2022 World Championships preview (dance): Going for number five

The ice dance event will be the sole event of the four at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships to feature the Olympic champions. And after their victory in Beijing, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron are the heavy favorites for their fifth World title, which would put them in second all-time in World dance titles behind Lyudmila Pakhomova/Aleksandr Gorshkov from the 1970s. And like the men’s event, even without the Russian dance teams here, the field is so deep that there will not be a lack of exciting performances and intriguing storylines in Montpellier.

2022 Worlds predictions
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GOLD Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron FRA - This is a victory lap for the Olympic champions and four-time World champions. And even though they won that Olympic gold that eluded them four years ago, they have been squarely focused on these Worlds because they are taking place at home. They will bring the house down, especially with their rhythm dance, their way to title #5.

SILVER Madison Chock/Evan Bates USA - It’s been six years since their last World medal, and Chock/Bates have been moving their way back up in the standings through figuring out their strengths and discovering a new creative side that has come out over the past four years. Had it not been for a slip in their rhythm dance at the Olympics, the results there may have turned out a bit different. Either way, it will be a close race for silver between the two American teams.

BRONZE Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue USA - And the other Americans are the Olympic bronze medalists, who put down some of the best skating in their career to win that individual Olympic medal last month. They spent their last four years trying new things, only to realize that their path was actually about building on the style that made them distinctive. And they went back to that and figured it out again right in time for the Olympic season. They have made it very clear that this will be their last competition, and it will surely be an emotion one.

4. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier CAN - Beijing was not what they had hoped for - low levels in the rhythm dance and errors in the free dance took them out of the running completely, and they finished well off the podium, despite having taken bronze last year at Worlds. They have gone back home and retooled their RD, and will be looking to put in a better finish this week in their ninth Worlds appearance.

5. Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA - What they don’t have as much of in their power versus the other top teams they make up for in their quiet and deep edges. They took fifth at the Olympics and have a shot at the podium, but their biggest competition here will likely be against Gilles/Poirier.

6. Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz ESP - The Spaniards were one of the stars in ice dance from the Olympics. After their free dance, I witnessed a group of people outside the arena reenacting the sword fight in the cold of the Beijing evening. It was a sight to behold, and so is that free dance. Whether they continue after this season or not remains to be seen, but a top 10 (and a second Spanish dance spot) is finally going to happen after all these years.

7. Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR - After two seasons of exponential growth, where they saw themselves go from 24th at 2018 Worlds to 13th at 2019 Worlds to 7th last year, Fear/Gibson are trying to find their way to the next tier. It hasn’t quite happened yet, and they’ve had some growing pains this year adjusting to their new standing in the world of ice dance.

8. Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen CAN - Ninth at the Olympics, the Canadian silver medalists come in with the opportunity to be in the top six, The battle will definitely be tight, and they will need to be cleaner than they were in the free dance in Beijing to make that happen.

9. Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker USA - Top 10 at their three Worlds appearances, Hawayek/Baker got to experience their ultimate dream of going to the Olympics. They are going to be riding that high all the way to another top ten at Worlds this week.

10. Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi JPN - Nope, this isn’t even wishful thinking. There’s a logjam of teams who are all right around the same scoring potential that Muramoto/Takahashi are part of. If they can get themselves on the right track with a strong rhythm dance, which has been their biggest issue in their last two events, they’ve got a great shot. They scored right above 180 at Four Continents, which is at the higher end of this group of teams’ scoring potential.