If you ask U.S. pairs skaters Chelsea Liu and Ryan Bedard to sum up the theme of their upcoming season, the answer comes quickly: consistency and connection.

"As we begin our second season together, we feel much more grounded in who we are, not only as individual athletes, but as a team," Liu said. "This season, we feel more connected, more resilient and more confident in the identity we are building: a team that does not just share success but also shows up for each other when things are hard."

Their friendship has become a defining strength of the partnership, helping them navigate the inevitable challenges along the way.

"What has been powerful about this partnership is that, even when everything around us feels uncertain, our belief in one another never changes," Bedard said.

That sense of growth has been evident both on and off the ice. Under the guidance of coach Bruno Marcotte, who began working with the pair earlier this year, Liu and Bedard have focused on refining the technical and competitive aspects of their skating.

"We've worked to increase their speed, having more attack, less hesitation and showing the elements more," Marcotte said. "Their jumping has gotten a lot more consistent as well."

Along with technical improvements, Marcotte has emphasized a smarter and more efficient approach to training.

"In the day-to-day training, it's about creating a routine," he said. "You have to maximize your time on the ice. As you get older, you have to be more efficient in your training. You want to spend that time on the ice perfecting your craft and not rehabbing."

The team's focus this season extends beyond technical consistency. They have also worked to deepen their performance quality and emotional connection to their programs. For their short program, Liu and Bedard collaborated with 2018 Olympian Yura Min, whose choreography challenged them to embrace greater vulnerability and storytelling.

"We are both a bit on the shy side when it comes to movement, and Yura does a wonderful job highlighting our natural strengths while challenging us to go outside of our comfort zone," Bedard said. "She has helped us build a strong storyline and theme for the program."

Min sees a natural dynamic between the pair that helped shape the program's emotional narrative.

"Chelsea is very fierce and Ryan is very grounded," Min said. "I think their personalities match the music very well because Chelsea's character has continuous internal turmoil. Ryan's character, on the other hand, is very patient and continuously expresses that he is willing to walk through fire with her. Chelsea is the fire and Ryan is the ice that cools her. Even through creating the program and working the details, I could see small glimpses of this within their own personalities."

That emotional depth carries into their free skate as well. After deciding to move away from an initial concept, the team selected Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever?" to skate to.

"The song is iconic, but it is also very personal to us," Liu said. "It explores the idea that life and love are meaningful partly because they are finite, that a moment is precious because it cannot last forever. We both connect with that message, especially as athletes, because it reminds us to appreciate the opportunity in front of us rather than looking too far ahead."

The pair will make their Grand Prix debut together at Cup of China this week, where they hope to continue building on the progress they have made since last season.

"Our main goal for Cup of China is to build on everything we have been refining since the offseason and through our first two international competitions," Bedard said. "We have received a lot of valuable feedback from the judges, and we want to use this Grand Prix event to show the consistency and quality we have been working toward in practice."

Consistency remains the cornerstone of their long-term goals as well.

"When we think about the season as a whole, our biggest goal is consistency, not only in results, but in our approach," Bedard said. "Consistency is what allows us to earn stronger scores and placements, but we also want to stay consistent in how we prepare, communicate, compete and continue improving after every event."

Marcotte shares that philosophy.

"Every year, you look at your top performance, and you look at your worst performance," he said. "You want to make the gap between those performances as small as possible. The goal is not to be perfect but to minimize that gap."

Looking further ahead, Liu and Bedard are focused on establishing themselves as contenders on the international stage while continuing to develop their partnership.

"We want people to see us as strong candidates for championship event selections, not only because of what we are doing now, but because they can see the potential for even more growth in the years ahead," Liu said.

Min believes the pair is only beginning to scratch the surface of what they can achieve.

"They are a team to really look out for this Olympic cycle," she said. "I can't imagine what they will be capable of by then."

Follow Liu and Bedard as they compete this week at 2026 Cup of China by visiting the Grand Prix Competition Central.