The ice dance fields on the Grand Prix series this season continue to impress. This week at Gran Premio d’Italia, we have three of the teams expected to contend for Olympic medals this year, including four-time World champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron.
2021 Gran Premio d’Italia predictions
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GOLD Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron FRA - Up until 2020 Europeans, it seemed unlikely that anyone would be up to challenge Papadakis/Cizeron on their sprint toward the Olympic title in Beijing. But their loss to Sinitsina/Katsalapov at that European Championships changed the potential trajectory. And though they are not up against Sinitsina/Katsalapov this week, every competition, every point, and every level they get this season will have some impact on their trajectory to the Olympics. Expect them to be the winners this week, but the margin of victory will be of most interest.
SILVER Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue USA - With gold at Skate America two weeks ago, another medal here for Hubbell/Donohue will almost assure them of a Grand Prix Final spot. Their free dance season continues their upward trajectory and is their best material in years. They will be looking to see how well they can challenge Papadakis/Cizeron, as every competition among the best in the world gives them a better idea of how well they will be able to challenge for an Olympic medal in Beijing.
BRONZE Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin RUS - A lot of question marks around how ready Stepanova/Bukin are this season - they had to withdraw from their domestic events and from Finlandia Trophy this season because of medical reasons, so this will be their first competition of the season. Given how strict the panels have been so far, debuting at a Grand Prix will make it more difficult for them to challenge the other two top teams here, both of whom have been in front of judges already this season.
4. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons USA - In their third season together, Green/Parsons have continued to gel and are becoming a much stronger team, in addition to being strong individual ice dancers. Their free dance this season is eye-opening, and it’s got the potential to really propel them into the conversation. They are going back-to-back from a fourth place finish at Skate Canada last week.
5. Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu CHN - Gold at Asian Open a few weeks ago, Wang/Liu have been making a steady ascent over the past few seasons on the international stage, finishing a career-high 13th at Worlds in March. Their skating has improved visibly since moving to Montreal to train, and they will be the favorites to make the Olympic team for China.
6. Katharina Mueller/Tim Dieck GER - The German champs were 18th in their debut Worlds earlier this year, and they are putting down some of the best scores of their career so far in this Olympic season. They took silver at home at Nebelhorn Trophy.
7. Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus CAN - Seventh at Skate America to start the Grand Prix, Soucisee/Firus enter their second GP of the season with a good amount of competition under their belts. They will be looking to continue refining their elements as they approach the second half of the season.
8. Hong Chen/Zhuoming Sun CHN - The two-time Chinese silver medalists took second behind Wang/Liu at Asian Open a few weeks back. They finished as high as eighth on the Grand Prix series two years ago at Cup of China.
9. Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud FRA - Lopareva/Brissaud were 17th in their Worlds debut last season. And after the split of Galyavieva/Thauron, they are now the clear second in command ice dance team in France.
10. Carolina Moscheni/Francesco Fioretti ITA - The Italian silver medalists are competing in their second season together. They were 16th at Lombardia Trophy earlier this season.