20. Misha Ge UZB
2017 Worlds free skate
If this was it for Misha Ge, well, what a way to retire.
He delivered two clean skates at what could have been his final competitive appearance. And the very knowledgeable audience knew exactly what they were watching, and they pushed him to give it everything he had in both programs.
I chatted with Ge for the IceTalk podcast after the competition, and there were tons of reasons for him to continue, and tons of reasons for him to call it a career. For a skater who has been dealing with injuries for the past few seasons, including ankle injuries this season that have resulted in him getting multiple pain-relieving shots throughout the year, it's partly a decision made because his body just may not hold up through another season of training. But add on to that the cost of figure skating is itself debilitating, and his own country's federation is not of much help, and you've got two very real reasons for retirement.
In some ways, there's a chance he may just be tamping down expectations. If the stars align, it would not be a complete surprise for us to see him in PyeongChang for his second Olympics. But whatever the case, he will always have this memory to take with him.