit they were overmarked in the short program for that disaster. Take away that microscopic review and C/H’s grade inflation and they lose to S/N. And maybe P/F as well.

There are no good choices absent a miracle passport for Aliza. So be it.

 

[Sarah]

All I’ll say is that all that reviewing and lowering of levels for Shin/Nagy reminded me of what happened to the Swedish dance team in Beijing. And even the big C/H fans admit they were overmarked in the short program for that disaster. Take away that microscopic review and C/H’s grade inflation and they lose to S/N. And maybe P/F as well.

There are no good choices absent a miracle passport for Aliza. So be it.

I pretty much agree with everything here. I don’t think I’m a S/N fan (maybe one day? Not yet) and C/H leave me cold. C/H leave me cold. I liked them back in 2022 but since then? I can’t get into them. They don’t connect to each other. Spencer connects to the audience but I don’t see anything between them. I think C/H were over scored in both programs and so in the end, I think USFS can send whoever and it would be fair.

As for the Olympic qualifier, that’s on USFS. They sent S/N. They failed to qualify. But for all we know C/H imploded. Or said they didn’t want the spot (maybe Spencer wasn’t available with his army stuff). And whoever they sent would be torn apart if they didn’t qualify. On any given day it could have been any team… just use last night as proof. The qualifier happened. It’s also proof that we don’t actually need 3 spots. Let’s be happy with 3 spots for worlds.

My team was P/F (and always will be) and obviously that didn’t happen. But I’ll be delusional and hope one day…

 

[Karen-W]

The only reason the committee is even in the position of having to choose is because the U.S. failed to earn a 3rd spot, and while any other team might have flubbed the opportunity as well, the team that failed to get it done was Shin and Nagy. So I really don't see an argument for choosing them over Chan and Howe, who have higher season's best scores and beat Shin and Nagy at nationals, even if just by a hair.

Far be it from me to ever give anyone a reason to argue on behalf of ShiNagy for the 2nd spot but they actually have the higher SB.

ShiNagy - Golden Spin - 194.00
ChanHowe - Trialeti - 193.70

Mind, the field at Trialeti was much deeper/tougher than the one at Golden Spin, and ChanHowe have beat ShiNagy in BOTH of their public head-to-head match-ups (John Nicks and Nats), plus ChanHowe have the higher average score from the Challenger/Sr B assignments, more points in the Selection Pool Calculation, and a higher current season World Ranking, but ShiNagy do have the teensiest of edges in highest SB score.

Also, a lot of people are arguing that ShiNagy have the edge on scoring trends because of that Golden Spin score & the fact that their scores kept going up from September through the end of the fall season whereas ChanHowe were trending downward. I'm not sure how much weight I give to that data point though, for a couple of reasons.

1) ChanHowe's starting score from John Nicks was 183.22 and their low, at the end was 180.02 from SkAm, with scores of 193.70 at Trialeti and 187.40 at NHK. So, their scores stayed in a fairly narrow window and their lowest score came on a week they were competing back-to-back with travel from Japan to Lake Placid thrown into the mix. If they'd had any other 2nd GP assignment, it seems reasonable to conclude they probably would have scored higher than they did at SkAm. Additionally, that low score came at a GP and we know that scores from the GP tend to be more strict than at Challengers & other senior Bs.

2) ShiNagy started with a 170.77 at Glacier Falls, then 167.xx at John Nicks, dropped to 158.xx at the OQE, then rose to 173.40 at GPdF, 179.25 at IceChallenge and finally that 194.00 at Golden Spin. Yes, there is a clear upward trajectory, but even discounting the horror score that is that 158.xx from Skate to Milano, they still started with a much lower score than ChanHowe at the same competition, so it was almost impossible for them to NOT improve their scores as the season wore on, and it still took them until Golden Spin to post a score that was better than ChanHowe's LOWEST season score. And their only GP score is 6.5 points lower than ChanHowe's lowest score from the GP. The scoring range for ShiNagy is a LOT bigger than ChanHowe's and that Nats FS demonstrated exactly why this is the case.

We'll see what the Pairs Subcommittee values when the decision is announced, but it's tough for me to see much of an argument beyond "future potential" and that's not something that usually moved the needle in past decisions. It's really hard to argue with the results from two head-to-head match-ups this season, IMO.

 

[Private Citizen]

All I’ll say is that all that reviewing and lowering of levels for Shin/Nagy reminded me of what happened to the Swedish dance team in Beijing. And even the big C/H fans admit they were overmarked in the short program for that disaster. Take away that microscopic review and C/H’s grade inflation and they lose to S/N.

The very long delay before Shin and Nagy's scores also doesn't seem great from an optics perspective. Like the judges were cooking the books so that the team that lost the third spot doesn't take it away from someone else. Perhaps they were.

OTOH, the judges potentially cheating or smoking crack is not part of the selection criteria, so I think the committee must go with Chan and Howe, however much some may not like it. (And I'm with them.)

I will begrudingly admit that Chan and Howe are a better team who deserve to score better at this point in time, and I boldly predicted they'd come from behind to earn an Olympic berth. That said, their performances for the past year-plus have had an "over it" vibe to them, like they're going through the motions and half-retired already.

If I were on the selection committee, I'd vote to send only one team and open up a spot for another country that has a pair who wants it more. This would make me just as popular as my various other opinions, I'm sure.

 

[her grace]

All I’ll say is that all that reviewing and lowering of levels for Shin/Nagy reminded me of what happened to the Swedish dance team in Beijing. And even the big C/H fans admit they were overmarked in the short program for that disaster. Take away that microscopic review and C/H’s grade inflation and they lose to S/N. And maybe P/F as well.

USFS allowed Shin/Nagy to finish 2nd in the SP and then USFS decided to drop them in the LP? If they were being held down, they would have gotten lower marks and calls throughout the event, e.g., Tennell. Their TES only dropped 2.5 points in the FS review BTW.

Chan/Howe’s TES dropped around 3 points in the FS, too. Was the fix in then as well?

 

[Karen-W]

In real time as they were skating, ShiNagy had a LOT of elements marked for review. It takes some time to review all of them and for the judges to revise their own GOE marks if necessary. What is necessary in a situation like that is for there to be competent commentators who can point out to the viewers at home what the tech panel is looking at to help everyone understand why ShiNagy might wind up losing to ChanHowe overall.

 

[Carolla5501]

In real time as they wre skating, ShiNagy had a LOT of elements marked for review. It takes some time to review all of them and for the judges to revise their own GOE marks if necessary. What is necessary in a situation like that is for there to be competent commentators who can point out to the viewers at home what the tech panel is looking at to help everyone understand why ShiNagy might wind up losing to ChanHowe overall.

Competent commentators for figure skating and NBC are incompatible.

 

[honey]

Both C/H and S/N have issues. C/H can’t jump and S/N aren’t cooked yet. Her jumps are also not rotated a lot of the time.

Overall Emily and Spencer are to me the clear superior team if we were comparing to well skated programs against each other. When I factor in the C/H jump issues and the scoring potential internationally for S/N even with landed jump, I feel either team is going to place about the same, so I’d send C/H. I don’t find S/N to be particularly strong at any element right now. Everything is competent for the most part, but they don’t skate as a pair and they look exactly like what they are. A team in their second season in which one of the partners is new to pairs.

I don’t see this as being a particularly hard choice for USFS. They will go with who placed higher at nationals. And if there are some people in the room who are inclined to be on team S/N I think they themselves being the reason the U.S. doesn’t have a third spot to begin with would shoot down those arguments pretty quickly.

 

[haribobo]

Honestly Gracie is better than all of the senior commentators, and more fun. Also, its crazy watching Canadian Nationals and hearing KMT's detailed explanations vs. what we get a lot of the time.

Shin/Nagy need to work on speed and getting around the rink in a more regal and impressive way. Something is really missing with this team right now.

 

[PRlady]

Shrug. All the same to me, I’ve never ubered a pair team and am not going to start now. Dance is where I get all passionate and irrational. To a non-pair fan, it did look like the judges were determined to keep C/H ahead despite that truly awful short (let’s face it, if there was a pairs cutoff at Worlds they probably wouldn’t have made it.) But hopefully C/H won’t be needed in the TE and it won’t matter.

 

[her grace]

I think the lack of an expert pairs commentator hurts. Those of us who follow singles and former singles skaters as commentators notice jump/throw errors more easily than pairs elements errors.

On Peacock, Wagner noted that S/N had a level one twist, but not what the problem was. I don’t think she identified the lift errors in any detail as well. A commentator like KMT would have been able to explain better (at least if NBC production would allow).

 

[acraven]

The pairs FS press conference had some interesting moments, including these (I'm heavily paraphrasing):

- Efimova and Mitrofanov were asked whether defendinf the title was different. Efimova acknowledged that it was and said they hoped to use the experience on the international level. That didn't sound as if she has plans to run off to medical school in the near future.

- In response to a different question, McBeath implied they plan to continue.

- There was a somewhat surprising question from a reporter representing The Telegraph about display of a Transgender Flag in the arena. He wanted to know how the skaters felt about that. I don't believe the flag was displayed during the senior pairs event. I think the skaters were a bit puzzled about the question, and there was a pause before anyone answered. O'Shea stepped in gracefully and supportively, though he responded more from the standpoint of what the flag might mean to the person displaying it rather than what I viewed as an intent to support skaters. Kam then added succinctly and forcefully: "Skating is for everyone."

- O'Shea gave a detailed explanation in response to a question about why the pairs discipline isn't as popular as the other in the US, mentioning what he sees as progress in development of the discipline over the last two quads. He specifically acknoledged USFS efforts, including bringing in partners from other countries--which I thought was gracious, considering two of those partners were on the platform with him.

No one asked about Kam and O'Shea's plans beyond this year or the existence/status of Parkman's citizenship quest.

There was more; I recommend finding time to watch this press conference.

- YouTube

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[clairecloutier]

My immediate reaction last night was that the judging in the FS was very on point and accurate. I went back and reviewed Chan/Howe's and Shin/Nagy's free skates again today, comparing them with protocols, just to re-check that impression. Having done so, I am satisfied that the judges got this right.

Calls and GOE on lifts, death spirals, spins, throws, and twist elements all look accurate and correct to me. The critical elements for Shin/Nagy were the twist and the third lift.

For the twist, Shin/Nagy had level 1 and a shaky landing for a total of 4.30, whereas Chan/Howe had a strong level 3 twist (lacking only the split) for a total of 7.08.

On the third lift (3LiB), Shin/Nagy came down early and got base level for a total of 2.70. Chan/Howe had an excellent closing lift (3Li4) which earned 6.78. One of Spencer's feet did lift slightly off the ice during one of the final turns in this lift. However, this did not affect the actual speed of the lift nor the dismount, which was smooth. So this was not something that should really have affected their GOE, and indeed it did not, as they received almost all +3s/+4s for the element.

Shin/Nagy were unable to make up enough ground on the SBS jumps because their SBS 3S received a Q and the first 2 jumps in the SBS 3S/2A/1A were called UR. We did not get a really good slo-mo look at these jumps in the NBC coverage. However, the hook on Audrey's 2A was visible to me in real time.

The other technical elements (3LoTh, 3STh/3FTh, 5ALi, 5RLi, BODS/FIDS, ChSeq, PCoSp) were more comparable between the teams, but Chan/Howe scored a little bit higher on each one. Those tenths and hundredths added up. The final tech score for Chan/Howe was 62.88 vs. Shin/Nagy 54.49.

Chan/Howe also had a PCS advantage of 64.35 to Shin/Nagy's 62.94, which I would attribute to better unison and basic partnering, as well as better carriage/posture on Emily's part.

In general, it bears remembering that the lifts are very important in the technical score, but really, every element is important.

The selection for the Oly team has been made at this point, so what will be, will be. However, I would just say that lower levels on pairs elements is what you typically would expect from a newer team like Shin/Nagy, and is not likely to suddenly become better in the next month. A lot of what experienced pairs teams build over the years is that ability to consistently hit all the difficult features in the pairs elements to max the base level and GOE. That's the advantage Chan/Howe had here, and will still have next month.

 

[BrightSkates]

The very long delay before Shin and Nagy's scores also doesn't seem great from an optics perspective. Like the judges were cooking the books so that the team that lost the third spot doesn't take it away from someone else. Perhaps they were.

OTOH, the judges potentially cheating or smoking crack is not part of the selection criteria, so I think the committee must go with Chan and Howe, however much some may not like it. (And I'm with them.)

I will begrudingly admit that Chan and Howe are a better team who deserve to score better at this point in time, and I boldly predicted they'd come from behind to earn an Olympic berth. That said, their performances for the past year-plus have had an "over it" vibe to them, like they're going through the motions and half-retired already.

If I were on the selection committee, I'd vote to send only one team and open up a spot for another country that has a pair who wants it more. This would make me just as popular as my various other opinions, I'm sure.

Everybody keeps saying that Audreys jumps make it up and while she is a better jumper you have to remember how many underotated jumps she did. I dont think she landed a clean triple this whole nationals. That explains why they were cooking so long, they were reviewing those underrotates as well as twist should have been marked lower since it was also under.

 

[jlai]

Audrey’s jumps were ur even when she did singles