by Matteo Morelli

It is time for Skate America! We are used to seeing this event as the opening Grand Prix however, this year it will be the fifth event in the series, after which we will have a clearer picture of which other teams are likely to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

The competition will take place in Lake Placid, New York, the site of the very first Skate America in 1979 (then known as “Norton Skate”), just one year before the town hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

Teams at the event

Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates started their season at Cup of China, winning their eighth Grand Prix gold medal. There, they debuted their new programmes, including their new free based on a contemporary flamenco-style piece in which they impersonate a bull and a matador. This will be their seventh, and possibly last, Skate America appearance, where they have so far won two silver and four gold medals.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will also be skating on home soil. They recently missed the podium by just one point at Skate Canada International, so they will aim to showcase their full potential and try to earn the second Skate America medal of their career. Also representing the USA, Oona and Gage Brown will be competing in Lake Placid, where they won the Lake Placid Ice Dance International event earlier this summer.

After winning bronze at Skate Canada International, Canada‘s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha will fight for another podium finish, hoping to achieve a combined total that would allow them to qualify for their third Grand Prix Final. They are joined by Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer, who were assigned to this Grand Prix at the last minute to replace Italy’s Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara.

France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud won a bronze medal at Cup of China. They will aim for another podium finish, to continue their streak of winning Grand Prix medals over this season and the previous two. Also from France, Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier are competing in their second Grand Prix after Cup of China, while Célina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux will also make their second Grand Prix appearance after competing at their first ever senior Grand Prix in France.

The Czech Republic’s Kateřina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek finished fifth at Skate Canada International. Showcasing their Malagueña programme, they will aim to have a clean free dance at this event and improve their results this season.

Great Britain’s Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez are looking forward to their Grand Prix debut. So far this seaon, the British duo competed at the Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, winning a silver medal, and at Trialeti Trophy in Georgia, finishing in fourth place.

Event info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Saturday, November 15, at 2:03pm (EST); the free dance occurs on Sunday, November 16, at 2:16pm (EST).