Salt Lake City, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, kicks off the 2015-16 ISU Challenger Series this week with the 2015 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. In its second year, the set of competitions known as the Challenger Series was created as a complement to the Grand Prix Series, which features many of the top skaters in the world.
The U.S. Classic is the first of the ten competitions and the only one held outside Europe. And with the Grand Prix Series still over a month away, a number of top skaters will be using this event and the next few Challenger competitions as a warm up for the season ahead. Here's a preview.
MEN
World junior champion Shoma Uno begins his first full season on the senior ranks. He faces two former U.S. silver medalists, Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner, both of whom are looking to get their seasons off to a solid start. Joining his American teammates will be Timothy Dolensky, who had a solid domestic pre-season competition at Skate Detroit. And if you're into big jumping, Israel's young upstart Daniel Samohin will be bringing some quad firepower to Salt Lake City this week.
- MEN ENTRANTS
- Andrew Dodds AUS
- Jordan Dodds AUS
- Brendan Kerry AUS
- Christophe Belley-Lemelin CAN
- Bella Papp FIN
- Leslie Ip HKB
- Alexei Bychenko ISR
- Daniel Samohin ISR
- Carlo Vittorio Palermo ITA
- Keiji Tanaka JPN
- Shoma Uno JPN
- Lukas Kaugars LAT
- Michael Christian Martinez PHI
- Javier Raya ESP
- Yaroslav Paniot UKR
- Timothy Dolensky USA
- Richard Dornbush USA
- Ross Miner USA
LADIES
World silver medalist Satoko Miyahara and four-time Japanese medalist Kanako Murakami headline the ladies event as they take on Americans Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, and Angela Wang at home. Chen, the surprise U.S. bronze medalist last season, is coming off a strong showing at Golden West, a domestic competition in California. Kazakhstan's Elizabet Tursynbaeva, who finished fourth at Junior Worlds last season, will also be in the field.
- LADIES ENTRANTS
- Brooklee Han AUS
- Isadora Williams BRA
- Veronik Mallet CAN
- Selena Zhao CAN
- Amy Lin TPE
- Johanna Allik EST
- Maisy Hiu Ching Ma HKG
- Tiffany Chitring Yim HKG
- Aimee Buchanan ISR
- Katarina Kulgeyko ISR
- Netta Schreiber ISR
- Satoko Miyahara JPN
- Kanako Murakami JPN
- Elizabet Tursynbaeva KAZ
- Frances Clare Untalan PHI
- Sonia Lafuente ESP
- Yasmine Kimiko Yamada SUI
- Anastasia Kononenko UKR
- Mariah Bell USA
- Karen Chen USA
- Angela Wang USA
PAIRS/DANCE
It's very much a Canadian vs. American affair in the pairs competition, with Canadians Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro leading the Canadians in Salt Lake City. The American team boasts U.S. bronze medalists Tarah Kayne/Daniel O'Shea, Gretchen Donlan/Nathan Bartholomay, and Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran. In ice dance, U.S. bronze medalists Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue will be favored alongside Denmark's Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen. The two teams finished 10th and 11th at last season's Worlds.
- PAIRS ENTRANTS
- Paris Stephens/Matthew Dodds AUS
- Vanessa Grenier/Maxime Deschamps CAN
- Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro CAN
- Adel Tankova/Evgeni Krasnopolski ISR
- Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran USA
- Gretchen Donlan/Nathan Bartholomay USA
- Tarah Kayne/Daniel O'Shea USA - DANCE ENTRANTS
- Emily Pike/Patrick Adderley AUS
- Brianna Delmaestro/Timothy Lum CAN
- Elisabeth Paradis/Francois-Xavier Ouellette CAN
- Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen DEN
- Kimberly Berkovich/Ronald Zilberberg ISR
- Taylor Tran/Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU
- Alexandra Nazarova/Maxim Nikitin UKR
- Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue USA
- Danielle Thomas/Daniel Eaton USA