The Games at Sochi is just days away from commencement, and sure enough- the ladies' figure skating event remains the jewel in the crown of the Winter Olympics. The fact that it is slotted in the later half of the event raises more tension and excitement in the air. Who's going to take the gold? We have a very deep field of seasoned veterans and fresh young talent, waiting to take their place on the ice and leap their way to victory. Take a look at the ten ladies you should watch out for: (The ranking is how I predict the top ten will finish)
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| Yu Na Kim (Getty Images) |
1.) Yu Na Kim (KOR)- The reigning World and Olympic Champion comes back to defend her title after a rather light, yet still impressive, couple of seasons. Kim managed to prove her critics wrong when she sashayed in at London, Ontario last year, beating the competition to a pulp despite being away from the circuit all season. In the run up to the Winter Games in Sochi this month, Kim showed little signs of wear and tear, failing to skate clean programs at the Golden Spin Trophy and South Korean National Championships. It's not costly as was shown by her victories, but every little counts when she has young and hungry skaters breathing down her neck. Due to her low ISU ranking, she is set to skate in the earlier groups. This can be a good thing in that there will be no pressure as she should stay ahead of the pack going into the final group. However, as history can often repeat itself- the judges may want to save marks for later and leave Kim a few points behind like they did at Worlds, despite a perfect skate. It will prove vital that she lands her triple lutz-triple toe combination in both her programs, and skate with the fire that has been lacking since her win at Vancouver, to win gold again and the chance to add her name to a rather short and exclusive list of repeat Olympic Champions.
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| Mao Asada (Getty Images) |
2.) Mao Asada (JPN)- She remains unbeaten in the circuit this season, as she was last season in the run up to the World Championships. However, come the showdown between Asada and Kim last March, she made a couple of costly errors that ultimately cost her the gold. Since her silver medal at Vancouver, she seeked out revered Japanese coach Nobuo Sato to help her restructure and relearn her jumps from scratch to regain full use of her arsenal. Asada remains to be the only woman who is capable of landing all six jumps, however, it all depends of whether she does land them. She has matured greatly in artistry in the last four years, and so in the run up to Sochi, Asada once again looks as a heavy favourite for gold. I put her behind Kim because unless she had changed her mind, she enters the free skate with a hope of landing two triple axels again, therefore removing her lutz (which apart from the change of edge, has been looking solid thus far) and her triple-triple combination. This poses as a problem because she had only managed to land her triple axel cleanly, once this season. Nevertheless, she goes into the Games with the strongest short program, a renewed reputation with the judges, and a gutsy fighting spirit that may serve her well and land her on top of the podium.
(EDIT: Mao has just announced she's ditching the second 3A in the free program for a more balanced layout. Phew! Good girl! Read it here.)
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| Julia Lipnitskaya (Getty Images) |
3.) Julia Lipnitskaya (RUS)- This young Russian prodigy has proven that she is a main threat. She doesn't yet have the artistry of Kim and Asada but she has the technical goods to blow the competition away. Despite her tendency to flutz and her relatively small jumps, she is capable of landing a solid triple lutz-triple toe. Puberty is also on her side, being small still and so flexible- so if she hasn't gone through the ugly shift just yet, then now will be the time to strike! Clean will have to be Julia's agenda heading into the Games, and the fact that she will be competing on home turf and skating to Schindler's List- the stars may very well align for this young talent and get her a medal at her first Olympics. Her recent victory at the European Championships will also help with the judges to cement her status as a serious contender. Yes, her scores have seen a rather dramatic rising from the Grand Prix Series to the Euros, but will we see the same 'inflation' at Sochi? The Russians are notorious when it comes to politicking, but at the end of the day, ice is slippery. She showed cracks when she competed at the Cup of Russia earlier this season, and she heads into the Games as Russia's number two. Anything can happen.
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| Akiko Suzuki (Getty Images) |
4.) Akiko Suzuki (JPN)- Everyone's sentimental favourite comes into the her third Olympic Games as Japan's number 1 lady. Though not the strongest technically, Akiko Suzuki has over ten years of experience over the rest of the field and artistry that is beyond comparison. Even Kim would have to skate the lights out to beat Suzuki from taking the crowd with her. She has been inconsistent over the last quad, but if she skates just as she did at Japanese Nationals, where she dethroned ice queen Mao Asada, she may have a shot at stealing the bronze medal. The judges have also (finally!) started rewarding her components, as they should have for the last few years. She's already a grand doyenne in skating years, competing still at top field at 29 years old. Can Suzuki's body hang on for one final fight? With retirement looking in from the other side of the Games, this may very well be Suzuki's final chance to cement her status as one of the best Japanese figure skaters of all time.
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| Carolina Kostner (Getty Images) |
5.) Carolina Kostner (ITA)- another skating veteran, this will also be Kostner's third Olympics. That's not necessarily a good thing, considering that despite a World Championship title in 2012 and a relatively impressive career, Carolina has never performed well at the Games. She finished 9th at Turin in 2006 and 16th at Vancouver in 2010, earning a not-so-good reputation of being a headcase during the momentous challenges. These are not great results, however, third time may be the charm for this statuesque Italian. After debuting two lacklustre programs at the start of the season and losing to Lipnitskaya twice- she has since replaced her short program to an ethereal Ave Maria and returned to her scintillating long program to Ravel's Bolero from last season. Will she be thrusting her hips all the way to the podium? Hopefully. She will need to bring back that triple-flip-triple-toe to remain competitive technically with the rest of the field but if she hangs on and concentrates on skating clean, she will be a contender. Kostner remains one of the judges' darlings, and removing that last triple salchow at the end of her program may be her key to success.
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| Gracie Gold (Getty Images) |
6.) Gracie Gold (USA)- Figure skating's newest Barbie and the United States' National Champ has a name that begs for headlines. Will Gracie go for Gold? I don't think so- or at least, she shouldn't. Not yet. She is not the most artistic nor charismatic of skaters, although her recent collaboration with new coach Frank Carroll had improved her presentation skills by a mile. However, there's still a long way to go for this American. Though technically sound and an impressive jumper, Gracie has shown a tendency to meltdown under pressure. Her win at US Nationals may show otherwise, but that was the best Gracie had skated since her senior debut. She has yet to build a solid reputation with the international judges, but coming in as the US no.1 may improve this. She will have to focus and perform her best to even aim at a top 5 finish. At the very least, this may serve well as a good taster event for Gracie if she plans on dominating the scene when Kim, Asada, Kostner and Suzuki hang their skates after the medal ceremony.
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| Ashley Wagner (Getty Images) |
7.) Ashley Wagner (USA)- The 'almost' girl has shown tremendous growth after missing out at joining the Vancouver team in 2010. Ashley had worked so hard over this quadrennial to prove that she is a skater worth competing against. Not only did she subsequently win the National (2012/2013) title twice, but she was also greatly responsible for bringing some light back on the US ladies and the third Olympic spot on the team. However, she has yet to win a World medal and recent events have not been kind to Wagner; finishing fourth at Nationals this year, way behind her compatriot Gold and newcomer Polina Edmunds, was not a great position to be in heading into the Games. Even worse, she comes under a cloud of controversy after bronze medallist Mirai Nagasu got bumped off the team to secure her place. Her long program has not been well received, and her triple-triple combination has been anything but consistent nor fully rotated. She has since announced that she will be returning to last season's Samson and Delilah program, which proved to be the pinnacle of her artistry so perhaps it was the best move for Ashley. However, she now has to make sure that she skates the lights out in Sochi to prove that she was worth the talk.
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| Adelina Sotnikova (Getty Images) |
8.) Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)- Tarasova's prized student has been repped by her federation as the face of Russian ladies figure skating since she was a junior. As a Junior World Champion, Adelina was poised to become the next big thing, at the forefront of the crop of Russian jumping babies of the 2011/12 season. However, all that promise has yet to materialize. Her debut was marred by compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's success in the Grand Prix, and her inability to remain consistent in competition had led to yet another younger compatriot to take over her stride. Although she beat out Lipnitskaya at the recent National championships, Sotnikova's skating lacks the subtle artistic nuances that creates magic for her competitors. Her spin positions remain aesthetically poor, and though her jumping prowess takes her head and shoulders above Julia- she would be lucky if she doesn't pop them or fall. Her triple flip remains a wild card in her arsenal, and planning on two flip passes in the long program- it is risky gamble! She's not as great a medal contender as Julia, but with the support of her federation and the international love from the judges, all it would take would be two clean skates from Adelina to surely land in the top 5.
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| Kanako Murakami (Getty Images) |
9.) Kanako Murakami (JPN)- After a recent win at Four Continents and a silver medal at Japanese Nationals, Kanako looks to be a solid contender at Sochi. She's not the most aesthetic skater, but she has matured greatly from her 'Jumpin' Jack' days. It will be a difficult feat to pull a podium finish with her obvious flutz and history of underrotations, but her recent international successes should help boost her campaign. She finished in fourth place at last year's World Championships and this shows that if she skates clean, she's capable to breaking top five. She has expressed the possibility of retirement after this season, to which I'm hoping she doesn't- however this final stride may produce a spectacular showing from one of Japan's brightest stars.
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| Kaetlyn Osmond (CBC) |
10.) Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN)- Canada's only hope for a medal burst into the season last season like a firecracker. Full of sass and fire, Kaetlyn stole the spotlight as the most exciting newcomer in the league. She has a triple-triple combination, which makes her technically capable of competing with the rest of the field, though artistically has the tendency to get frenetic with choreography- which has actually put a damper on her Worlds performances. Following an injury and a poor showing early this season, Kaetlyn had struggled and withdrew from the Grand Prix Series. Her programs this year are also quite forgettable (SP: Big Spender, FP: Cleopatra) and severely lacking in personality in comparison to her last season programs. Perhaps she should have gone back to them? She made for a beautiful Carmen last season. In any case, she came back and won Canadian Nationals and seems to be in fine form again. She's not a podium contender, but she's definitely one to watch!
They all is the best :)
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