Russian skaters aiming for gold
Tokyo hosts the world team event
Women’s world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva will aim to help Russia emulate its Olympic efforts and claim the top of the podium when the International Skating Union’s World Team Trophy begins Thursday.
Russia won the gold medal at the inaugural team event at the Sochi Olympics and arrives in Tokyo as top qualifier for the competition, which begins Thursday at Yoyogi Stadium.
The event features the six best national teams among International Skating Union member nations. Each team will be composed of two men, two women, one pairs skating couple and one ice dance couple for a total of eight skaters.
Tuktamysheva performed the triple axel for the first time in a major competition at last month’s world championships in Shanghai, joining a handful of women skaters who have landed the difficult jump.
Tuktamysheva is joined on the Russian team by world bronze medallist Elena Radionova and European champions Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov.
The Russians also boast European men’s silver medallist Maxim Kovtun and bronze medallist Sergei Voronov, along with Russian ice dance champions Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin.
Canada won the team silver in Sochi and will look to world pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, world bronze medallists Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and 2014 world junior champion Nam Nguyen. Jeremy Ten, Gabrielle Daleman and Alaine Chartrand round out the Canadian squad.
The U. S. team, winner of the bronze medal at Sochi, is headlined by ice dancing world silver medallists Madison Chock and Evan Bates and U. S. champion Ashley Wagner. Jason Brown, Gracie Gold and Max Aaron are competing as well as pairs skaters Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim.
Host Japan will count on 2014 Olympic champ and reigning world silver medallist Yuzuru Hanyu, world silver medallist Satoko Miyahara, Takahito Mura and 2014 Four Continents champ Kanako Murakami. Siblings Chris and Cathy Reed and Ami Koga and Francis Boudreau Audet round out Japan’s lineup.
France’s team will be headlined by current world ice dance champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. They’ll be joined by Florent Amodio, Romain Ponsart, Mae- Berenice Meite, Laurine Lecavelier and pairs skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres.
Team China consists of world silver medallists Wenjing Sui and Cong Han and Four Continents bronze medallist Han Yan. Nan Song, Zijun Li, Ziquan Zhao and Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu are also competing.
The team event consists of the short program and the free skating. Teams are awarded from 12 to 1 team points for men and women and from 12 to 7 points for pairs and ice dance couples. Standings are calculated according to the sum of the team points achieved.