The men’s event at this week’s Four Continents Championships has a great deal of intrigue. Part of it is the emergence during the national championship season of names that didn’t really figure into the conversations earlier on in the season. Part of it is the return of one two-time World medalist in the name of Boyang Jin. And part of it is just the sheer number of ways all of these results could shake out. It may not have all the big names, but it’s got a lot of talented skaters ready to prove a point.
2023 Four Continents men predictions
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GOLD Junhwan Cha KOR - Now a seven-time Korean champion, Cha enters Four Continents with the most well-rounded set of programs of this field. He doesn’t have the quad count of Miura or Sato, but he can make up for that with his strong basics and musicality. If he can set himself up well with a short program like he skated at Korean Nationals, he has a really good shot at becoming the first man to successfully defend this title.
SILVER Kao Miura JPN - After a brilliant breakthrough start to his season, Miura took himself completely out of the running for the World team after faltering in the short program at Japan Nationals. He rallied to finish second in the free skate, but his overall sixth-place finish was not enough to warrant the Worlds spot. Four Continents is something of a consolation prize for him, and he’s got a shot at winning this title if he can find some of that momentum he had early in the season.
BRONZE Koshiro Shimada JPN - It’s on everyone’s minds whether Shimada can repeat the strong skating at Japan Nationals that took him to the silver medal there. The decision of the selection committee to leave him off the World team despite that second-place finish stirred up a lot of emotions around the skating community. A strong skate here could set him up well for next season; and he’s already been assigned Coupe du Printemps the week before Worlds, so he won’t be ending his season just yet.
4. Shun Sato JPN - A lot of ups and downs for Sato this season—after two medals on the Grand Prix, he finished a strong fourth place at Grand Prix Final. And it looked like he had a good shot at getting on the World team for Japan this season, but a close fourth place there likely just kept him out of Worlds. Much like Miura and Shimada, Sato has this event as something of a consolation and a way to build some momentum for next season. He was fifth at World University Games last month, and will need to be stronger than that, especially in the free skate.
5. Maxim Naumov USA - Naumov was one of the big surprises at US Nationals. He was near clean in the free skate, including two quad salchows, and finished fourth to earn his spot at Four Continents. The big hurdle for him will be that quad sal, which clicked for him at just the right time in San Jose. And he will need that to have any shot at a top five, or even a surprise podium finish.
6. Keegan Messing CAN - It was an emotional final Canadian Nationals for Messing, who won his second Canadian title through a lot of nostalgia tears. Four Continents will likely not be as emotional for Messing, and will serve to be a springboard to his final Worlds next month. It’s been an inconsistent season for him. The medal potential is there, but he will need to be much cleaner than he’s been this season.
7. Boyang Jin CHN - This is the biggest question mark. We haven’t seen Jin since last year at this time when he was at the Olympics. Some—including me—thought it might have been his last hurrah. But he has mentioned wanting to go through another Olympic cycle. With injuries hampering his season and a new training environment in Toronto, Jin comes in as very much a dark horse.
8. Liam Kapeikis USA - Sixth at US Nationals, Kapeikis had been in medal position going into the free skate, but two errant jumps at the start of his free made it impossible for him to stay there, especially given some of the brilliant free skates we saw around him. He has a chance to end his season right in his first senior ISU championships.
9. Jimmy Ma USA - After a middling fall season, Ma had the free skate of his career to finish a career-high fifth at US Nationals. There wasn’t much more he could pull out of that program, and if he can find that momentum again in Colorado Springs, he could be a surprise.
10. Stephen Gogolev CAN - It has been a season of crawling back from mistake-filled short programs for the former Canadian junior champion. Four Continents is his chance to make his case for the one TBD spot for the World Championships that Canada kept open after Canadian Nationals. The matchup between him and Conrad Orzel this week will be one of great interest.