U.S. Figure Skating pairs competition could end in controversy

BOSTON -- Will there be a bump in the night that creates controversy when U.S. Figure Skating announces Sunday which two pairs it is sending to the 2014 Olympics?

It will, of course, be pretty much a tempest in a domestic teapot, given the low standing of U.S. pairs in international competition.

Given the non-specific nature of the USFS Olympic selection rules, it is possible Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay, who took second overall after Saturday afternoon’s free skate at the U.S. Championships, could be bumped in favor of Caydee Denney and John Coughlin, who finished third by .29 but have a more impressive international record.

Coughlin seemed resigned to the idea that wasn’t going to happen. That he and Denney, who won the free skate, could not defend their 2012 U.S. title or compete at worlds last year because of his injury may factor large in the selection committee’s decision.

“We rolled through the Grand Prix season and had a career best at the U.S. Championships,” Coughlin said. “I’m not going to be complaining any time soon.”

Despite three significant mistakes, including a fall, in the free skate, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir held onto most of the 6.63-point lead they built in the short program to win a second straight U.S. title. They wound up with 205.71 points and a margin of 3.99 over Zhang and Bartholomay, who did the only clean free skate of the top four teams.

Alexa Scimeca of Addison Trail and partner Chris Knierim, second last year and the top U.S. team at the 2013 worlds, were a distant fourth.

“We promised each other when we started the (free skate) that whatever happens, we’re grateful to be here,” Scimeca said.

Scimeca said that owed partly to fears their season could have been compromised when Knierim broke his ankle last July.

DeeDee Leng of Naperville Central and Timothy LeDuc, who were a surprising third in Thursday’s short program, came undone in the free skate and wound up seventh in the 12-team field.

“It was a little bit of a struggle,” Leng said.