USFS 2025-26 bye and advancement criteria

[ice coverage]

USFS website now has 2025-26 qualifying season's athlete bye and advancement criteria.
"All information is subject to change and based on current information and feasibility of live international competitions."

https://www.usfigureskating.org/sites/default/files/media-files/2026%20Qualifying%20Bye%20Advancement%20Criteria.pdf

Although the new document is similar to last season's, I noticed a few differences.

Challenger Series/International Competitions that count toward international byes to 2026 Nats:

all Challengers except Golden Spin​

Robin Cousins Cup (no dance offered), Aug 21-22, GBR​

Olympic Qualifying Event​

Tayside Trophy (no dance offered), Oct 11-12, GBR​

2025-26:
"Only athletes who are assigned and funded by U.S. Figure Skating to attend these competitions will be eligible for a bye.
Please note, participation at the following international competitions are not approved competitions for bye criteria: Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, Cranberry Cup (Junior), the Golden Spin of Zagreb, or any event that is considered a self-funded National Team opportunity."

[FWIW, a little change is that last season's document also said that John Nicks would not count for junior pairs, but this season's does not say so.]​

New for 2025-26, athletes with a medal "at any Olympic Winter Games (not including team event)" get a bye to Nats.

[Last season's old language was: "at the most recent Olympic Winter Games (not including team event)."]​

New language for 2025-26: "The U.S. Figure Skating High Performance Department and the International Committee will initiate a bye request for athletes who are assigned to and compete at an international assignment within close proximity to the NQS Finals."

[Although "close proximity" is undefined, I think it's the first time since 2019-20 season that the document has had any language regarding conflict/schedule byes. I am not saying that conflict/schedule byes have not been given since then; I am saying that I think the bye document had not had anything in writing in recent years.]​

 

[PRlady]

The “any Olympic medal” change will hereby be known as the Shibutani Bypass.

 

[Debbie S]

The “any Olympic medal” change will hereby be known as the Shibutani Bypass.

Yes, but it seems unnecessary, given that the Shibs' GP assignments are the week before and the week after the Dance Final and skaters in that situation have been given byes in the past. Plus I assume they will skate a Challenger in addition to their GPs, which would get them an int'l comp bye.

Unless the Shibs aren't doing a Challenger, which would be an odd strategy. Or USFS wants to make sure they get to Nats even if they have to WD from fall comps (in which case I would wonder if they even would or should compete at Nats).

 

[Karen-W]

New language for 2025-26: "The U.S. Figure Skating High Performance Department and the International Committee will initiate a bye request for athletes who are assigned to and compete at an international assignment within close proximity to the NQS Finals."

[Although "close proximity" is undefined, I think it's the first time since 2019-20 season that the document has had any language regarding conflict/schedule byes. I am not saying that conflict/schedule byes have not been given since then; I am saying that I think the bye document had not had anything in writing in recent years.]​

This is definitely new language, but I think it's good to include it as that has been really murky the last several seasons.

Challenger Series/International Competitions that count toward international byes to 2026 Nats:
all Challengers except Golden Spin
Robin Cousins Cup (no dance offered), Aug 21-22, GBR
Olympic Qualifying Event
Tayside Trophy (no dance offered), Oct 11-12, GBR

So, looking over the document more closely, I do have one question regarding which events apply for Pairs and which do not. Both Lombardia & Warsaw Cup are designated Challengers this year, however the CS designation does not apply to the Sr Pairs events at these competitions. I think Warsaw Cup cancelled their Sr Pairs competition last year due to a lack of entries, but Lombardia has always held a Sr Pairs competition, regardless of whether or not it has a Challenger designation. So, I'm wondering if the USFS is going to count the Sr Pairs events at those competitions toward the international byes minimum. It would make sense, because only half of the Challengers have a Pairs comp and they're clearly aiming at giving pairs teams more international competitive opportunities to get the discipline to parity with the number of international competitive opportunities available to the dance teams.

Dance -
Sr internationals - 15
Jr internationals - 7

Pairs -
Sr internationals - 14 (16 if Lombardia & Warsaw are included)
Jr internationals - 7

Singles -
Sr internationals - 18
Jr internationals - 9

 

[marshallpond]

So junior pairs is back to 8 from last year's 12 and junior ice dance is back to 10 from last year's 12.

 

[Karen-W]

So junior pairs is back to 8 from last year's 12 and junior ice dance is back to 10 from last year's 12.

Last year both Jr Pairs & Jr Ice Dance were originally 8 and 10 respectively. After the Pairs & Dance Finals, the USFS officially added a 3rd warm-up group and extended Nationals invitations to all of the pairs & dance teams who competed at the Finals.

At the Pairs Final, there were 9 jr teams competing, plus Flores/Wang had a bye due to qualifying for the JGPF, so there was already going to be 3 warm-up groups and it didn't make sense to cut just 1 team from the Pairs Final for Nationals, and we wound up with 10 teams total at Nats.

At the Dance Final, there were 11 jr teams competing, plus Peal/Peal had a bye due to qualifying for the JGPF, so, like Jr Pairs, there were already going to be 3 warm-up groups, and it didn't seem fair to cut 1 team from the Dance Final for Nationals. As it turned out, Pedersen/Starr split between the Dance Final & Nationals, so there wound up being 11 teams total at Nats.

Until we see how many teams make it to the Pairs & Dance Finals, plus see how many teams qualify for Byes, the USFS won't know if it is necessary to potentially expand the Jr fields.

 

[Karen-W]

Skaters/Teams who have Qualified for Byes and the # of Byes Available in Each Discipline -

Men - 18 spots maximum - Up to 6 International Byes available
2025 US Nats Top 5 - Malinin, Torgashev, Pulkinen, Naumov, Ma
2025 Worlds Team - Brown
Top 2 @ Eastern Sectionals - TBD
Top 2 @ Midwestern Sectionals - TBD
Top 2 @ Pacific Coast Sectionals - TBD

Women - 18 spots maximum - Up to 6 International Byes available
2025 US Nats Top 5 - Glenn, Liu, Everhardt, Tennell, Zhang
2025 Worlds Team - Levito
Top 2 @ Eastern Sectionals - TBD
Top 2 @ Midwestern Sectionals - TBD
Top 2 @ Pacific Coast Sectionals - TBD

Pairs - 12 spots maximum - Up to 7 International Byes available
2025 US Nats Top 5 - Efimova/Mitrofanov, McBeath/Parkman, Kam/O'Shea, Chan/Howe, Shin/Nagy

Dance - 15 spots maximum - Up to 9 International Byes available
2025 US Nats Top 5 - Chock/Bates, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Green/Parsons, Zingas/Kolesnik, Brown/Brown
2018 Olympic Ice Dance Bronze Medalists - Shibutani/Shibutani

Per the Bye Criteria Doc, if there are more skaters/teams who qualify for International Byes than Byes available, the hierarchy is as follows:

Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score GP
Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score JGP
Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score Challengers & B Int’ls

 

[bardtoob]

New for 2025-26, athletes with a medal "at any Olympic Winter Games (not including team event)" get a bye to Nats.

The “any Olympic medal” change will hereby be known as the Shibutani Bypass.

Yes, but it seems unnecessary, given that the Shibs' GP assignments are the week before and the week after the Dance Final and skaters in that situation have been given byes in the past. Plus I assume they will skate a Challenger in addition to their GPs, which would get them an int'l comp bye.

Unless the Shibs aren't doing a Challenger, which would be an odd strategy. Or USFS wants to make sure they get to Nats even if they have to WD from fall comps (in which case I would wonder if they even would or should compete at Nats).

And I thought it was USFS making this thread about Michelle Kwan

 

[Jarrett]

Yes, but it seems unnecessary, given that the Shibs' GP assignments are the week before and the week after the Dance Final and skaters in that situation have been given byes in the past. Plus I assume they will skate a Challenger in addition to their GPs, which would get them an int'l comp bye.

Unless the Shibs aren't doing a Challenger, which would be an odd strategy. Or USFS wants to make sure they get to Nats even if they have to WD from fall comps (in which case I would wonder if they even would or should compete at Nats).

Maybe Shibs are going to withdrawal and just show up at Nationals or maybe the Michelle Kwan comeback is here!

 

[kwanfan1818]

But Kwan is coming back in Ice Dance competing with her daughter. She wouldn’t be the first to carry her partner around the rink

 

[Karen-W]

But Kwan is coming back in Ice Dance competing with her daughter. She wouldn’t be the first to carry her partner around the rink

Where's a "groan" emoji when you need one?

 

[bardtoob]

Where's a "groan" emoji when you need one?

. . .

 

[peibeck]

The “any Olympic medal” change will hereby be known as the Shibutani Bypass.

Time for the KWAN COMEBACK!!!

 

[peibeck]

And I thought it was USFS making this thread about Michelle Kwan

I obviously should have read the whole thread before my comment above. ?

?‍

 

[TheOGSkateGuard]

Unless the Shibs aren't doing a Challenger, which would be an odd strategy. Or USFS wants to make sure they get to Nats even if they have to WD from fall comps (in which case I would wonder if they even would or should compete at Nats)

Not odd…idiotic. Given how start orders are determined, they need every possible point they can grab to have any hope for the Olympic podium. Dance is not singles.

My guess is to ensure Shibs don’t use some excuse to skip Nats, especially if fall goes poorly. (And in that case, other teams have already proven their worthiness for the Olympics and do not deserve to be passed over.)

Dance - 15 spots maximum - Up to 9 International Byes available
2025 US Nats Top 5 - Chock/Bates, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Green/Parsons, Zingas/Kolesnik, Brown/Brown
2018 Olympic Ice Dance Bronze Medalists - Shibutani/Shibutani

Per the Bye Criteria Doc, if there are more skaters/teams who qualify for International Byes than Byes available, the hierarchy is as follows:

Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score GP
Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score JGP
Highest-to-Lowest Best Total Score Challengers & B Int’ls

Well, this is chaotic. Does USFS realize 10 teams got GP assignments (these six, plus Wolf/Tsar, Bra/Som, Pate/Bye, and Nes/Mark)? Yikes, the battle between US teams this fall will be messy…because someone is going to end up at Dance Final.

 

[On My Own]

Singles hasn't been singles for the last several years either.

What was wrong with the pre-existing SkateGuard?

 

[TheOGSkateGuard]

Singles hasn't been singles for the last several years either.

What was wrong with the pre-existing SkateGuard?

Well, it is much easier to jump from the first warmup group to the podium in singles than it is in dance. Because triples and quads.

I was SkateGuard on this forum decades ago…long before blogs and social media and other stuff. But it’s been taken when I re-registered (with the same email, ironically).

 

[Karen-W]

My guess is to ensure Shibs don’t use some excuse to skip Nats, especially if fall goes poorly. (And in that case, other teams have already proven their worthiness for the Olympics and do not deserve to be passed over.)

Huh? If the fall goes poorly & the Shibs decide to skip Nats, I doubt the USFS is going to be upset given the depth of the US ice dance program in general. And I'm sure the USFS isn't worried about the Olympic-worthiness of teams like CarPon, GreenP and ZingKol. Ice dance politics being what it is, it's likely that our #3 team will finish just outside the top 10 in Milano-Cortina; but ice dance politics being what it is, it's also possible that all 3 US teams will finish in the top 10 in Milano-Cortina.

Well, this is chaotic. Does USFS realize 10 teams got GP assignments (these six, plus Wolf/Tsar, Bra/Som, Pate/Bye, and Nes/Mark)? Yikes, the battle between US teams this fall will be messy…because someone is going to end up at Dance Final.

Again, huh? There are 15 spots at US Nats. Six teams already have byes, which leaves 9 spots available for international byes. Who among WolfTsar, BraSom, PateBye and NesMark do you think will not get 2 Challengers to make up for the lack of a 2nd GP and therefore earn an Int'l Bye that allow them to bypass the Dance Final and go straight to Nats?

It's quite likely that the rising junior teams like the Peals and the Mullens will not get 3 Challenger assignments & therefore will have to compete at the Dance Final, same is true for newer/lower-profile teams like Pham/Spiridonov, Koncius/Shchepetov, and Cui/Rogers. And I'd bet hard cash right now that those 5 teams are the top 5 at the Dance Final & book their tickets to Nats. There's no shame in making it to Nats this way - and it certainly hasn't hurt teams from making inroads into the top 10 at Nats based off of strong Challenger results - see Flores/Desyatov, Morozov/Chen, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Zingas/Kolesnik, Bratti/Somerville in just this Olympic cycle alone.

 

[TheOGSkateGuard]

Again, huh? There are 15 spots at US Nats. Six teams already have byes, which leaves 9 spots available for international byes. Who among WolfTsar, BraSom, PateBye and NesMark do you think will not get 2 Challengers to make up for the lack of a 2nd GP and therefore earn an Int'l Bye that allow them to bypass the Dance Final and go straight to Nats?

I read your post as 15 spots, 9 byes available, six already taken by the top 5 + Shibs= 3 byes for 4 teams.

Of course the four who got 1 GP will get the CS assignments to allow for the international bye…my understanding was that it was going to come down to tiebreak because I didn’t realize that all 9 were still open and available.

 

[carriecmu0503]

I read your post as 15 spots, 9 byes available, six already taken by the top 5 + Shibs= 3 byes for 4 teams.

Of course the four who got 1 GP will get the CS assignments to allow for the international bye…my understanding was that it was going to come down to tiebreak because I didn’t realize that all 9 were still open and available.

There are 15 spots. Six are taken because they have already have a bye. That leaves nine byes available.