Pair skaters bring home medals from U.S. Championships
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Springs has an impressive line-up of world-class figure skaters, and many of those skaters recently brought home medals from the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea are one of many nationally and internationally ranked pair teams who skate at the Broadmoor World Arena.
They won the senior pair title in 2016, and recently added a bronze medal to their collection.
"As far as performances, I think the short program was a step in the right direction for us," says O'Shea.
"We were really happy with our performances and any time you end up on the podium that is a pretty exciting moment," said Kayne. "We would have liked to have been a few steps higher on that podium, but overall we were pretty excited."
The team formerly trained in Florida, but a year and a half ago made the jump to Colorado Springs to train under Dalilah Sappenfield.
Dalilah says she's impressed with Danny and Tarah's progress under her reign.
"The biggest thing for us that we've worked on is the mental game," says Sappenfield, "Staying calm, being able to recover quickly from one element to the other -- their relationship and being able to work together with so much pressure."
The team paired up in 2012 and has been through many ups and downs together. After being named alternates for the 2018 Winter Games, Danny and Tarah are hoping to stay healthy and keep improving their elements as the Olympics inch closer.
"We've transitioned into a different point in our careers where when we were younger we hit more repetition of things," says O'Shea. "Like if it wasn't perfect you would go again and again. As we've gotten older in skating terms, not necessarily life, we've learned to know what the mistake was on that element but it doesn't mean I have to do it three times, I know the correction and we can talk about it."
Also at the rink is the pair team of Kate Finster and Balázs Nagy.
"Kate's really my first and only partner that I've ever skated with so to me every day I remember what it was like to skate singles and skating with a partner is so much better how you can talk to them on the ice and its not just necessarily talking, but having someone by your side all the time," says Nagy.
Kate and Balázs came out on top of the podium in the Junior tanks, which is one level below Danny and Tarah. It's a goal that coach Sappenfield said they had been eyeing all year.
'They are doing really well, they've got all the tricks that they need," said Sappenfield. "I think what sets them apart from a lot of the other juniors is the quality of skating and we just need to put it all together."
No matter the team, or how hard training gets, Sappenfield says it's about the journey.
"It's not about the outcome, it's about getting my kids to reach their fullest potential. If they can come off the ice feeling good about what they've done than I feel like I've done my job," says Sappenfield.
Danny and Tarah are competing right now in South Korea. As for the younger pair team, they are gearing up for Junior Worlds in a couple of weeks in Estonia.
