2022 MK John Wilson Trophy preview: Scenarios abound

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The fourth Grand Prix event on the series, and it’s the newest one. Sheffield, England, hosts the first MK John Wilson Trophy this week, and the men’s and women’s events have a number of realistic podiums. And though there are clear favorites in the pairs and dance events, the dance event, in particular, will be very competitive among the top teams.

2022 MK John Wilson Trophy predictions
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Men predictions
GOLD Daniel Grassl ITA
SILVER Morisi Kvitelashvili GEO
BRONZE Shun Sato JPN
4. Koshiro Shimada JPN
5. Roman Sadovsky CAN
6. Deniss Vasiljevs LAT
7. Jimmy Ma USA
8. Tatsuya Tsuboi JPN
9. Tomoki Hiwatashi USA
10. Corey Circelli CAN
11. Graham Newberry GBR
12. Edward Appleby GBR

The men’s event has the potential to be completely chaotic. On any given day, half of this field could take the title and no one would blink an eye. But that’s also why clean or near-clean skates will prevail here—it’s the case for the men’s event in general, but even more so here with this unpredictable field. Daniel Grassl put down strong skates at Skate America three weeks ago, and look to be the favorite on paper. But perhaps the guy who could be the biggest spoiler here is Shun Sato, who has had that opportunity to break through but had some bad luck last season.

Pairs predictions
GOLD Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier USA
SILVER Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii ITA
BRONZE Anastasiia Metelkina/Daniil Parkman GEO
4. Letizia Roscher/Luis Schuster GER
5. Katie McBeath/Nathan Bartholomay USA
6. Irma Caldara/Riccardo Maglio ITA
7. Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby GBR

There’s a clear favorite in the pairs’ event in Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier, who really are looking at this event as a springboard to their first Grand Prix Final together. Italian bronze medalists Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii are having a breakout season so far, and look strong for silver. The bronze could go any way.

Women predictions
GOLD Mai Mihara JPN
SILVER Isabeau Levito USA
BRONZE Anastasiia Gubanova GEO
4. Young You KOR
5. Bradie Tennell USA
6. Ekaterina Kurakova POL
7. Alexia Paganini SUI
8. Gabriella Izzo USA
9. Gabrielle Daleman CAN
10. Nicole Schott GER
11. Natasha McKay GBR
12. Julia Sauter ROU

The women’s field is incredibly deep, but perhaps it’s about time for two-time Four Continents champion Mai Mihara to finally win her first Grand Prix title. But if Isabeau Levito can leave some of the jitters she had at Skate America behind, or if Anastasiia Gubanova can put together a clean free here, or if Young You can get her rotations cleaner, any of them could win it all too. Perhaps the biggest wildcard is Bradie Tennell, back for her first competition since 2021 Worlds.

Dance predictions
GOLD Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR
SILVER Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA
BRONZE Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha CAN
4. Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko USA
5. Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler CZE
6. Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya GEO
7. Haley Sales/Nikolas Wamsteeker CAN
8. Oona Brown/Gage Brown USA
9. Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer CAN
10. Mariia Holubtsova/Kyryl Bielobrov UKR

Like the women’s field, the ice dance field this week is also stacked. And could it happen that the home crowd can propel the home team to their first title? British ice dance have not had international potential like Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson in a long time, and they’ve been getting big scores this season. On paper, Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri can definitely walk away with gold, but this season has seen some surprise performances and results in the dance event, and this week could turn some heads.