It’s hard to believe, but U.S. Nationals is right around the corner. Due to the Olympics, Nationals is very early this year (Dec 29-Jan 7). With the event coming up so soon, I thought I’d take a look at what to expect from the U.S. pairs in San Jose. Continue reading “U.S. Nationals 2017: Pairs Preview” →

The pairs event at Russian Nationals is always so fun to watch. It’s actually one of my favorite pairs competitions of the entire year! The quality level and depth of Russian pairs, as a group, is just so high that it’s inspiring and exciting to watch. This year, there was another level of intensity, with Olympic spots on the line. The Olympic pressure seemed to negatively affect the top teams in the competition, all of whom had mistakes in the long program. However, the younger teams in the competition really shone, with many terrific performances. Unfortunately I don’t have time to do a full review of this event—with holiday preparations here in the U.S.–but here are some brief notes/reactions to Russian Nationals.  Continue reading “Notes from Russian Nationals 2017” →

The lead-up to this year’s Grand Prix Final was dominated by news of Russia and the Olympics. Two days before the Grand Prix Final began in Nagoya, Japan, the IOC announced that Russia was banned as a nation from the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, the IOC also decided that clean Russian athletes will be able to participate in Pyeongchang as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR). Continue reading “Grand Prix Final 2017: Pairs Review” →