Skate Canada International 2018: Preview/Predictions

The new Olympic cycle might just be impacting Canada more than any other major player in elite figure skating. Patrick Chan retired, Duhamel/Radford retired, Virtue/Moir retired (for now?? again???), and reigning world champion Kaetlyn Osmond is on a break, undecided about her future in the sport. All have long been dominating forces at Skate Canada International for obvious reasons. Can this season’s “home team”—four members of which are making their senior GP debut here—find a place on their respective SCI podiums?

In almost all disciplines, I think the answer is still yes. Here are my predictions. 

MEN (Starts Friday, 3:52 Eastern)

Gold: Shoma Uno (JPN)

Silver: Kazuki Tomono (JPN)

Bronze: Keegan Messing (CAN)

It’s hard to dispute Uno’s place as the favorite this year… a reigning Olympic and World Silver Medalist who won SkCAN last year, and already won once internationally this season (Lombardia Trophy). Tomono, on the other hand, is really known best at this point for one thing: his super-solid West Side Story free skate that put him in the Top 5 at last year’s Worlds at age 19. So consider this prediction a calculated risk on my part. Canada’s (or really, Alaska’s) own Messing might very well claim that silver spot, as he seems to have a new lease on his skating life since making Canada’s 2018 Olympic team. But there are still enough jumping inconsistencies in his game for me to put him behind Tomono here.

Eyes on: Jason Brown. Not only to support this new phase of his career (training under Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson), and see how he’s progressing… but to marvel at how he looks without his trademark ponytail. (Or to mourn the passing of said ponytail, for some)

LADIES (Starts Friday, 8:45 Eastern)

Gold: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)

Silver: Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS)

Bronze: Wakaba Higuchi (JPN)

You’ve probably heard that reigning OSM Medvedeva left Eteri Tutberidze’s camp over the summer and, like Jason, now trains with Orser & Wilson in Canada. So she might not yet be at top form as she continues with the transition. But even if she was, I’m not sure I could resist putting Tukta on top… Miss Everything of 2015 has roared back to life with triple axels galore and victories both at Finlandia Trophy and Lombardia Trophy (even though said triple axels got negative GOEs). She’s also become a force of fluent English wit and sass on Twitter, whether she’s being self-deprecating or calling out racist Russian journalists. I’m rooting for both of these young women in a big way!

Eyes on: Daria Panenkova, a 15 year old Russian (and another recent Tutberidze student gone elsewhere) in her first of two Senior Grand Prix events this season.

PAIRS (Starts Friday, 2:27 Eastern)

Gold: Moore-Towers/Marinaro (CAN)

Silver: James/Cipres (FRA)

Bronze: Peng/Jin (CHN)

M-T/M are probably the Canadians Most Likely To (win gold), so I hope they’re able to handle the home team pressure here as it may prove a good indicator of future situations, such as Worlds ’19.

Eyes on: Boikova/Kozlovskii, a young Russian pair that held their own at Finlandia Trophy and Lombardia Trophy earlier in the season (making the podium each time).

DANCE (Starts Friday, 7:10 Eastern)

Gold: Hubbell/Donohue (USA)

Silver: Gilles/Poirier (CAN)

Bronze: Sinitsina/Katsalapov (RUS)

G/P’s free dance—to “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)”—is flat-out exquisite. I don’t know how much of a run they can honestly give H/D since they tend to score so much lower in general (6^th at Worlds this year compared to H/D’s 2^nd, for example), but I can’t wait to see them try.

Eyes on:

Lauriault/LeGac (FRA), Skoptcova/Aleshin (RUS), and Smart/Diaz (ESP), all of whom will be free dancing to the work of specific pop/rock stars (Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles, respectively).