Shin and Nagy Journey To Beijing, With Milano On Their Minds

This week, Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy have the prospect to assist Team USA do one thing it hasn’t executed since 1984: deliver 18 athletes — three entries in every of the 4 determine skating disciplines — to the Olympics.

The pair will characterize the U.S. on the ISU’s “Skate to Milano” Olympic qualifying competitors, held Sept. 18–21 in Beijing. The occasion is the ultimate alternative for nations to earn determine skating spots for the upcoming Games, after the primary qualification on the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston. Three pair entries are up for grabs.

“We look at it as a huge opportunity,” Shin, 21, mentioned. “We’re motivated to do our best there. A lot of responsibility comes with it, but as long as we stay focused, I think we can handle the pressure. We’ve been training well and working hard the last few months.”

“At the end of the day, we need to treat it like any other big competition, and control what we can control,” Nagy, 27, added.

The alternative comes simply 18 months into their partnership, and fewer than two years after Shin, the 2019 U.S. junior silver medalist, started training pairs abilities.

“We’ve been working and preparing for this assignment all summer long, because the goal was to peak in China, even before we knew we were going,” Meagan Duhamel, who with husband Bruno Marcotte coaches the skaters in Oakville, Ontario, mentioned. “Their goal has to be to go there and just get it done. If they focus on their job — which we know they can do — and skate well, then they will be rewarded with one of those spots.”

U.S. ice dancers, men and women every had three entries compete on the 2025 World Championships. These disciplines certified three Olympic entries outright, by advantage of the placements of the highest two finishers including as much as 13 or much less.

The U.S. pairs entries in Boston — Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea — positioned sixth and seventh, respectively. Their 13 factors earned Team USA an entry to the qualifier, the place the highest three pairs’ finishers will acquire Olympic berths for his or her nations.

“It’s amazing we’re getting the chance to try to slate a full team,” Justin Dillon, U.S. Figure Skating senior director of athlete excessive efficiency, mentioned. “We are the only country with the chance to do so, which is exciting. With that said, there are a lot of good skaters competing in China, so [gaining a spot] will require Audrey and Balazs to skate as strongly as they did, both at Glacier Falls [Summer Classic] and then at Champs Camp.”

When they teamed up within the spring of 2024, each skaters have been in transition. Shin had simply completed ninth on the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and was desirous to attempt pairs. Nagy’s former associate, Chelsea Liu, had not too long ago introduced she was taking a break from the game.

“Even though it was tough at times learning these new elements, I was excited to go in every day, and I was determined,” Shin mentioned. “And it was actually quite fun. I found a new passion in skating, and I think that’s what I needed. It was super tough, and I had my doubts, but I’m glad I pushed through.”

The skaters made their worldwide debut at 2024 Golden Spin of Zagreb, profitable bronze. They have been a robust fifth on the 2025 U.S. Championships and went on to compete on the 2025 Four Continents Championships, the place a disappointing free skate left them in eleventh place.

“The worst competition of our lives,” Nagy mentioned, groaning.

“We sat down with our coaches after and reviewed everything, talked about what went wrong, and made adjustments for this season,” Shin mentioned. “Obviously, you don’t dwell on it. But I think because of that competition, we’re able to communicate better.”

Improving the triple twist was purpose one this summer time.

“They came home from Four Continents frustrated with that experience and open to working hard, not wanting to have that type of experience again, which is normal for new teams,” Duhamel mentioned. “And we worked on the twist a lot, because last year they just had a double twist and then a very, very rocky triple.”

“It all comes down to communication during the program — how much do I share? Is this too much, or too little? — and kind of finding the right balance,” Nagy mentioned.

  

The skaters traveled to Florida for choreography this spring, to work with John Kerr on a brief program set to music from The Godfather, and John Zimmerman and Silvia Fontana for a free skate to “Two Men in Love” by the Irrepressibles.

“[The Godfather] idea was floated, because with the Olympics being in Italy, it is such a memorable soundtrack,” Kerr mentioned. “And when I saw them, they were obviously super capable. So I threw a lot at them, in terms of steps, and we did a lot of repetitions to create the flow.”

“We’ve given them a bit more mature, intricate choreography, and worked on the consistency of the other pair elements, like the spins and steps,” Duhamel mentioned. “We’re working on tweaking those things, but they have the look. They’ve got all the great tricks when they put it together.”

Observers at Champs Camp, held in Norwood, Massachusetts, in August, agreed with Duhamel. A simulated pairs competitors, with full technical panel tools, technical panel and judges was held. Shin and Nagy received each the brief program and free skate occasions.

“We communicated to our entire pairs community that the simulation at Champs Camp would lead to the qualifying spot,” Dillon mentioned. “When they won, Audrey and Balazs were selected.”

After Champs Camp, Kerr traveled to Oakville for some tweaks to their applications. They elected to compete on the John Nicks Pairs International in New York City Sept. 2–3, the place they positioned seventh.

“Our goal was to get additional practice competing,” Nagy mentioned. “(Nicks) was a great opportunity to do that, keep developing the programs, keep pressure testing things.”

“They went back and forth on whether to compete, and decided to go for the practice, which I think was good,” Dillon mentioned. “It gave them the opportunity to go home afterward and get in a full week of work before heading to Beijing.”

In China, Shin and Nagy will sq. off towards pairs from 10 different nations. Their hardest competitors may come from Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang of China, the reigning Junior Grand Prix Final champions, in addition to Japan’s Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi, who not too long ago received bronze on the 2025 Kinoshita Group Cup.

Like the opposite 10 pairs, Shin and Nagy have highly effective motivation: a visit to the Milano Cortina Games. Gaining a 3rd U.S. entry would make that journey way more probably.

“I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics as long as I can remember,” Nagy mentioned. “Absolutely, that is our goal, and that’s why we go to the rink every day and work hard.”

“We have to have the mindset that we are going to the Olympic Games,” Shin mentioned. “That’s the goal, and that’s what we want.”