The women’s event at this week’s 2022 Skate America will mark Kaori Sakamoto’s first Grand Prix event as a World champion and US bronze medalist Isabeau Levito’s Grand Prix debut in her first senior international season. Both come in with different but both big expectations for this season, and Skate America will be a good gauge of how they fare early in this season. There are also some comeback stories and some newcomer excitement to be had - this field has a little something for everyone.
2022 Skate America predictions
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GOLD Kaori Sakamoto JPN - A new look in many respects—choreography, hairstyle, and of course, the title of World champion—Sakamoto comes in after a surprise silver at Lombardia Trophy, where she had a couple of mistakes and ended up second to two fantastic skates from Rinka Watanabe. But we’ve often seen her less than her best at early Challenger events, and she looked much more like herself two weeks ago at Japan Open. She’s the favorite coming into this week in Norwood.
SILVER Isabeau Levito USA - With Mariah Bell retired and Karen Chen not skating this season, Levito has taken on the mantle of being the leading American woman, and she is the best hope for the US women here to get on the podium. She’s shown some solid skating so far with two wins already, one at Philly Summer International and another at Nepela Memorial just three weeks ago. Full rotations will be key for her this week as she looks to mark her Grand Prix debut with a first Grand Prix medal.
BRONZE Rino Matsuike JPN - No international events yet, but we caught a glimpse of Matsuike late last month at Chubu Regionals in Japan, where she won gold over the likes of Mana Kawabe and a still-on-the-mend Rika Kihira. She was starting to rediscover her form late last season after injury derailed her Grand Prix last year, and now she’s got a chance to start this season off on a much stronger note.
4. Haein Lee KOR - With a bronze at Nepela and a fourth at Finlandia, you’d think just based on those results that they were similarly skated. But in fact, Nepela was a scattering of mistakes for Lee, and Finlandia was much more up to par for her. So she comes into Skate America on the heels of those better skates in Finland, and at her best, she’s very much a medal contender this week.
5. Ahsun Yun KOR - The last we saw Yun was at Junior Worlds, where she just missed out on a spot on the podium and finished fourth. She’s been one of the big up-and-coming talents coming out of South Korea, and she makes her debut on the senior circuit here this week. It could be a breakout skate for her.
6. Amber Glenn USA - So far this season, the short program hasn’t been her friend, as she’s had to dig out of a short program deficit in both competitions that she’s skated in so far. She’s certainly not shy about chasing that triple axel, which she’s done successfully in practice but yet to hit in international competition. Her mindset is always key, and perhaps her coaching change for this season will get her in a good state of mind.
7. Ekaterina Kurakova POL - Her bronze at Lombardia was a generally strong showing, especially in the free skate, but then two weeks ago, her free skate at Japan Open showed that inconsistent side of her skating that has kept her from making big strides. She has a shot at a top five finish here this week if she can put some consistency together.
8. Gracie Gold USA - Will we see the Gracie Gold who surprised everyone with a superb first competition in August? Or will we see the Gracie Gold who looked tentative at Nebelhorn Trophy a month after that? At Philadelphia Summer International, Gold his a clean short on her way to her biggest score in six years. Many saw that event as something of a renaissance for her in international competition. Based on that event alone, she seems trained and ready for the new season.
9. Nicole Schott GER - Schott showed off some career-best skating last season, finishing in the top 10 at Worlds for the first time to finish her Olympic season. But her season so far has gotten off to a slow start, with a tenth-place finish at Budapest Trophy last weekend.
10. Eliska Brezinova CZE - After a brilliant Olympics, the always-unpredictable Brezinova didn’t end up getting out of the short program at Worlds. She’s had something of a dismal start to her season, but looked more like herself last week at Tayside Trophy. Still, she will need to be a good bit sharper to get into the top 10 here.
11. Marilena Kitromilis CYP - Around this time last year, Kitromilis had a breakthrough showing at Autumn Classic and seemed to establish herself as someone to keep an eye on, but her results since that event have not yet lived up to her potential. She was ninth at US Classic last month to start her season.
12. Yeongjeong Park KOR - Park had a brilliant competition last year at US Classic, but subsequently couldn’t find consistency for the rest of the season. Her first event this season was a subpar showing at SEA Open, where she didn’t quite look as conditioned as she needed to be. It’s been another 6 weeks since that event, so a lot could have changed.