Daniel O'Shea (figure skater)

Daniel "Danny" O'Shea (born February 13, 1991) is an American pair skater. He currently competes with Ellie Kam. With his former partner, Tarah Kayne, he is the 2018 Four Continents champion, 2014 Four Continents silver medalist, and 2016 U.S. national champion.

Skating career

Early career

O'Shea began learning to skate in 1995. He competed with Christine Mozer in the 2011–2012 season, Caroline Knoop in 2010–2011, and Jessica Calalang in 2009–2010. He also competed in singles until 2011.

O'Shea teamed up with Tarah Kayne in April 2012.

2012–2013 season

Kayne/O'Shea finished seventh in their first trip to the U.S. Championships in January 2013. Making their international debut, they won the silver medal at the 2013 International Challenge Cup.

2013–2014 season

Kayne/O'Shea won bronze medals at the U.S. Classic and Ice Challenge. After placing sixth at the 2014 U.S. Championships, they were assigned to the 2014 Four Continents, where they won the silver medal.

2014–2015 season

On July 28, 2014, Kayne underwent surgery due to a labral tear in her right hip. As a result, the pair withdrew from their 2014–15 Grand Prix assignments, the 2014 Cup of China and 2014 Rostelecom Cup. Kayne/O'Shea returned to competition at the 2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb, taking bronze at the ISU Challenger Series (CS) event. The pair stepped onto their first national podium at the 2015 U.S. Championships, where they were awarded the bronze medal.

2015–2016 season

Kayne/O'Shea began their season with gold at a CS event, the 2015 U.S. International Classic. Kayne injured her right knee at the event.

Making their Grand Prix debut, the pair placed sixth at the 2015 Skate America and fourth at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup. Another Challenger medal followed, bronze at the 2015 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December. In January, Kayne/O'Shea placed first in both segments at the 2016 U.S. Championships and won the gold medal by a margin of 14.85 points over defending champions Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim.

2016–2017 season

After placing fifth at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, Kayne/O'Shea competed at two Grand Prix events, finishing sixth at the 2016 Skate America and fourth at the 2016 NHK Trophy. The pair withdrew from the 2017 U.S. Championships due to a concussion, Kayne having hit her head while attempting a throw triple flip during the short program on January 19.

During the season, Kayne experienced increasing pain due to right knee tendinitis, the result of her 2015 injury. She received a new cadaver tendon in an operation at the Vail Valley Medical Center on February 14, 2017, and then refrained from walking for seven weeks. She resumed training in July 2017.

2017–2018 season

Kayne/O'Shea did not compete in the early part of the season, including the Grand Prix, instead beginning the season at the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they won the bronze medal. They took silver at the 2018 U.S. Championships and were named first alternates for the 2018 Winter Olympics, where the United States had only one pairs spot, as well as part of America's teams for the Four Continents and World Championships.

At the 2018 Four Continents Championships, they were third after the short program and then had a personal best score in the free skate to win the gold medal, the first American team to do so in over a decade. Kayne said she felt "really great about our performance," They anticipated competing at the World Championships. However, following the event, Kayne was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right knee. As a result, they withdrew from the World Championships, and were replaced by bronze medalists Deanna Stellato / Nathan Bartholomay.

They were coached by Jim Peterson, in Ellenton, Florida, until the end of the season.

2018–2019 season

On September 7, 2018, Kayne/O'Shea announced a coaching change, deciding to join Dalilah Sappenfield in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They began the season with a seventh-place finish at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Assigned to two Grand Prix events, they first competed at the 2018 NHK Trophy, finishing fifth. At the 2018 Internationaux de France, Kayne/O'Shea were fourth after the short program but placed second in the free skate, finishing less than two points ahead of bronze medalists Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii. This was their first Grand Prix medal. Kayne remarked that after a "less than desirable" performance in Japan, "to have come to France and make this much improvement in just two short weeks made us both very happy."

At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Kayne/O'Shea placed first in the short program, just ahead of Ashley Cain / Timothy LeDuc. In the free skate, they made some small opening mistakes on their twist and side-by-side jumps but then had a major error when they failed to execute their final lift, which caused them to drop to fourth place. O'Shea commented afterward, "I didn’t do what I was supposed to do." They were nevertheless named to the American team for the Four Continents Championships over bronze medalists Stellato-Dudek/Bartholomay. They finished in sixth place there, with Kayne saying their performance was a personal disappointment.

2019–2020 season

Kayne/O'Shea began with a fourth-place finish at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. On the Grand Prix, they were sixth to begin at the 2019 Cup of China. Kayne/O'Shea were sixth as well at the 2019 NHK Trophy.

Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Kayne/O'Shea placed second in the short program, seven points behind the leaders, Knierim/ Knierim. Third in the free skate, they won the bronze medal behind the Knierims and Calalang/Johnson. O'Shea called it "an improvement as the program has progressed over the first part of the season. We are taking steps in the right direction." They finished the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Four Continents Championships.

2020–2021 season

In September, Kayne and O'Shea announced they were leaving coach Dalilah Sappenfield, at the time saying publicly that they were looking forward to exploring new training options and looking forward to staying strong as a team.

They were fourth at the ISP Points Challenge, a virtual domestic competition. They competed at the 2020 Skate America, primarily attended by American pairs teams due to travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their previous coaches Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora helped them to prepare for the competition. The permanent training environment of Kayne and O'Shea will be determined after the competition.

On December 10, it was announced that Kayne and O'Shea had split, with Kayne subsequently retiring.

Allegations against Dalilah Sappenfield

On October 8, 2021, reporter Christine Brennan of ''USA Today'' reported that Kayne and O'Shea had left Sappenfield and that Kayne had subsequently left the sport due to repeated harassment and abuse from Sappenfield while training. Kayne stated that Sappenfield's behaviour had resulted in her engaging in self-harm that she had been scared to seek treatment for due to the possibility of her coach learning of it. She said to Brennan that "these awful experiences forced me out of the sport I love. Dalilah said multiple times that she wanted to end my career, and she succeeded." O'Shea expressed his support for Kayne's account.

2021–2022 season

At the end of June, USFSA added O'Shea to the International Selection Pool, which is a list of teams eligible for international competition, with new partner, Chelsea Liu.

Programs

With Liu

with Kayne

Competitive highlights

''GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; Junior Grand Prix''

With Kam

With Liu

With Kayne

Earlier partnerships

Single skating

Detailed results

With Liu

References

External links

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* at Figure Skaters Online
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshea, Daniel
1991 births
Living people
American male pair skaters
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
Sportspeople from Pontiac, Michigan
20th-century American people
21st-century American people