by Matteo Morelli

Seoul is ready to welcome back the Four Continents Championships, after having last hosted it in 2020. This is going to be South Korea’s eight time hosting the event, with the capital serving as the arena for it for a third time.

From February 18 to 23, fifteen countries will represent the four continents (North and South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania), with ice dance teams from eight of them: Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Korea and USA.

The Medal Hunt

Madison Chock & Evan Bates have medalled at each of their seven Four Continents events they competed in, with gold from the last three. A fourth consecutive win is not unrealistic for the two-time world champions, who are enjoying another season full of successes that includes a second consecutive Grand Prix Final win and a fourth consecutive title from U.S. Nationals, for a total of six national gold medals.

Also from the USA and contending for a podium finish, Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko are entering their fourth consecutive Four Continents Championships, where they have already won two bronze medals. They will be joined by Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik, who will be at their second Four Continents attendance and will try to improve the fourth place they finished in last year.

Team Canada will present the strongest competition to team USA, starting from defending champions Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier, who have claimed four medals from the event so far, including a gold from last year. Despite of a couple of unusual mistakes for them this season, this experienced duo will certainly want to show that lessons have been learned and that they are still one of the strongest team in the world.

Team mates Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha won a bronze at the event in 2023, and have enjoyed a rapid development since. They will also put up a fight for another podium finish, showing that they can be top contenders at this event. Like the USA, Canada also enjoys three ice dance spots at this event: Alicia Fabbri & Paul Ayer are the third Canadian team, experiencing this championship for the first time in their career.

Korea’s Hannah Lim & Ye Quan will be entering their second Four Continents, after a seventh-place finish at their debut last season. Surely, the event being in South Korea will give them that energy to entertain the local audiences and enjoy themselves while showing their talent.

Other experienced teams at this event include Australia’s Holly Harris & Jason Chan, and both teams from Japan: Azusa Tanaka & Shingo Nishiyama, and Utana Yoshida & Masaya Morita.

Event info: Teams have official practices from Wednesday, February 19. The rhythm dance kicks off on Thursday, February 20, at 2:50pm (GMT+9); the free dance occurs on Saturday, February 22, at 6:25pm (GMT+9).