Following a one-week break, skating's elite are on their way to the Junior and Senior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, this week for the prestigious annual competition. The event will take place from Thursday through Sunday, December 5-8.
Japan is sending a whopping 16 skaters (nine seniors, seven juniors) to the 2024 GP Final, which features the top six finishers in each discipline during the current Grand Prix season.
Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto and Beijing Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama will lead the Hinomaru's squad in Grenoble, along with 2023 JGP Final champions Mao Shimada and Rio Nakata.
Japan took home its best tally ever in 2023 with seven medals, with Sakamoto, Shimada and Nakata all topping the podium in Beijing. Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Hana Yoshida and Rena Uezono also earned medals. With so many Japanese skaters participating this year, it is very possible Japan could surpass last year's medal count.
The combined contest will begin on Thursday with the short programs for junior pairs and women, followed by the junior rhythm dance, and then the senior pairs and women's short programs.
Sakamoto Headlines List of Women's Grand Prix Final Skaters
Sakamoto will lead a record five Japanese women into the senior women's battle. Joining Sakamoto are Wakaba Higuchi, Mone Chiba, Yoshida and Rino Matsuike. The lone non-Japanese to qualify is American Amber Glenn, who will be a formidable foe after winning both of her GP events this campaign.
Malinin Intends to Use Quadruple Axel in Men's Event
World champion Ilia Malinin will be favored in the men's contest where he is planning to use his quadruple axel again after not using it during the GP season.
"Yes, we're hoping to see the quad axel at the Final," Malinin told Nick McCarvel in a recent interview for Olympics.com. "But right now, in this current stage, it's a little tricky for me. It's kind of like a 50-50 sometimes, so I think I just need to go back and just practice a little more to make sure I can get the technical ability and that muscle memory back."
Malinin praised the 21-year-old Kagiyama and said the two foes motivate each other.
"I relate to Yuma because he's pretty young out there as well," Malinin stated. "We have this enthusiastic, energetic feeling. We [both] want to compete ... go out there and do our jobs. I think both of us really push ourselves and motivate each other to push each other."
Kagiyama and Shun Sato will try their best to topple the 20-year-old Malinin. The other entrants are France's Kevin Aymoz, Italy's Daniel Grassl and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov (who will replace the injured Adam Siao Him Fa).
Miura, Kihara Target Another Grand Prix Final Title
Pairs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the 2023 world champions who missed last year's Final due to injury, will look to reclaim the gold they won in 2022 in Italy.
Shimada, Nakata in the Spotlight in Junior Competitions
The 16-year-old Shimada will take the ice along with Kaoruko Wada and Ami Nakai in the junior women's classification. Shimada is riding an incredible streak of victories in 15 straight junior competitions, and will be the favorite for gold once again in Grenoble. The other skaters will be South Korea's Yuseong Kim, China's Yihan Wang and France's Stefania Gladki.
Nakata, also 16, will look to win his second straight JGPF title while competing with compatriot Sena Takahashi. The other entrants are South Korea's Minkyu Seo, American Jacob Sanchez, Slovakia's Lukas Vaclavik and New Zealand's Yanhao Li.
Sae Shimizu and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda will pull on the boots for Japan in the junior pairs event.
Japan will have no entries in ice dance in both the junior and senior ranks.
Father Kagiyama knows best
Masakazu Kagiyama, Yuma's father and coach, reportedly had some stern advice for his son following November's Finlandia Trophy, where Yuma won but was not at his best.
According to an interview with Nikkan Sports that was translated and posted on fs-gossips.com, the senior Kagiyama gave Yuma a 10-minute lecture after the competition in Helsinki.
"Your mental weakness completely showed," Masakazu Kagiyama was quoted as having told Yuma. "Even when you're not in good condition, you have to be able to perform at 70-80 percent. You can't perform better than you practiced, [and] you didn't push yourself hard enough at the end."
Following a training session at Chukyo University on November 29, the elder Kagiyama told the media, "When one element is off, it tends to drag down the rest," and said to his son, "Even if you fail, I want you to go for it."
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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