Danny Neudecker  Danny Neudecker (born March 2, 1996) is an American pair skater. With his former partner, Nica Digerness, he is the 2017 U.S. national junior champion and placed 10th at the 2017 World Junior Championships. Since the end of March, he is now paired with Sasha Fakhroutdinov. Neudecker was born on March 2, 1996, in Seattle, Washington. His mother, Tammie, taught at an elementary school in Seattle before the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was raised with a sister, Valerie. After graduating from Cheyenne Mountain High School, he enrolled at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, pursuing a degree in communications and counseling. He has an interest in languages and is proficient in Russian. Neudecker began learning to skate when he was five years old, after an ice rink opened near his home in Seattle. Competing in men's singles, he skated for two seasons on the juvenile level, two as an intermediate, and two in the novice ranks. He competed as a junior in the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 seasons. Pair skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield introduced Neudecker to Nica Digerness, who was also a single skater at the time. The two teamed up in January 2015 and decided to train under Sappenfield at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They placed 7th in novice pairs at the 2016 U.S. Championships. Digerness/Neudecker dropped plans to continue in the novice ranks after obtaining good junior results at summer club events. In September 2016, they debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, placing 7th in Saransk, Russia. The following month, the pair finished 13th in Dresden, Germany. In January, they won the junior title at the 2017 U.S. Championships, having placed first in both segments, and were named in the U.S. team to the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. Ranked 13th in the short program and 9th in the free skate, the pair finished 10th overall in Taipei. Digerness/Neudecker began competing on the senior level. They placed 9th in the short, 11th in the free, and 11th overall at the 2018 U.S. Championships. They received no international assignments. Following the U.S. Championships, the pair focused on skating skills and choreography for several months while Neudecker recuperated from three bulging disks in his back and joint issues.