Who would’ve thought that coming into the first Grand Prix event of the season, the American women would be the ones who have the momentum from the early season? The highest senior women’s score so far this fall belongs to an American woman, but her name is not Isabeau Levito, the reigning World silver medalist. Instead, it was Elyce Lin-Gracey’s win at Nebelhorn Trophy that has propelled her to a position she hasn’t been in before—a title contender this week at Skate America.
Skate America predictions
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GOLD Isabeau Levito USA - Bronze at Cranberry Cup and then silver at Nebelhorn Trophy, Levito is steadily improving as the season continues. And here is a chance for her to make an early statement, coming in the Grand Prix as a World medalist for the first time. Make no mistake, though, she will have to skate the best she’s skated so far this season to take this title among a very talented field.
SILVER Elyce Lin-Gracey USA - Am I tempering expectations? Yes. Could Lin-Gracey win this whole thing? Yes. But it remains to be seen whether she can continue to put out consistent, clean performances in her first full season as a senior. The potential is there—we saw it when she convincingly won Nebelhorn Trophy with big, bold skating. Skate America will be one of the biggest competitions of her career so far (maybe only second to Four Continents last season), so if she can skate through that pressure, watch out.
BRONZE Livia Kaiser SUI - Kaiser was also among that really strong field at Nebelhorn Trophy last month, and she put out a very strong free skate to finish in the 190s—just a couple points off her personal best—to start her season. She’s a very strong technician and has continued to build her confidence over the past few years. After a top ten finish at 2024 Worlds, could this be another breakthrough season for her?
4. Bradie Tennell USA - There were points last season when Tennell wondered if she would be back in competition again. After a strong start in the Challengers events, she took the rest of the season off with an injury. Two weeks ago, she took silver at Shanghai Trophy would two solid skates. And though she’s not playing with the same levels of difficulty as she was a few years ago, getting back on track this week could be really helpful for her trajectory.
5. Wakaba Higuchi JPN - Higuchi comes off a win at Regionals late last month and will be making her international debut here at Skate America. She’s still searching for that form that carried her to the Olympics in 2022, but it’s been steady improvements for her over the past couple of years. We have yet to see the triple axel so far, but if she can keep her lutz-toe clean, she can be right up there on the podium.
6. Nina Pinzarrone BEL - After having a very strong last season, including qualifying for the Grand Prix Final, and then getting third at Europeans, Pinzarrone ended up out of the top 10 at Worlds with a couple of messy skates. The thing that seemed to creep up toward the end of last season for her was potential underrotations, and she will need to watch for those this season as she continues to mature.
7. Yuna Aoki JPN - Almost retired last season, Aoki was spurred back to give it another shot after ending her season with a silver (and the two best programs of her career) at Challenge Cup, finishing just three points behind Kaori Sakamoto. She’s only been in domestic events so far this season, and while they have yet to be as dazzling as those programs at Challenge Cup, the fire and the motivation are there. Two strong skates and she could vie for a medal here.
8. Rinka Watanabe JPN - Her strategy this season so far has been to push her own technical limits. Instead of starting the season a bit more conservative, she’s chosen to push that triple axel back into her programs already. They haven’t been successful yet, both in the domestic events and at Lombardia Trophy, where she finished eighth.
9. Minchae Kim KOR - When she’s on, she can be really good, just like her bronze medal from Nebelhorn Trophy last season. But she has been wildly inconsistent, just as she was last week at a domestic qualifying event, where she was third in the short but dropped to sixth overall after mistakes in the free.
10. Olga Mikutina AUT - Tenth at Nebelhorn last month, Mikutina always has the potential to really hang with the top skaters in the world, as evidenced by her eighth-place debut at Worlds in 2021. But injuries and inconsistency have plagued her the past few years.
11. Lea Serna FRA - We have yet to see Serna this season, so her status is somewhat unknown.She had a solid last season, including a career Grand Prix-best seventh in France. But she can be hot or cold.
12. Sofja Stepcenko LAT - She comes into her first Grand Prix appearance off of a 12th-place finish at Nebelhorn Trophy earlier this season. This will be her first fully senior season after splitting time between junior ande senior the past two years.