All four current World champions are competing at NHK this week and already the drama has been unfolding as reports of Hanyu's practice injury have surfaced. Good lord, who knows what else we are in store for this week? The headliners:
This will be the second time we see each of the current World Champions on the Grand Prix. Evgenia Medvedeva, Sui/Han, Virtue/Moir and Yuzru Hanyu all look likely to clinch a Final berth with another win here. Only Hanyu comes in without a win at his prior event and again, news of his injury creates more question marks, but I still have to feel like he will win even if he lands only half of his quads. #yuzuprobs Satoko Miyahara makes her long awaited return to competition after injury. There's a lot of attention on Miyahara from the Japanese press and you have to imagine there will be some "rust" and nerves from her after such a long break. Her performance here will have a big impact on the Japanese ladies Olympic scenario. Other storylines to watch: Carolina Kostner put down big numbers at Rostelecom after two great skates. I'm interested to see how she is here- can she maintain ( and perhaps even improve upon) that consistency? U.S. ladies Mariah Bell and Mirai Nagasu are matched up for a third time this season, and the score is currently tied 1-1. Whoever comes out on top here will have a momentum advantage before U.S. Nationals. Similarly, U.S. men Jason Brown and Adam Rippon meet here, each hoping to establish their footing in a very convoluted men's field for U.S. Olympic spots. Jason can actually seal up a place at the Final with a medal here, while Rippon would also hope to grab one before Skate America. Canada and Russia each have one clear leader for their Olympic men's spots (Chan and Kolyada, respectively) and then several skaters trying for that second spot. Russians Dimitri Aliev and Sergei Voronov compete here, as well as Canadians Nam Nguyen and Keegan Messing. U.S. pair Scimeca-Knierim/Knierim are the favorites for the U.S.'s one Olympic pair spot. Though jump inconsistency has plagued them, they are the only U.S. pair to make any impact internationally in the past few seasons. I'm interested to see how they do here and how their scores compare to the other U.S. pairs. I hope Canada's Seguin/Bilodeau come in fighting this week, after what I believe was a hugely underscored performance in Russia. They are fighting for Olympic spots, and their teammates just won a medal last week. I hope they can rebound well here. Where Cappelini/Lanotte fit into this season's dance ranking is a bit of a question mark for me. I will be watching to see what their scores look like here in comparison to the rest of the top ice dance teams. Hubbell/Donohue of the U.S. actually have the highest total score of all American dance teams in the Grand Prix thus far, though by a slim margin. They have an opportunity here to best that performance and put the pressure on their compatriots. They can not afford the kind of mistakes that unfortunately plagued them last season if they want to shake up the U.S. ranks. Happy watching!
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