2024 Skate America FS Pairs Practice - Ellie Kam Danny O'Shea

Again, really for myself, like she didn't need the energy at the end of the program. She was the one helping me more times than not. Ellie and Danny, love it. Really strong skate from the end yesterday. I was really proud of them. They've just continued to grow throughout this season and showcase why they are national champions too. I think that they've really taken that on and done really great with that. There's sometimes pressure that can come with being a national champion and heading into the next season, especially coming into a Skate America in front of a home crowd. I feel like they're doing really well at managing that. When I spoke with them yesterday, they said that they just really love the programs that they have and they can really dedicate themselves to the craft of it and almost lose themselves in that instead of worrying about so many other factors, which I think is a great place to be in. That would be in Throw Lots. That just happened right there. That was a strong one too. I feel like there's moments where you could take pictures and it looks so beautiful. Just like one after another. If people were snapping photos, it would look stunning. They create a lot of really beautiful moments. People need to remember is Ellie is just so, so new to Pairs. Danny had been out of it for a little bit and I think was looking at retirement or and then he was up there in Colorado working with a lot of Drew's teams and started to skate with Ellie and a beautiful partnership came out of that. She's brand new and started at the senior level. It's a lot to ask sometimes of a skater and she's really stepped up to it. I was saying this the other day. You know when there's not much to say when a skater is skating, that they've got you. It was just so nice to watch them go through that now. Yesterday, you really felt the effect of how their program is constructed because we were speaking on it yesterday, but they've got a lot of their very, very strong elements at the back end. These lifts that you're seeing are just a big flow. There's effortless throughout. They're both performing beautiful positions from Ellie. Danny is just so strong in his position as well as a partner and that gives her that confidence up above to finish those lifts out nicely. That's something I noticed with Danny. He's so clear and aware of where he wants to be when he's partnering and lifting and all the things. I mean, they almost just did three lifts back to back and they don't look gassed at all. No, it's awesome. He even had time to look at the roof there on that exercise. He's like, why not? Yeah, one more.