World champions Madison Chock/Evan Bates are back at Skate America for their fifth career title here, with their biggest competition coming from Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson. But the fight for bronze will be very interesting, with a number of dance teams who are very evenly matched. Really, third through sixth or seventh could go to a whole bunch of different teams.
Skate America predictions
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GOLD Madison Chock/Evan Bates USA - Like last season, the World champs made the decision to forego the Challengers earlier in the season to pace themselves with a later debut on the Grand Prix. Skate America was their opener last year in their road to an undefeated season, and another win here will tie them for the most Skate America ice dance titles with Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto.
SILVER Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR - Already with a win at Nebelhorn Trophy and a solid 207 total, Fear/Gibson are looking to put up a challenge against Chock/Bates. They have been consistently in the top two in non-Final Grand Prix events over the past couple of seasons, and that pattern looks to continue this week.
BRONZE Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain le Gac CAN - They have now assumed the position as the number three dance team in Canada. Always interesting and quirky, they come into this season on the heels of some very strong performances last year that have moved them up in the international ranks. They won Lake Placid over the summer with two very strong skates.
4. Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin GEO - 12th at their debut Worlds last season, Davis/Smolkin will be making their Grand Prix and season debut this week at Skate America. How the judges place them among this field of teams will be curious, and the rhythm dance scores will tell the tale.
5. Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer CAN - The Canadian bronze medalists have been on a slow and steady climb internationally over the past couple of seasons. They just found out they would be at this event just two days ago, so there will surely be some adjustment. But they are also coming off some peraonsl best scores with their bronze at Denis Ten Memorial just two weeks ago.
6. Katerina Mrazkova/Daniel Mrazek CZE - After a solid debut senior season last year, including a 13th-place finish at Worlds, the Czech siblings are back at Skate America, where they finished eighth last season. They were fourth at Denis Ten Memorial two weeks ago.
7. Olivia Smart/Tim Dieck ESP - Their first season together was up-and-down, but they put down some solid performances along the way. A lot of their placement chances this week will depend on whether they can deliver clean skating. They were sixth here last year, and were just sixth at Nebelhorn last month.
8. Leah Neset/Artem Markelov USA - After sweeping the junior circuit last season, the World junior champions have kicked off their first senior season, most recently taking bronze at Lombardia last month.
9. Annabelle Morozov/Jeffrey Chen USA - As last minute replacements this week for Isabella Flores/Ivan Desyatov, Morozov/Chen are a brand new team this season. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare with such a quick turnaround.
10. Elizabeth Tkachenko/Alexei Kiliakov ISR - The World junior silver medalists make their Grand Prix debut this week in their first senior season. They were eighth at Lake Placid earlier in the summer.