It’s been under the radar this season so far, but it will be in full view this week in the pairs’ event at Rostelecom Cup. Former Olympic and World silver medalist Ksenia Stolbova is back, and her highly-anticipated return will bolster the home team’s chances at sweeping the podium.
Rostelecom Cup predictions
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GOLD Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitri Kozlovskii RUS - With their first Grand Prix title under their belt from Skate Canada, Boikova/Kozlovskii are looking to go back-to-back and book their place in the Grand Prix Final. They have looked confident and well-trained so far this season, and though we have Olympic medalists in the field, it’s Boikova/Kozlovskii who come in as the favorites.
SILVER Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov RUS - After a coaching switch to Marina Zueva, Tarasova/Morozov hasn’t found the sweet spot yet this season. Lifts, in particular, have been a problem for them in the two competitions that they’ve skated in so far. Rostelecom Cup is a chance for redemption for them, especially coming off a bronze at Skate Canada, their lowest finish in a non-Final Grand Prix since 2016.
BRONZE Ksenia Stolbova/Andrei Novoselov RUS - It’s been almost two years since we last saw Stolbova in competition with her former partner Fedor Klimov. Many wondered if both of them had retired from skating - Klimov said he did, but Stolbova never indicated either way. And so it was to many’s excitement when she and Novoselov competed in the Russian test skates earlier this season. Novoselov has been skating for France for the past four seasons, and now with Stolbova, has the opportunity to really become one of the best in the world. We saw it with Aljona Savchenko when she took on former French pairs skater Bruno Massot. Will we see the same with Stolbova and Novoselov?
4. Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer AUT - Fifth at Internationaux de France two weeks ago, they were finally able to put together a free skate that they felt good about. Their Challengers events earlier in the season were disappointments, but they are looking to build on the momentum that they got in France.
5. Audrey Lu/Misha Mitrofanov USA - They were fifth at US Classic to start their season and have had another two months of training time before their Grand Prix appearance.
6. Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nolan Seegert GER - It wasn’t the Grand Prix that they were looking for in France two weeks ago. They have shown a lot of promise in the past couple of seasons, and will hope to bounce back in Russia this week.
7. Evelyn Walsh/Trennt Michaud CAN - Much like last season, the Canadian silver medalists are starting their season a bit slower and more inconsistent than they had hoped. They were eighth at Skate Canada last month.
8. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA - The Italian silver medalists were eighth at Internationaux de France and just took their first title together at Volvo Open Cup last week.