Just about three weeks to go before the Winter Olympics start in Beijing, and two ISU Championships are happening in the next two weeks. Both will take place in Tallinn, Estonia, and this week’s event will be the European Championships, followed by the Four Continents Championships next week. Combining COVID and the fact that the Olympics are so close, the event this week will be less stacked than it otherwise would have been - there have already been withdrawals, due to injury, due to COVID, and due to trying to not get COVID.
It will be an interesting event, and like last week’s US Nationals, one that may have ramifications beyond just medals and momentum heading into Beijing.
2022 Europeans predictions
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MEN Top 10 Predictions
GOLD Andrei Mozalev RUS
SILVER Kevin Aymoz FRA
BRONZE Evgeni Semenenko RUS
4. Mark Kondratiuk RUS
5. Deniss Vasiljevs LAT
6. Daniel Grassl ITA
7. Michal Brezina CZE
8. Morisi Kvitelashvili GEO
9. Vladimir Litvintsev AZE
10. Arlet Levandi EST
The withdrawal of Mikhail Kolyada due to injury opened the door for Andrei Mozalev to get the skate-off agains Evgeni Semenenko that he was originally not going to get. Mozalev won bronze at Russian Nationals over Semenenko, but Semenenko was chosen for the Europeans team, likely due to his stronger season. Russia often chooses teams based on most recent result rather than looking at what happened over the season, but that was not the case with Semenenko. Mozalev has been gaining confidence and consistency all season, and a win here could change the tune for the Olympics.
Speaking of momentum, Kevin Aymoz had a horrendous start to his season after injury in the off-season and then again at Skate America. He’s taken a beating in his confidence with some really poor performances while trying to recover from injury, but he turned it around in his free skate at French Nationals. He comes into his first Europeans after a disastrous short program two years ago.
WOMEN Top 10 Predictions
GOLD Kamila Valieva RUS
SILVER Alexandra Trusova RUS
BRONZE Anna Shcherbakova RUS
4. Loena Hendrickx BEL
5. Anastasiia Gubanova GEO
6. Niina Petrokina EST
7. Jenni Saarinen FIN
8. Victoriia Safonova BLR
9. Alexia Paganini SUI
10. Ekaterina Ryanova AZE
Is there anything but a Russian sweep expected here? Well, on paper, it seems to be the case. But with high-difficulty programs, you may not be so sure. Kamila Valieva is the odds-on favorite for the title in her Europeans debut, and it will be up to Alexandra Trusova to outjump her to prevent that from happening. Anna Shcherbakova comes in after a less than ideal showing at Russian Nationals, and will look to rebound. The next to challenge? Loena Hendrickx, who can sneak in there if there are mistakes made by the top three.
PAIRS Top 5 Predictions
GOLD Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov RUS
SILVER Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii RUS
BRONZE Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov RUS
4. Laura Barquero/Marco Zandron ESP
5. Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nolan Seegert GER
Chances are pretty high for a Russian sweep in the pairs event as well, with the top three here very much Olympic podium contenders. The order will be of note - will Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov be able to continue their dominance over the other two pairs this season? Will Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii build on the momentum they got at Russian Nationals? And will Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov avoid errors? If they do, they have the most complete package of the three pairs.
DANCE Top 10 Predictions
GOLD Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov RUS
SILVER Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin RUS
BRONZE Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA
4. Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz ESP
5. Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR
6. Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin ESP
7. Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin RUS
8. Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud FRA
9. Allison Reed/Saulisu Ambrulevicius LTU
10. Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis FIN
With Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron opting out to avoid contracting COVID, Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov seem poised for a second European title. Many will be curious about the condition of his back injury, which forced them out of Russian Nationals after the rhythm dance. The podium should be clear with Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin and Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri fighting it out for silver should Sinitsina/Katsalapov be clean or near clean.
The battle of interest will be the battle for the sole Spanish berth to the Olympics between Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz and Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin. Smart/Diaz have won their two previous head-to-heads, which also served as part of the Olympic qualification criteria. They hold a point total lead of just over nine points, so not only do Hurtado/Khaliavin have to beat Smart/Diaz here, they will have to beat them by over nine points - a tall task. The other storyline of note - how will Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin score going into the Olympics?