In years past, we knew what the Grand Prix Final would look like for the women—it would be majority from Russia and perhaps one or two qualifiers from Japan. It would also be full of teenagers. This year’s Final looks very different with the ban of Russian skaters from ISU events, not only in nationality but also in age. Belgium qualifies its first ever women’s GPF spot with Loena Hendrickx and their first since Kevin van der Perren was in the Final in 2007. And though Kaori Sakamoto comes in as the World champ, there’s nothing clear about what the outcome will be.
2022 Grand Prix Final predictions
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GOLD Kaori Sakamoto JPN - The World champion has shown signs of her World champion self, but perhaps there have been some growing pains this season as she gets used to being the favorite at every competition she enters. She has had mistakes in pretty much every program that she’s skated this season so far, and most recently, her free skate at NHK Trophy was probably the worst she’s put down in over a year. She knows how to bounce back, and this week will be prime time for her to do that. Like in the men’s event, there’s only one skater in this field who has Final experience, and that’s Sakamoto.
SILVER Mai Mihara JPN - How Mihara is only qualifying for her first Grand Prix Final is beyond me. She’s been a consistent presence on the Grand Prix for the past six years, but she’s never had the kind of success that she has this season. She’s also the only skater this season to win two Grand Prix titles. But like Sakamoto, she will be looking to come back from a subpar showing in her last Grand Prix free skate.
BRONZE Loena Hendrickx BEL - The World silver medalist has been making a lot of history for Belgium, and qualifying for the Final is yet another milestone in her career and for her country. As is the theme of this field so far, Hendrickx also had a not-so-great last program coming into the Grand Prix Final. But of these top three, she’s got the big jumping to match Sakamoto’s.
4. Isabeau Levito USA - Two silvers on the Grand Prix in her debut season got Levito to the Final, and though she’s been strong this season so far, she has yet to put down two clean skates in one event. That will be key this week, and could be her ticket to the podium, especially given some of the inconsistency we’ve seen from the other top women this season.
5. Yelim Kim KOR - Kim became the first Korean skater to win a Grand Prix event at NHK Trophy since Yuna Kim won her last one at the 2009 Grand Prix Final, and she did it by besting Sakamoto. But she does come in having just finished off the podium at home at last week’s ranking competition in South Korea, so not the most positive trajectory for her going into the Final.
6. Rinka Watanabe JPN - She’s had some big wins this season—once over Sakamoto at Lombardia Trophy and then once at Skate Canada in her very first Grand Prix event. But Watanabe, of all the skaters here, has been more prone to errors this season. She’s got some very difficult content in her programs and will be the only one in this field trying a triple axel (and in both programs). She will need both axels and cleaner skating than she had at NHK Trophy to get herself into the conversation.