By Scott Mammoser, Team FSO writer
Photos by Robin Ritoss and Giada Arioldi
MILAN, ITALY – 2025 World silver medalists Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin approached Sunday’s Milano-Cortina Olympic pairs short program nonchalantly, and now the Germans are in position to claim the gold medal Monday at Milano Ice Skating Arena.
“We tried to be very calm with no big emotion because we want to save it for tomorrow,” Hase said following her skate. “I was thinking, ‘Just don’t make a mistake,’ and I was able to control everything. We really wanted to make it like a practice.”
The 80.01 points they scored in the short program eclipsed their previous best short program of 77.61 from last year’s Nebelhorn Trophy. Their “El Abrazo” short program was highlighted by a huge triple twist, along with side-by-side triple Salchow and a throw triple loop.
“It’s not a new feeling because to get the points, you have to skate a good performance,” Volodin said of the score..
The reigning European Champions Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia lost points on their throw triple flip in their “Bolero” short program as Metelkina stepped out on the landing of the jump. They sit in second place with a score of 75.46.
“I am not satisfied completely because I did a mistake on an element that is one of my best ones,” Metelkina said through an interpreter, “I hope tomorrow I will do all my elements in full. I am happy that we adjusted, but mentally, it is tiring.”
It may be a bit of a surprise to fans to see Canadian Champions Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada currently sitting in the bronze medal position. In their “Say You Love Me” short program, they completed a triple twist, side-by-side triple toe jumps and a throw triple loop that earned them a personal best score of 74.60. Skating in the middle warm-up group and skating ninth of 19 teams, they held onto the lead until the last warm-up group. The team stressed that it was familiar with the spotlight after competing in the team event.
“Stepping out the first time at the Olympics is nerve wracking,” the 21-year-old Pereira said. “But today, we felt like we had done this already. We knew exactly what to expect.”
2026 European bronze medalists Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary sit in fourth place with a score of 73.87, while defending World champions and medal favorites in Milan Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara had an early exit on their five revolution Axel lift and lost 2.30 points in grade of execution. They earned a short program score of 73.11 and sit in fifth place. Reigning Olympic gold medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who came out of retirement and competed this season, had some issues with their side-by-side triple toes. They earned a short program score of 72.66 and are in sixth place. Sui and Han say they are content with their result in the short program.
“This is a good memory because it is our third time in the Olympics,” the 33-year-old Han said. “The first two times, we wanted to win the gold medal. This time, we just want to show the audience and the judges what we have now. If we can stand at the Olympics, you can also do it.”
The United States and Italy represent spots seven through 10 and are separated by less than three points. Newly crowned Olympic champions in the team event, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the U.S., lead Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, who won the bronze medal with Italy in the team event. Meanwhile, Americans Emily Chan and Akira Spencer Howe are just ahead of Italy’s Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini.
“We did a great job of being calm and together,” said O’Shea. “The team event short – it was our first time on Olympic ice, and we had a little bit more jitters. Since then, we have been able to settle in and having the time of our lives. I left some points out there with some levels I normally don’t do, so I am a little annoyed at myself for that. We got a season’s best.”
Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who withdrew from the team event due to an injury suffered in an training exercise back home in Montreal, made their Olympic debut in Milan. They lost points on their side-by-side triple toe jumps and Stellato-Dudek fell on the exit of their five revolution Axel lift. They are in 14th place with a score of 66.04.
In all 19 teams competed in the short program with 16 teams moving on to the free skate. The three teams that did not qualify for the free skate are Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba of the Netherlands; Anastasiia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia; and Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan.
