If you are just emerging from the slumber that is the post-Olympic off-season, you may be surprised to hear that the biggest thing to hit figure skating in quite a while happened last month. World junior champion Ilia Malinin made quite the declaration at US International Classic, where he attempted his first quad axel in competition—and landed his (and anyone’s) first quad axel in competition. He stood on the shoulders of the giants before him—most prominently, Yuzuru Hanyu, who chased that quad axel for the past few years before he decided to move on with his career this summer—and catapulted himself into the history books.
But it won’t be just Malinin in this field who will look to impress. Skate America, the first Grand Prix of the season, brings together a fantastic lineup of men, both veterans and newbies.
2022 Skate America predictions
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FIRST QUAD AXEL IN HISTORY FOR ILIA MALININhttps://t.co/CSdVMaVPHe #USIntlClassic pic.twitter.com/ylyfhAUMlD
— Jackie Wong (@rockerskating) September 15, 2022
GOLD Ilia Malinin USA - When Malinin stepped onto the ice at US Classic, it was not what we eventually ended up seeing. His short program was something of a disaster as he fell on his first two jumps and ended up sixth going in to the free. But that quad axel changed it all - he made history, won the event, then went on to finish a very close second to Shoma Uno two weeks ago at Japan Open. No doubt, he comes in as the favorite to win his first Skate America title.
SILVER Junhwan Cha KOR - Fifth in Beijing last season, Cha has had an upward trajectory already this season. Skate America will be his third event, after a second at Nepela Memorial, then a win two weeks ago at Finlandia. He looks to have his feet under him and ready to roll. Cha has won four bronze medals in the Grand Prix in his career, but never silver or gold. He will be looking to change that this week.
BRONZE Koshiro Shimada JPN - Shimada has always been an all-around talent, but unlike some of his peers, he hasn’t had that one season where everything clicked and he moved up a whole bunch of notches. Instead, he’s been slow and steady, but every season has been something of an upward trajectory, even through some nagging injuries. Shimada is a late replacement for an injured Yuma Kagiyama. But he started with silver at Lombardia this season, and will be looking for a first Grand Prix medal.
4. Kao Miura JPN - Third at Japan Open behind Uno and Malinin, Miura has become one to watch for the Japanese men over the past couple of years. After all, he is following in the footsteps of other Japanese junior champs like Hanyu, Kagiyama, and Uno. He has proven to be something of a wild card at times, but when he’s on, he’s got some very effortless jumps.
5. Roman Sadovsky CAN - At the tail end of a VERY topsy-turvy Olympic season, Sadovsky redeemed himself with a 12th place finish at Worlds. And this season has already given him one of his best career skates, with a clean short program at Nebelhorn Trophy that almost earned him a personal best score.
6. Sena Miyake JPN - Miyake has not skated internationally yet this season, but his one showing was at Regionals, where he took second to Kazuki Tomono. He seemed prepared but perhaps not quite conditioned yet for the free. With two more weeks to prep, he may be closer to the form he showed last season.
7. Daniel Grassl ITA - A big question mark for Grassl this week - and it’s not because of his coaching change during the off-season. He pulled out of his free skate at US Classic last month with an injury after taking a couple hard falls, and so his condition this week is up in the air.
8. Mihhail Selevko EST - The younger Selevko brother showed last year at Worlds that he is not only competitive with his brother, but also competitive with the best in the world. He finished 15th at Worlds and was most recently fourth at Finlandia Trophy.
9. Liam Kapeikis USA - Eighth at Nebelhorn Trophy, Kapeikis has shown some very solid skating in his young career so far. A couple of clean skates will go a long way for his confidence and his trajectory in his senior international debut season.
10. Donovan Carrillo MEX - Carrillo has had a lot of firsts for Mexico. This week, he will be the first Mexican male singles skater to skate on the Grand Prix Series, and the first Mexican skater since 2006 compete on the Grand Prix (Michele Cantu at Skate America). He was eighth at US Classic last month.
11. Wesley Chiu CAN - Tenth at US Classic last month, the Canadian bronze medalist is looking to follow up a successful last season on the junior circuit with a solid senior season debut. If he can find some of the great skating he put down last season, he can make some noise in Norwood this week.
12. Dinh Tran USA - Just announced as a replacement for Eric Sjoberg today, Tran makes his Grand Prix debut this week after an already busy season. He took seventh at Lombardia Trophy and 13th at Finlandia Trophy.