A figure skating pairs team that trains out of Irvine had to postpone achieving its Olympic dreams this time: it was not able to make it to the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics due to citizenship status.
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman, who practice at Irvine’s Great Park Ice, won bronze at the U.S. Championship in January, but they were not eligible to represent Team USA.
“The reason why we are not able to represent the U.S. national team in Milan right now is because I’m not a citizen, unfortunately,” Parkman told NBC Los Angeles Monday.
While McBeath is a U.S. citizen from Ohio, Parkman is still a citizen of the country of Georgia despite having moved to the U.S. several years ago in hopes of representing Team USA.
The International Olympic Committee’s rules state that one must have the country’s passport to be able to compete for the team.
Parkman was recently approved for his Green Card, according to the pair’s coach, Jenni Meno. The next step is securing his citizenship, which could take years.
“When they started together, we knew it was a possibility he would not get his passport in time for this Olympics,” Jenni Meno, the pair’s coach, said. “They are going to be representing the United States at the World Championships in March, so they’re very excited about that.”
But McBeath and Parkman said they are not letting this year’s disappointment of missing Milan derail their destiny.
“Hopefully, one day we do get to go to the Olympics. And hopefully, that’s somewhere along our journey,” McBeath said. “Things we get to experience together on that path will be truly amazing.”
The team has its eyes on the 2030 Winter Olympics, hoping Parkman will be able to receive his U.S. passport by then.
“We really hope that we will be in a different shoes in this case for 2030,” Parkman said.