2022 World Championships preview (pairs): First time ever?

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Of all the disciplines at the 2022 World Championships, the one that is the most twilight zone-y compared to the Olympics is pairs - and that’s because the ban on the Russian team takes out three of the top pairs, and then the decision of China not to send any skaters to Worlds takes out another two of the top pairs. And so that makes for one very intriguing conclusion - Japan could win its first ever World pairs title or the United States could win its first World pairs title in 43 years. Three pairs go into Montpellier this week with a very realistic path to their first World title.

2022 Worlds predictions
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GOLD Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara JPN - The last time (and only time) Japan won a medal in pairs at Worlds was in 2012, when Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran took bronze. A podium finish for the Japanese champs would be historic already, but gold would make so much history, especially for a country that has always been much more about singles skating than pairs or dance. But precedence is what inspires future skaters, and a Miura/Kihara title here could do a lot to ignite the Japanese pairs program for the future.

SILVER Ashley Cain-Gribble/Timothy LeDuc USA - If there’s anything we know about Cain-Gribble/LeDuc, it’s that they always seem to take adversity and spin it into something spectacular. Their two US titles came on the heels of potentially season-ending and career-threatening issues - in 2019, it was a scary fall and a concussion that almost took them out of the season before they won their first national title; this year, it was COVID that almost derailed their entire season before winning their second title in January. And here, they are coming back after Cain-Gribble injured her right ankle in practice at the Olympics. They took eighth in Beijing, and have a great look at the podium this week.

BRONZE Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier USA - In only their second season together, Knierim/Frazier have managed to notch the highest Olympic finish - sixth - for an American pair since 2002. Their pairing has been one of the smoothest new pairings in recent memory, and they have their own shot at World title glory this week. If the two American pairs to end up on the World podium together, it would be the first time that’s happened since 1949, when the World Championships was coincidentally also held in France.

4. Karina Safina/Luka Berulava GEO - Ninth in Beijing, Safina/Berulava was picked for Worlds over their teammates, Anastasiia Metelkina/Daniil Parkman, who were originally entered for Georgia when the preliminary entries came out. They have had a superb first season together, going from medaling on the Junior Grand Prix series to qualifying a spot for Georgia for the Olympics to getting fourth at Europeans to having a top 10 debut at the Olympics.

5. Vanessa James/Eric Radford CAN - Of all the pair skaters here, Radford is the only one who has ever stepped on top of the World podium. He’s here with James, who is a World medalist herself, and have a chance at a top five finish.

6. Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nolan Seegert GER - A lot of unknowns here for Hase/Seegert, who had a harrowing Olympics after Seegert tested positive for COVID right when he arrived in Beijing and had to isolate for ten days. Their free skate showed just how exhausted he was from COVID, the isolation, and not being able to train. They’ve had four weeks since to recover, and at their best, they are a top five threat.

7. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA - After placing a career-high fifth at Europeans this season, Ghilardi/Ambrosini had a disastrous short program in Beijing and almost didn’t make it out of the short program. They climbed back up to finish 14th but are looking to finish their season on a stronger note.

8. Evelyn Walsh/Trennt Michaud CAN - Speaking of unknowns, we haven’t seen Walsh/Michaud since late January, when they took bronze at Four Continents. If they can put together two clean skates here, they are outsiders for a top five finish. But through this inconsistent season, they’ve had one strong competition, and that was at Canadian Nationals. They want to replicate those performances here.

9. Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer AUT - In what could be their final season, Ziegler/Kiefer have dealt with a lot of setbacks this season, one of which was Kiefer’s wrist fracture during practice at Europeans. He recovered in time for the Olympics but they made too many mistakes in the short to carry them into the free.

— Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore withdrew on 3/22

10. Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore AUS - They showed lots of potential in their first season together on the Junior Grand Prix, and now Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore make their Senior Worlds debut with a shot at a top ten finish.