John Nicks Pairs Challenge - Short Program Video and Results
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps promised something we've never seen before in competition, and they delivered to take the lead after Day 1.
I still find it strange that U.S. Figure Skating splits up its ISU Challenger Series event into three separate events. There was the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championship in July, the Cranberry Cup for singles in August, and the pairs finally got their moment to shine with the John Nicks Pairs Challenge, which started Tuesday.
Sadly, I did not get to New York in time to see the five junior pairs who were competing (though I’ll be sure to check out their free skates on Wednesday), but I was in position in plenty of time for the 12 senior teams. So let’s recap the day’s action, going in reverse order of the standings after the short program.
12. Linzy Fitzpatrick/Keyton Bearinger
TSS: 43.17. TES: 23.69. PCS: 20.48
Linzy and Keyton finished 13th in this event a year ago. Skating to “I Was Made for Lovin' You” by YUNGBLUD, they were the last pair to skate in the first group, and had a bit of a rough performance.
11. Olivia Flores/Luke Wang
TSS: 45.01. TES: 22.73. PCS: 23.28
Flores and Wang had a ton of success at the junior level, winning nationals in 2024, taking home silver last season, and earning silver at junior worlds in 2023-24 and at the JPG final in 2024-25. This couldn’t have been the start they’d hoped for at the senior level, skating to “Run To You” by Whitney Houston. Here’s hoping they bounce back in the free skate.
10. Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer
TSS: 53.22. TES: 30.35. PCS: 24.87
Williams and Lewer are in their second season at the senior level, while also still competing in juniors (they took home bronze at the Riga Cup a couple weeks ago). They’re skating to "Otoño Porteño" by Ensamble Nuevo Tango for the short program this season, a fitting choice with the Olympics being in Italy (they’re far from the only team skating to Italian music this season).
9. Sophia Schaller/Livio Mayr
TSS: 53.59. TES: 30.72. PCS: 23.87
One of just four international teams in this event, Schaller and Mayr are the three-tie defending national champions in Austria. This Aretha Franklin medley (“Natural Woman” and “Respect”) is the same program they used last season, though they probably would have liked to have posted a better score skating to something so familiar.
8. Gabriella Izzo/Luc Maierhofer
TSS: 59.59. TES: 35.32. PCS: 24.27
The other Austrian duo in the event, Izzo and Maierhofer are in just their second season together, after Izzo previously competed in singles for the United States. They finished second to Schaller and Mayr at nationals last season, but are already looking like serious contenders to end that three-year run. This blew away their previous best short program score (51.68) in an international event.
7. Audrey Shin/Balazs Nagy
TSS: 59.64. TES: 32.78. PCS: 27.86
Another former singles skater who switched to pairs last season, Shin is in her second season competing with Nagy. This was actually a higher score than they posted in their short program in Zagreb last season (58.22), where they took home the bronze. This “Godfather” suite program should play well at nationals, where they were fifth a season ago.
6. Chelsea Liu/Ryan Bedard
TSS: 59.88. TES: 34.68. PCS: 26.20
After sitting out all of last season (following her one season with Nagy in 2023-24), Liu is back with Bedard, who previously skated with Isabelle Martins. Liu has had issues with concussions in the past, so it’s good to see her back and healthy. They skated to “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene” by Hozier, and put up a solid score for their first performance together (actually the highest score Bedard has posted in international competition).
5. Karina Akopova/Nikita Rakhmanin
TSS: 65.20. TES: 38.40. PCS: 26.80
If the scores for the free skate are anything like the scores for the short program, the battle for the podium on Wednesday is going to be TIGHT. Currently third through fifth are separated by less than half a point. Akopova and Rakhmanin previously represented Russia, but are skating for Armenia now, giving them a path to the Olympics if they can have some success this season (first they’d have to earn a spot for Armenia at the Olympic Qualifying Competition later this month). They actually posted the highest technical score of the day, so the podium is absolutely within reach.
4. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe
TSS: 65.58. TES: 35.52. PCS: 30.06
Chan and Howe had the disadvantage of being the very first team to skate on Tuesday, but put up a score that had them atop the leaderboard until the last pair of the second group. You might remember that at Summer Sizzler they skated to “The Lady Caliph: Nocturne” but for this event, they went back to "Nyah" by CH2 (from Mission: Impossible 2). While this is their first time skating in this event, they did take silver at the Zagreb Challenger Series event last season, and have put themselves in good position to potentially earn a medal on Wednesday.
3. Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman
TSS: 65.62. TES: 36.49. PCS: 29.13
Unlike Chan and Howe, McBeath and Parkman showed off the same program they performed at Summer Sizzler (which was good for me, because I love it). This was by far their best score in an international competition, and even better than their score at nationals last season, where they took home silver. They keep putting up scores like this, and Milan is not out of reach (especially if the U.S. can grab that third pairs spot at the qualifying event).
2. Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov
TSS: 66.85. TES: 36.00. PCS: 30.85
Dear United States government: who do I have to bribe to get Alisa her citizenship in time for Milan? (Note: this is not a serious offer, I would never bribe a government official, please do not send me to jail.) This is a beautiful program, and it’s incredible how well they skate it given that they’ve only been doing it for a month (after having to scrap their previous planned short program). They’re the defending silver medalists in this event and look poised to at least match that. Besting it, however, will be a challenge, because of the team currently in first place.
1. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps
TSS: 70.77. TES: 37.92. PCS: 32.85
That score is even more impressive when you consider that Stellato-Dudek missed a side-by-side jump, earning them zero points for that element. The duo more than made up for that mistake, however, with their throw backflip, which they described as an element never before performed in competition. Given that they actually have room for improvement over their short program, they’re in good position to take home the gold (which would add to the three they won at major competitions last season and the six they won the season before that.
The competition resumes Wednesday with the free skate, and based on what I’ve read from reports, I’m not remotely emotionally prepared for what Efimova and Mitrofanov have planned. Will it be enough to vault them ahead of Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps? Stay tuned.