2019 World Figure Skating Championship Predictions: Men and Ice Dance

As of this moment (meaning after the SP), neither of my gold-medal picks are looking like they’ll even make the podium, let alone win the whole thing! So admittedly I’m not approaching part two of my Worlds predictions with a lot of confidence… even though they feature more obvious favorites:

MEN 

GOLD: Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)

SILVER: Nathan Chen (RUS)

BRONZE: Shoma Uno (JPN)

Finishing in the 4^th-6th range: Vincent Zhou (USA), Mikhail Kolyada (RUS), Cha Jun-hwan (KOR)

Finishing in the 7^th-9th range: Jason Brown (USA), Alexander Samarin (RUS), Jin Boyang (CHN)

I know I didn’t even mention key names like Keegan Messing (CAN), Kevin Aymoz (FRA), Mateo Rizzo (ITA), and Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT). All four could make splashes here in place of the ones I mentioned. Super-tight times when these gentlemen take the ice for competition these days! But even while still dealing with some degree of injury, Hanyu seems unbeatable to me.

DANCE

GOLD: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA)

SILVER: Hubbell/Donohue (USA)

BRONZE: Stepanova/Bukin (RUS)

Finishing in the 4^th-6^th range: Chock/Bates (USA), Weaver/Poje (CAN), Sinitsina/Katsalapov (RUS)

Finishing in the 7^th-9^th range: Gilles/Poirier (CAN), Guignard/Fabbri (ITA), Fear/Gibson (GBR)

Ice dance predictions for the perpetually underschooled (such as myself) continue to be a dicey practice. But where it seems a coin toss could put “the other US team” or “the other Russian team” on the podium just as easy, I’m going with what I know and like better (in the case of Step/Buk) and with I suspect will be a meticulous free dance, in light of the unexpected minor error that made the difference at 4CC (Hub/Don).

And as you might guess if you’ve followed my posts this season, I’d gladly see Gilles/Poirier in a higher place (they’ve never finished higher than 6^th at Worlds)… and if my breakout British faves of the season (Fear/Gibson) don’t make the Top 10 with their disco jukebox of fun FD, I might have to chase down a judge and slap them silly with a vintage pair of rainbow suspenders.

That is all. See you on Twitter (@KLBSt8ofSk8)! 

2019 World Figure Skating Championship Predictions: Pairs and Ladies

Two days ago I was tap-dancing on a stage (with about 40 others) in front of a sold-out crowd on the near north side of downtown Indianapolis… the last of 11 performances of Singin’ in the Rain, which is how I’ve spent a substantial chunk of my time the past several weeks. It will go down as one of my favorite experiences in the 45 years (!!!) that I’ve been doing theater, and I’m eager to tell you all about it. With any luck, some of you will be mildly eager to hear about it. But “it” will have to wait, because THE 2019 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN.

PAIRS

GOLD: James/Cipres (FRA)

SILVER: Sui/Han (CHN)

BRONZE: Tarasova/Morozov (RUS)

Finishing in the 4^th-6^th range: Boikova/Kozlovskii (RUS), Della Monica/Guarise (ITA), Moore-Towers/Marinaro (CAN)

Finishing 7^th-9^th: Zabiiako/Enbert (RUS), Peng/Jin (CHN), Cain/LeDuc (USA)

This truly feels like Vanessa and Morgan’s time. It has this entire season. I know Sui/Han have a sublime FS (as was unveiled at 4CC), but I also know injuries continue to hinder them… to the point where they’ve barely been seen on the international circuit post- Pyeong Chang. They might come through with the gold—particularly if J/C falter at a critical moment, which they’ve certainly been known to do in the past—but I’m still sticking with hopes for a historic French win.

LADIES 

GOLD: Rika Kihira (JPN)

SILVER: Sofia Samadurova (RUS)

BRONZE: Satoko Miyahara (JPN)

Finishing in the 4^th-6^th range: Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), Kaori Sakamoto (JPN), Alina Zagitova (RUS)

Finishing 7^th-9^th: Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ), Bradie Tennell (USA), Eunsoo Lim (KOR)

Here’s what I want as I make this list: at least SIX medals. Medvedeva for her perseverance this season. Tursynbaeva for finally shaking up her mid-pack status. Sakamoto for making everybody smile when the rest of their day is a trainwreck. Wakaba Higuchi—last year’s World Silver Medalist, who didn’t even make the Worlds cut this time—for still being awesome. Oh, and let’s not forget The Empress Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who looked absolutely Worlds-bound this season… until she wasn’t.

But of course, we only have the three. So I’m predicting one for an outstanding young skater with a consistent triple axel… one for a dynamic rookie to the senior ranks with a consistent everything-else (aka Zagitova through February 2018)… and one for the “whole package” skater who, at all of 20 years of age, would somehow be the podium veteran if my predictions proved correct.

(And given all this… yeah, I’d be extremely surprised if Tennell and Mariah Bell were able to net the U.S. three spots for next year.)