Ellenton-based ice skating duo may fall just short of Olympic bid
Two local ice skating champions competed in an Olympic qualifier tournament Saturday, but their second-place ranking could have dashed their chance to compete in South Korea.
Tarah Kayne, 24, and Danny O’Shea, 26, are members of the Southwest Florida Figure Skating Club and train at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, according to their website. In 2016, they took home the title of U.S. champions, but the pair finished in second place in Saturday’s nationally televised U.S. Prudential Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif.
The first-place winners were Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim, who won their second national title at the competition by 5.8 points. Kayne and O’Shea took the lead toward the end of the competition, skating to Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” but a few stumbles proved to be costly.
Seal it with a kiss! @TarahKayne and @doshea213 take first place with a total score of 200.80 and only one pair left to go. #USChamps18 pic.twitter.com/u8R2JNyeaP
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) January 6, 2018
According to NBC Sports, there’s only one spot available for the U.S. Figure Skating Committee to send a pairs team to PyeongChang for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The committee’s decision will be announced at 12:45 p.m. Sunday.
And to complete the #USChamps18 pairs podium:
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 6, 2018
2. @TarahKayne & @doshea213
3. Deanna Stellato & @NateBartholomay
4. @icegirlash & Timothy LeDuc
Senior men take the ice next.
In 2016, the pair won the title at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Saint Paul, Minn., which landed them a spot in Boston’s World Figure Skating Championships.
Ryan Callihan: 941-745-7095, @RCCallihan
This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Ellenton-based ice skating duo may fall just short of Olympic bid."