Pair skaters Olivia Flores and Mark Sadusky first teamed up in July, and by September they were competing. After debuting at the John Nicks Pairs Challenge in Boston, U.S. Figure Skating sent them to Bratislava, Slovakia, where they placed first in the Nepala Memorial in late September. That was followed by a sixth-place finish at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland.
“It’s surreal because after the whole tryout season, I was very discouraged because I didn’t think I was going to be skating this season,” said Sadusky. “Fast forward, to be able to find Olivia and be able to skate with her and to have the blessing of the coaches and U.S. Figure Skating, and three months into our partnership be scoring a personal best in the short and the long was so satisfying. It means that our hard work is paying off.”
After competing with Nica Digerness at three U.S. Championships, Sadusky, 28, took the 2025–26 season off to rest and address a knee injury. He got back on the ice the end of 2025 and slowly got back into shape. Flores, 19, competed with Luke Wang for several years, including earning a fifth-place finish at the World Junior Championships this year. Flores and Sadusky trained at the same rink in Colorado, so they were well acquainted.
“I’m very grateful to be competing again and to have the opportunities to represent Team USA,” said Sadusky. “As a team, since we got together so late we both realized that there was no play time. We knew we’re going to bring energy to the rink, we’re going to have fun, but it’s time to get down to work because we want to do our best at internationals. It brought us together.”
Sadusky has continued to balance training with coaching because he supports himself. He noted that he and Flores are both positive people. “I’ve never had a partner that’s been so supportive when I’m just feeling down or exhausted from working all week and training; she’s always there to pick me up,” he said. “I hit the jackpot with her.”
Next up for Flores and Sadusky is the Tallinn Trophy in Estonia, which takes place next week. “We’re preparing,” said Sadusky. “We have been skating every day and working on our programs. … We want to show up to Nationals [the U.S. Championships are in January] to prove we’re a team with potential. We want to be part of the conversation.”
