Russia′s golden girl of skating, Kamila Valieva, graces the first IFS cover of 2022. Valieva has dominated the senior women′s scene this season and is currently the odds-on favorite to claim gold at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
The IFS team reviews the potential contenders for gold in the four disciplines in Beijing, who has the best shot at winning a medal and who might be the dark horses in the Olympic race.
Any doubts about whether Yuzuru Hanyu would be in a position to contest and/or win the All Japan Championships in late December were quickly dispelled after he laid down two outstanding performances, which left his rivals in his wake.
A long and winding road has led China’s top pairs team of Wenjing Sui and Cong Han to where they are today. The duo won both their Grand Prix competitions this season and are now focused on performing their best on the Olympic stage in February.
Mikhail Kolyada solidified his status as Russia’s top man internationally this season. With a second-place finish at Finlandia Trophy and two silver medals on the Grand Prix circuit, he was the only man to qualify for the senior Grand Prix Final.
He can see the finish line and knows exactly how he wants to glide across it — head held high with a smile on his face. Nam Nguyen, one of Canada’s most popular skating stars, will retire at the end of this season.
It has been a rapid rise to the top of the international ladder for the rising Japanese star, but his ultimate goal this season is to claim a medal in Beijing.
The Russian pairs team of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov made a lot of changes in the off-season, and are hoping the move to a new coaching team will pay off in February.
We recap the action and results at the 2021 All Japan Championships and the 2022 Russian Championships.
PLUS! Updates on Jason Brown, Loena Hendrickx, Boyang Jin,
Mai Mihara, Vincent Zhou and Anna Shcherbakova
And the rising junior stars, Lindsay Thorngren of the U.S. and Canada′s Wesley Chiu
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