This weekend will be the inaugural Gran Premio d’Italia, or Italian Grand Prix, which replaces this year’s Cup of China that was cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 issues. The event will be held in the Torino Palavela which also hosted the 2006 Olympics, 2010 Worlds, and two previous iterations of the Grand Prix Final (and, fun fact, was also featured in the 1969 comedy “The Italian Job,” if you need a suggestion for a pre-competition movie night).
At the end of this event, we’ll be halfway through the Grand Prix series, so let’s check out what we have to look forward to.
Men
The highest ranked man competing in Italy is eighteen-year-old Yuma Kagiyama, who is competing in, remarkably, his first international senior Grand Prix, despite being the reigning World silver medalist and Four Continents bronze medalist. He’s a current favorite for the Beijing Olympic team and many Japanese teams to come and has been incredibly consistent internationally, so will definitely be a podium favorite coming into this event.
The rest of the podium is up for grabs between several men with loads of talent and questionable consistency (which puts them in good company with those in the previous events). Russians Mikhail Kolyada and Dmitri Aliev both come in with high expectations, as does Chinese skater Boyang Jin, whose disappointing performance at Worlds cost China a second spot at their home Olympics in February. Jin really needs to start building some momentum to have any hope of snagging a medal in Beijing.
There’s also a number of potential spoilers: Junhwan Cha, who achieved as high as third at the Grand Prix Final in 2018; Daniel Grassl has a huge technical arsenal that could place very high if landed cleanly; and skaters like Kazuki Tomono and Petr Gumennik can impress with their strong performance qualities.
Whatever the final standings, let’s hope we see more clean skates and fewer scary falls then the first two weeks of men’s competition.
The Field
| SKATER/COUNTRY | BEST SCORES | NOTABLE RESULTS |
|---|---|---|
| Yuma KAGIYAMA Japan | SP: 100.96 FS: 190.81 Total: 291.77 | 2nd 2021 Worlds 3rd 2020 Four Continents |
| Mikhail KOLYADA Russia | SP: 100.49 FS: 180.72 Total: 274.37 | 5th 2021 Worlds 2x European bronze medalist |
| Boyang JIN China | SP: 101.19 FS: 181.34 Total: 273.51 | 4th 2018 Olympic Games 2x World bronze medalist |
| Dmitri ALIEV Russia | SP: 101.49 FS: 184.44 Total: 272.89 | 2020 European Champion 7th 2018 Olympic Games |
| Junhwan CHA South Korea | SP: 97.33 FS: 175.06 Total: 265.43 | 10th 2021 Worlds 3rd 2018 Grand Prix Final |
| Petr GUMENNIK Russia | SP: 91.84 FS: 171.30 Total: 263.14 | 3rd 2020 Junior Worlds 2nd 2019 Jr. Grand Prix Final |
| Kazuki TOMONO Japan | SP: 88.22 FS: 162.83 Total: 251.05 | 7th 2020 Four Continents 5th 2018 Worlds |
| Daniel GRASSL Italy | SP: 85.42 FS: 173.54 Total: 247.80 | 12th 2021 Worlds 3x National Champion |
| Deniss VASILJEVS Latvia | SP: 87.08 FS: 159.83 Total: 241.09 | 18th 2021 Worlds 4th 2018 Europeans |
| Gabriele FRANGIPANI Italy | SP: 83.11 FS: 152.52 Total: 231.65 | 13th 2020 Europeans 4th 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Paul FENTZ Germany | SP: 81.86 FS: 149.60 Total: 230.01 | 8th 2020 Europeans 3x National Champion |
| Yudong CHEN China | SP: 64.93 FS: 140.23 Total: 205.26 | 2019 Jr. National Champion 25th 2019 Junior Worlds |
Women
In the women’s event, there’s a good chance we won’t see a repeat of last week’s Russian sweep. Reigning world champion Anna Shcherbakova is the likely favorite, though she struggled with injury over the off-season and was beaten at Budapest Trophy by training-mate Maiia Khromykh, who will also be competing this weekend. The weaker of the Russians competing here is Sofia Samodurova, who has struggled significantly since winning Europeans in 2019.
In her spot, we could see an eleventh Grand Prix medal for Satoko Miyahara, whose artistry is becoming progressively undervalued in this era of technical revolution, or a first Grand Prix medal for Belgian Loena Hendrickx, who surged to a career-best fifth at last year’s World Championships. Or we could even see Mai Mihara continue her triumphant return with her first Grand Prix medal since 2018.
That said, one of those women will need to surge to second place or better to have a chance of preventing an all-Russian Grand Prix Final, which is looking more inevitable by the day.
The Field
| SKATER/COUNTRY | BEST SCORES | NOTABLE RESULTS |
|---|---|---|
| Anna SHCHERBAKOVA Russia | SP: 81.07 FS: 162.65 Total: 241.65 | 2021 World Champion 3x Russian National Champion |
| Satoko MIYAHARA Japan | SP: 76.08 FS: 145.85 Total: 219.71 | 4th 2018 Olympic Games 2016 4CC Champion |
| Sofia SAMODUROVA Russia | SP: 72.88 FS: 140.96 Total: 213.84 | 2019 European Champion 8th 2019 Worlds |
| Loena HENDRICKX Belgium | SP: 72.18 FS: 143.25 Total: 212.07 | 5th 2021 Worlds 5th 2018 Europeans |
| Mai MIHARA Japan | SP: 70.94 FS: 142.12 Total: 210.01 | 4th 2021 Skate Canada 2017 4CC Champion |
| Eunsoo LIM South Korea | SP: 72.91 FS: 132.66 Total: 205.57 | 10th 2019 Worlds 8th 2020 Four Continents |
| Yelim KIM South Korea | SP: 73.63 FS: 134.66 Total: 202.76 | 11th 2021 Worlds 6th 2020 Four Continents |
| Maiia KHROMYKH Russia | SP: 68.93 FS: 131.46 Total: 198.24 | 4th 2020 Junior Worlds 5th Russian Nationals |
| Nicole SCHOTT Germany | SP: 64.09 FS: 120.93 Total: 182.71 | 18th 2021 Worlds 18th 2018 Olympic Games |
| Lara Naki GUTMANN Italy | SP: 62.41 FS: 119.14 Total: 179.59 | 28th 2021 Worlds 2021 National Champion |
| Lucrezia BECCARI Italy | SP: 57.70 FS: 113.34 Total: 167.94 | 2018 Jr. National Champion |
| Yi ZHU China | SP: 55.53 FS: 99.88 Total: 155.41 | 13th 2020 Four Continents |
Pairs
In pairs, we could be looking at a China 1-2 in what would have been a home event. Sui and Han seem pretty untouchable in this field, and the only team that gets close to Peng and Jin’s top score is the actual home team, Della Monica and Guarise. Possible spoilers could come in the form of the two young Russian teams competing here, or anyone who has two clean skates if the top teams falter.
The Field
| TEAM/COUNTRY | BEST SCORES | NOTABLE RESULTS |
|---|---|---|
| Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN China | SP: 81.27 FS: 155.60 Total: 234.84 | 2x World Champions 2nd 2018 Olympics 6x Four Continents Champions |
| Cheng PENG / Yang JIN China | SP: 75.96 FS: 141.21 Total: 216.90 | 5th 2021 Worlds 2nd 2020 Four Continents |
| Nicole DELLA MONICA / Matteo GUARISE Italy | SP: 73.70 FS: 131.51 Total: 205.14 | 8th 2021 Worlds 10th 2018 Olympic Games |
| Alina PEPELEVA / Roman PLESHKOV Russia | SP: 67.06 FS: 121.73 Total: 188.79 | 6th 2021 Skate America 5th 2019 Junior GPF |
| Iuliia ARTEMEVA / Mikhail NAZARYCHEV Russia | SP: 70.26 FS: 117.39 Total: 179.83 | 3rd 2020 Junior Worlds 2021 Junior National Champions |
| Annika HOCKE / Robert KUNKEL Germany | SP: 63.57 FS: 109.10 Total: 168.21 | 13th 2021 Worlds 4th 2020 Junior Worlds |
| Rebecca GHILARDI / Filippo AMBROSINI Italy | SP: 59.62 FS: 108.59 Total: 163.74 | 17th 2021 Worlds 8th 2020 Europeans |
| Sara CONTI / Niccolo MACII Italy | SP: 53.96 FS: 90.77 Total: 143.44 | 2x National bronze medalists 5th 2021 Lombardia Trophy |
Ice Dance
In the ice dance, the main attraction is the return of Papadakis and Cizeron after sitting out all of last season. The French duo should be a lock for gold barring major disaster. The interesting battle will be between Hubbell/Donohue and Stepanova/Bukin for silver and bronze. Conversation about the Olympic bronze medal has largely focused on the North American teams, but Russians Stepanova and Bukin could move into that category as well with some strong performances over the next few weeks.
Finally, a potential surprise could come in the form of Americans Caroline Green and Michael Parsons who reached fourth place at Skate Canada with a breakout free dance. Should that energy continue and their scores rise further, they could be a real threat moving forward.
The Field
| TEAM/COUNTRY | BEST SCORES | NOTABLE RESULTS |
|---|---|---|
| Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON France | RD: 90.03 FD: 136.58 Total: 226.61 | 4x World Champions 5x European Champions 2nd 2018 Olympic Games |
| Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE USA | RD: 86.05 FD: 128.66 Total: 214.71 | 2nd 2021 Worlds 2021 National Champions 3rd 2019 GPF |
| Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN Russia | RD: 84.07 FD: 127.64 Total: 211.29 | 5th 2021 Worlds 4x European medalists |
| Shiyue WANG / Xinyu LIU China | RD: 77.45 FD: 119.30 Total: 196.75 | 13th 2021 Worlds 4th 2020 Four Continents |
| Caroline GREEN / Michael PARSONS USA | RD: 74.18 FD: 114.50 Total: 188.43 | 4th 2021 Skate Canada 4th 2021 Nationals |
| Carolane SOUCISSE / Shane FIRUS Canada | RD: 73.32 FD: 110.06 Total: 181.39 | 2nd 2018 4CC 3rd 2021 Nationals |
| Katharina MUELLER / Tim DIECK Germany | RD: 68.47 FD: 106.02 Total: 173.74 | 18th 2021 Worlds 13th 2020 Europeans |
| Evgeniia LOPAREVA / Geoffrey BRISSAUD France | RD: 67.43 FD: 102.90 Total: 169.70 | 17th 2021 Worlds 10th 2019 Junior Worlds |
| Hong CHEN / Zhuoming SUN China | RD: 63.22 FD: 101.08 Total: 162.91 | 8th 2019 Four Continents 2x National silver medalists |
| Carolina MOSCHENI / Francesco FIORETTI Italy | RD: 60.60 FD: 86.92 Total: 140.56 | 25th 2021 Worlds |
Triple Figure 