International Pairs/Dance Splits

PAIRS 
Bobak/Beharry, CAN (2011 JGPF Silver Medalists)
Jones/Gaskell, CAN  (6th at 2011 Junior Worlds)
Purich/Schultz, CAN (5th at 2011 Junior Worlds)
Zhang/Zhang, CHN (2006 Olympic Silver Medalists)
Kadlecova/Bidar, CZE (15th at 2011 Worlds)
Gierok/Just, GER (11th at 2011 Europeans)
Wenzig/Landgraf, GER (14th in preliminaries at 2012 Junior Worlds)
Gillespie/Dematte, ITA (12th at 2012 Europeans)
Iliushechkina/Maisuradze, RUS (2009 World Junior Champions)
Rodriguez/Maestu, ESP (21st in preliminaries at 2012 Junior Worlds, 1st pair team to represent Spain at an ISU competition)

DANCE
Kolbe/Caruso, GER (12th at 2012 Europeans)
Bagnall/Shanahan, GBR (2012 Great Britain Junior Silver Medalists)
Jones/Sharpe, GBR (2012 Great Britain Junior Bronze Medalists)

Galyeta/Shumski, UKR (13th at 2011 Junior Worlds)
Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR  (8th at 2012 Junior Worlds)

NEW PAIRS TEAMS
Jones/Beharry, CAN
Purich/Arcieri, CAN
Peng/Zhang, CHN
Bocek/Bidar, CZE

Iliushechkina/Kocon, FRA (This is pending her release from the Russian Federation)

NEW DANCE TEAMS
Crone/Sorensen, CAN (split)

2012 Grand Prix Preview

The 2012 Grand Prix series should prove to be very competitive as skaters attempt to make the Final in Sochi, Russia and preview the Olympic venue.

Who's In

Miki Ando and Johnny Weir have both committed to skating in the Grand Prix series and with comeback skaters having to sign contracts with penalties for withdrawing from their events, it's likely that they will be back this season.

Although Evan Lysacek and Evgeny Plushenko were not included in the initial assignments, there is a TBA slot open at both of their home events and they could be selected by their respective federations should they choose to compete.

Junior World Champion Julia Lipnitskaia will be on the Grand Prix this fall pending a decision at the upcoming ISU Congress that would prevent skaters from competing on the Grand Prix until they are 15 years old.  If this provision passes, she will have to withdraw from her events.  Junior World Silver Medalist Gracie Gold will make her Grand Prix debut.

Sinitsina and Zhiganshin, the Junior World Champions in Dance will make their Grand Prix debut this fall along with Nazarova/Nikitin who won silver at the Youth Olympic Games. 

Who's Out

Satoko Miyahara and Risa Shoji were eligible for Grand Prix assignments but elected to remain junior.

All three Junior World and Junior Grand Prix Final men's medalists (Han Yan, Joshua Farris, Jason Brown) will be returning to the Junior Grand Prix this fall.  A proposed rule would prevent skaters from returning to Junior Worlds if they competed on the Senior Grand Prix and it is possible their federations wanted to keep options open for the skaters. 
With the new rule change that pairs have to choose between the Junior and Senior Grand Prix, World Silver Medalists Yu and Jin have elected to remain juniors.  World Bronze medalists Davankova and Deputat will make their Junior Grand Prix debut this fall.  Simpson and Blackmer who won the bronze medal at the JGPF will also return to the JGP.

World Junior Silver Medalists Stepanova/Bukin and World Junior Bronze Medalists Aldridge/Eaton along with JGPF medalists Yanovskaya/Mozgov will all be returning to the Junior Grand Prix.  Papadakis and Cizeron were also eligible for a Grand Prix assignment but will remain junior.

 Skate America

Ladies
Reigning World Silver Medalist Alena Leonova kicks off her season and will try to hold off Four Continents Champion Ashley Wagner in front of her home crowd.  World Bronze Medalist Adelina Sotnikova won two medals on the Grand Prix last season and will be looking to keep pace with Alena Leonova and earn a spot on the Russian world team.

Men
World Bronze Medalist Yuzuru Hanyu kicks off his season here and will have to hold off Jeremy Abbott competing at his first Skate America.  Michal Brezina, the 2011 Skate America Champion is also in the mix.
TBA Slot: This slot could go to Evan Lysacek should he decide to compete this season.  All the U.S. men have two slots on the Grand Prix, so this pick could go to Armin Mahbanoozadeh, Stephen Carriere, Keegan Messing or Max Aaron who had strong outings at nationals.  This spot could be decided based on summer competitions or the Senior B in Salt Lake City.


Pairs
World Silver Medalists Volosozhar and Trankov start their season at Skate America and they'll be up against 4th place finishers Pang and Tong.  Moore-Towers/Moscovitch also start their season here after a trip to the Grand Prix Final last season.  U.S. Champions Denney and Coughlin will attempt to bring home their first Grand Prix medal.  U.S. Pewter Medalists Donlan and Speroff make their Grand Prix debut. 
TBD Slot: Castelli/Shnapir, Vise/Baldwin, Davis/Ladwig and Yankowskas/Reagan all have one slot.  Castelli and Shnapir have the most experience as a team and are working on throw quad salchows.  Davis/Ladwig and Yankowskas/Reagan are both new pairings but could be ready to make their debut at Skate America.  Zhang/Bartholomay could also be given the nod after impressing at nationals.

Dance
World Silver Medalists Davis and White headline Skate America.  They'll be joined by Weaver and Poje who just missed the World podium.  Bobrova and Soloviev started strong last season but faded and were passed at Worlds by their countrymates.  They switched coaches in the off season and this will be their first chance to show off the changes. 
TBD Slots: Chock and Bates only have one assignment and could receive a second here.  Other teams to be considered are Cannuscio/McManus, Samuelson/Gilles and the new team of Olson/Hubbell. 

Skate Canada

Ladies
Elizaveta Tuktamisheva returns to Skate Canada after winning this event last season.  She took the end of the season off to focus on her triple axel and should be competitive again.  She'll face off against World Bronze Medalist Akiko Suzuki who will try and improve on her best season ever.  World Junior Silver Medalist Gracie Gold makes her Grand Prix debut with a host of triple jumps and weighty expectations on her shoulders.  She'll be joined by Caroline Zhang who is on the comeback trail and won the bronze medal at Four Continents last season.
TBD Slot: Cynthia Phaneuf did not receive any Grand Prix assignments and will almost certainly recieve this spot unless Joannie Rochette decides to return to competition.

Men
World Champion Patrick Chan will try and secure another Skate Canada title and restart his winning streak after losing to Daisuke Takahashi at the World Team Trophy.  Javier Fernandez burst onto the scene at this event last season and will try and win his third consecutive Grand Prix medal.  2011 World Bronze Medalist Artur Gachinski struggled last season but has a chance to win a medal here.  Florent Amodio, Ross Miner and Denis Ten are all armed with quads and finished last season strongly and will be in the medal contention.  Liam Firus of Canada makes his Grand Prix debut in front of a home crowd.
TBA Slot: Jeremy Ten finished 3rd at Canadian Nationals and is the highest ranked Canadian man without an assignment.  Elladj Balde competed here last season and finished 4th at Canadian nationals. 

Pairs
World Champions Savchenko and Szolkowy make their season debut at Skate Canada.  They'll face off against Canadian Champs Duhamel and Radford.  Four Continents Bronze Medalists Marley and Brubaker are in the hunt for their first Grand Prix medal.
TBD Slot: Several of Canada's up and coming pairs teams have split and one of the new pairs could get this spot if they seem promising.  Steele and Schultz are the highest ranked Canadian team without an assignment.

Dance
World Champions Virtue and Moir start their title defense in front of their home crowd.  They'll face off agains the Italian team of Cappellini/Lanotte and the Russian team of Riazanova/Tkachenko.  Hubbell and Donohue impressed in their first season last year, earning a trip to Worlds and will be looking for their first Grand Prix medal.  Gilles and Poirier make their Grand Prix and international debut after winning the bronze medal at Canadian nationals last season.  Gilles and Donohue competed together for the U.S. on the junior circuit.
TBD Slot: Orford and Williams could receive their second assignment here or the slot could go to Paul and Islam who finished 5th at Canadian nationals and are the highest ranked Canadian team without an assignment.

Cup of China

Ladies
World Champion Carolina Kostner kicks off her season at Cup of China.  She'll face World Junior Champion Julia Lipnitskaia in her Grand Prix debut after going undefeated on the junior circuit last season.  Mao Asada showed improvement last season, but failed to make the Worlds podium again and will have to continue building her momentum if she wants a medal in Sochi.  2011 World Champion Miki Ando returns to the Grand Prix after sitting out last season. 
TBD Slot: Zijun Li only has one assignment and will almost certainly get her second assignment here.
Potential Opening: If the rule change making 15 the minimum age for the Grand Prix passes and Julia Lipnitskaia has to withdraw, Alissa Czisny is first on the alternate list.  If she is not ready due to her surgery, Mirai Nagasu is next on the list but is already at this event so Kiira Korpi would get the nod.

Men
World Silver Medalist Daisuke Takahashi starts his season in China against another veteran, Brian Joubert.  Adam Rippon, Nan Song and Kevin Reynolds will be in the medal hunt after mixed results last season.  Russian skater Artur Dmitriev will make his Grand Prix debut.
TBD Slot: Jialing Wu is the top ranked Chinese skater not returning to the Junior Grand Prix who does not have an assignment and will liely compete here.

Pairs
Pang and Tong finish off their Grand Prix season in frnt of the home crowd and will try and hold off young phenoms Sui and Han.  Kavaguti and Smirnov took home the gold from this event last season and will look to repeat after injuries kept them off the podium at Worlds.  World Bronze Medalists Takahashi and Tran will try and hold off the competition and maintain their international reputation.  Two new pairings make their Grand Prix debut in China: Peng/Zhang and Yankowskas/Reagan.

Dance
World Bronze Medalists Pechalat and Bourzat kick off their season at this event.  They'll face their training mates and Four Continents Bronze Medalists Weaver and Poje along with World Junior Champions Sinitsina and Zhiganshin in their Grand Prix debut. 
TBD Slot: Yu/Wang only have one assignment on the Grand Prix and could be given this slot.

Rostelecom Cup

Ladies
Alena Leonova headlines this event at home, but she'll have to fend off her countrymate, World Junior Bronze Medalist Adelina Sotnikova.  Gracie Gold will also be in the hunt for gold, having beat both these ladies in head to head competition last season.  Kanako Murakami, Kiira Korpi and Caroline Zhang could also grace the podium if they put out clean performances.  
TBA Slot: Sofia Biryukova, Polina Shelepen and Polina Korobeynikova all have one slot on the Grand Prix.  Both Polinas have the potential to put out medal worthy performances but struggle with consistency.  This spot will likely be between them and will go to whoever shows the most potential in monitoring events.

Men
Patrick Chan will finish off his Grand Prix season in Russia where he'll face 2011 World Silver Medalist Takahiko Kozuka, 2011 World Bronze Medalist Artur Gachinski and Grand Prix Finalist Michal Brezina.  Johnny Weir makes his return to competition amongst this competitive field and will see where he stacks up with some of the World's best.  Zhan Bush makes his Grand Prix debut in front of the home crowd. 
TBA Slot--This slot will likely go to Evgeny Plushenko should he return to competition, however his name was not put forth in the initial selection where he was guaranteed an assignment so he may be planning to sit out the fall and recover from his surgeries. Artur Dmitriev, Sergei Voronov and Konstantin Menshov all have one assignment and could receive their second.

Pairs
Volosozhar and Trankov headline their home event for the first time and will face off with their countrymates Bazarova and Larionov in their season debut.  Denney and Coughlin will be in the medal hunt along with the German team of Hausch/Wende.  Another German team, Vartmann/Van Cleave, make their Grand Prix debut.
TBA Slot: Gerboldt and Enbert are the only Russian team with one spot on the Grand Prix and with junior teams no longer able to compete on the Senior Grand Prix, they will likely recieve a second assignment.

Dance
World Champions Virtue and Moir look for gold while Ilinykh/Katsalapov and Shibutani/Shibutani battle it out for the podium in their season debuts.  World Junior Champions Sinitsina and Zhiganshin enter their second event of the season in front of their home crowd.  They'll face 2011 World Junior Champions Monko and Khaliavin in their Grand Prix debut after they missed last season due to injury.
TBA Slot: Pushkash/Guerriero only have one assignment and will likely receive their second assigment here.

Trophee Eric Bompard

Ladies
In a stacked ladies event, World Champion Carolina Kostner and Junior World Champion face off for the second time.  Also in this field are 2011 World Champion Miki Ando, 2011 Trophee Eric Bompard Champion Elizaveta Tuktamisheva and Four Continents Champion Ashley Wagner.  Kexin Zhang and Polina Korbeynikova also had impressive seasons last year and could sneak into the medals. 
TBA Slot: Mae Berenice Meite only has one spot on the Grand Prix and I would be shocked if she didn't take this slot.
Potential Opening: If Julia Lipnitskaia has to withdraw due to ISU rule changes, Alissa Czisny is first on the alternate list.  If she is not ready to compete, Mirai Nagasu is next on the list.

Men
After stellar performances at Worlds, Brian Joubert and Florent Amodio will try for repeat performances in front of their home crowd.  They'll have to fend off Jeremy Abbott who is still looking to put together the perfect season but is a gold medal threat at any Grand Prix.  Nan Song will look to build on last season's momentum where he just missed qualifying for the Grand Prix Final and Johnny Weir will see how he stacks up against the reigning U.S. Men's Champion.
TBA Slot:  Chafik Besseghier has one spot on the Grand Prix and is a frequent TBA choice for this event.

Pairs
World Champions Savchenko and Szolkowy will face off with Kavaguti and Smirnov for the gold medal in France.  Duhamel and Radford will try and complete the podium and keep pace with the top teams.  Berton/Hotarek and Peng/Zhang will also be in the medal hunt. 
TBA Slot: With Popova and Massot already assigned to this event, James and Cipres are the only other French team on the Grand Prix and should get their second assignment here. 

Dance
World Bronze Medalists Pechalat and Bourzat compete in front of their home crowd for the gold medal.  The rest of the field is a rematch of Skate Canada with several teams vying for the podium and looking to maintain or improve on their performances.
TBA Slot: Zahorski and Miart were impressive as juniors but missed much of last season due to injury.  They were expected to do well at Europeans but failed to qualify for the short dance.  They should receive their Grand Prix debut here.

NHK Trophy

Ladies
Akiko Suzuki will attempt to defend her NHK Trophy title against countrymate Mao Asada.  Alissa Czisny returns to the Grand Prix after sitting out the beginning of the season due to injury.  Two young skaters make their Grand Prix debut: China's Zijun Li and Russia's Polina Shelepen. 
Potential Opening: If Alissa Czisny is still not recovered from her surgery, this spot will be filled from the alternate list.  Mirai Nagasu is first in line, but if Lipnitskaia has to withdraw from her events, she and Kiira Korpi will have already received their second assignments.  Next on the list is three Russian ladies, who are already at this event or cannot be assigned because Rusisa laready has three entries.  After that is Zijun Li who is already assigned to this event.  The alternate will likely be Mae Berenice Meite if she hasn't been assigned to Trophee Eric Bompard or Joshi Helgesson.

Men
Daisuke Takahashi headlines his home event but will have to hold off Yuzuru Hanyu who beat him in the free skate at Worlds.  This event is being held in Sendai which was hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and is the home town of Hanyu so he may have the edge in terms of crowd support.  Javier Fernandez, Adam Rippon and Ross Miner will all be fighting for the final spot on the podium. 

Pairs
World Bronze Medalists Takahashi and Tran will try and hold off a strong field at home and claim a Grand Prix gold.  They'll face Russians Bazarova/Larionov and Canadians Moore-Towers/Moscovitch who are frequent medal winners on the Grand Prix.  Rivals Sui and Han will also be at this event and with quad throws and twists, they can run away with the technical score. Americans Marley/Brubaker are also in the mix along with Castelli/Shnapir who have throw quads and throw triple axels in their arsenal.  Davis and Ladwig make their Grand Prix debut.
Dance
Davis and White will be looking to secure a trip to the Grand Prix Final in front of the Japanese crowd and hold off their training mates Shibutani/Shibutani.  Ilinykh and Katsalapov face off against the Shibutanis for the second time this season and will be aiming for a medal finish.  Orford and Williams of Canada make their Grand Prix debut.

2012 Grand Prix Alternate List

The Grand Prix Announcement has been released and includes the following criteria for choosing alternates:

• Split couples/comeback skaters previously ranked 7-12 at Worlds listed according to their previous season's best
• Skaters in proper order of top 24 Season's Best
• All other skaters in top 75 Season's Best
• Selected International Competition Winners
• U.S. Senior International 2012 – Salt Lake City (Pairs included in the competition)
• Nebelhorn Trophy 2012 (Pairs included in the competition)
• Ondrej Nepala Memorial 2012 (Pairs included in the competition)
• Finlandia Trophy 2012
• Cup of Nice 2012 (Pairs included in the competition)

After the top 24 skaters have received assignments, skaters in the top 75 will be chosen by the host from a group of 5.  

This list may be slightly inaccurate as the language in the announcement is not clear if all top 24 Season's Best skaters should receive a second assignment before moving on to the rest of the 75.  The announcement also contradicts itself by saying that the top 24 must receive assignments in order and then stating that all alternates must be selected in groups of 5.  

The selection of Orford and Williams, a top 24 team, for their second assignment ahead of teams ranked higher indicates that top 24 teams can receive 2nd assignments and that they will also be chosen in groups of 5.  

Top 75 skaters are indicated in italics with the first group of 5 bolded.  Split teams may be chosen once as a host pick and once as a non-host pick.

Ladies (113.43 minimum score required)

Any comeback skaters not receiving initial assignments
Alissa Czisny
Mirai Nagasu
Sonia Lafuente
Joelle Forte
Katarina Kulgeyko
Yuki Nishino
Min-Jeong Kwak
Isabelle Olsson
Adriana Desanctis
Kate Charbonneau
Kerstin Frank
Natasha Purich
Jordan Bauth
Lauren Dinh
 

Men (159.66 minimum score required)

Any comeback skaters not receiving initial assignments
Misha Ge
Armin Mahbanoozadeh
Brandon Mroz
Peter Liebers
Christopher Caluza
Viktor Pfeifer
Jialing Wu
Chafik Besseghier
Kim Lucine
Gordei Gorshkov
Zoltan Kelemen
Paolo Bacchini
Ryuichi Kihara
Jiaxing Liu
Paul Fentz
Javier Raya
David Wang

Pairs (120.90 minimum score required)

Any comeback teams not receiving initial assignments
Any split teams not receiving initial assignments
Steele/Schultz
Zhang/Wang
Fedorova/Miroshkin
Duarte/Grafton
Zabijako/Kulbach
Grechukhina/Filonov
Bakirova/Kamianchuk
Krutskikh/Morozov
Gillespie/Dematte (must meet minimum score)
Vasileva/Shevchuk (must meet minimum score)
Herbrikova/Halmaert (must meet minimum score
Morand/Leeman (must meet minimum score)
Dolidze/Ivanov (must meet minimum score)
Martini/Kiefer (must meet minimum score)
Mendoza/Boyadji (must meet minimum score)
Paliakova/Fomichev (must meet minimum score)
Lundberg/Lundberg (must meet minimum score)
Jaskolka/Snopek (must meet minimum score)
Usmantseva/Lysoy (must meet minimum score)
Hoolin/Hunt (must meet minimum score)
Malinkiewicz/Lofek (must meet minimum score)

Dance (109.59 minimum score required)

Any comeback skaters not receiving initial assignments
Any split teams not receiving initial assignments
Chock/Bates
Alessandrini/Vaturi
Zlobina/Sitnikov
Heekin-Canedy/Dun
Shtork/Rand
Hurtado/Diaz
Harvey/Gagnon
Walden/Edwards
Gorshkova/Butikov
Paul/Islam
Nagy/Fejes
Kubova/Kiselev
Obrien/Merriman
Mysliveckova/Brown
Zhang/Wu (must meet minimum score)
Smart/Buckland (must meet minimum score)
Frolenkova/Kasalo (must meet minimum score)
Pousset/Thauron (must meet minimum score)

2012 Grand Prix Assignments

Skate America (Oct 19-21)

Ladies
Mae Berenice Meite, FRA
Sarah Hecken, GER
Valentina Marchei, ITA
Haruka Imai, JPN
Alena Leonova, RUS
Adelina Sotnikova, RUS
Viktoria Helgesson, SWE
Rachael Flatt, USA
Christina Gao, USA
Ashley Wagner, USA

Men 
Michal Brezina, CZE
Tomas Verner, CZE
Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN
Takahiko Kozuka, JPN
Tatsuki Machida, JPN
Konstantin Menshov, RUS
Alexander Majorov, SWE
Jeremy Abbott, USA
Armin Mahbanoozadeh, USA
Douglas Razzano, USA

Pairs
Pang/Tong, CHN
James/Cipres, FRA
Kemp/King, GBR
Montalbano/Krasnopolski, ISR
Volosozhar/Trankov, RUS
Castelli/Shnapir, USA
Denney/Coughlin, USA
Donlan/Speroff, USA

Dance
Weaver/Poje, CAN
Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER
Alessandrini/Vaturi, ITA
Tobias/Stagniunas, LTU
Bobrova/Soloviev, RUS
Cannuscio/McManus, USA
Davis/White, USA
Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt, USA

Skate Canada (Oct 26-28)

Ladies
Amelie Lacoste, CAN
Kaetlyn Osmond, CAN
Elene Gedevanishvili, GEO
Kanako Murakami, JPN
Akiko Suzuki, JPN
Ksenia Makarova, RUS
Polina Shelepen, RUS
Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, RUS
Gracie Gold, USA
Caroline Zhang, USA

Mens 
Patrick Chan, CAN
Liam Firus, CAN
Elladj Balde, CAN
Florent Amodio, FRA
Takahito Mura, JPN
Nobunari Oda, JPN
Denis Ten, KAZ
Artur Gachinski, RUS
Javier Fernandez, ESP
Ross Miner, USA

Pairs
Duhamel/Radford, CAN
Lawrence/Swiegers, CAN
Popova/Massot, FRA
Savchenko/Szolkowy, GER
Kemp/King, GBR
Berton/Hotarek, ITA
Davis/Ladwig, USA
Vise/Baldwin, USA

Dance
Zlobina/Sitnikov, AZE
Gilles/Poirier, CAN
Ralph/Hill, CAN
Virtue/Moir, CAN
Carron/Jones, FRA
Cappelini/Lanotte, ITA
Riazanova/Tkachenko, RUS
Hubbell/Donohue, USA

Cup of China (Nov 2-4)

Ladies
Amelie Lacoste, CAN
Bingwa Geng, CHN
Zijun Li, CHN
Ying Zhang, CHN
Kiira Korpi, FIN
Miki Ando, JPN
Sofia Biryukova, RUS
Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
Joshi Helgesson, SWE
Mirai Nagasu, USA

Mens 
Kevin Reynolds, CAN
Jinlin Guan, CHN
Nan Song, CHN
Yi Wang, CHN
Brian Joubert, FRA
Tatsuki Machida, JPN
Daisuke Takahashi, JPN
Artur Dmitriev, RUS
Sergei Voronov, RUS
Adam Rippon, USA

Pairs
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, CAN
Pang/Tong, CHN
Peng/Zhang, CHN
Sui/Han, CHN
Takahashi/Tran, JPN
Kavaguti/Smirnov, RUS
Stolbova/Klimov, RUS
Yankowskas/Reagan, USA

Dance
Weaver/Poje, CAN
Huang/Zheng, CHN
Yu/Wang, CHN
Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA
Guignard/Fabbri, ITA
Bobrova/Soloviev, RUS
Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
Chock/Bates, USA

Rostelecom Cup (Nov 9-11)

Ladies
Kiira Korpi, FIN
Kanako Murakami, JPN
Valentina Marchei, ITA
Polina Korobeynikova, RUS
Alena Leonova, RUS
Adelina Sotnikova, RUS
Viktoria Helgesson, SWE
Gracie Gold, USA
Agnes Zawadzki, USA
Caroline Zhang, USA

Men
Patrick Chan, CAN
Michal Brezina, CZE
Takahiko Kozuka, JPN
Nobunari Oda, JPN
Denis Ten, KAZ
Zhan Bush, RUS
Artur Gachinski, RUS
Konstantin Menshov, RUS
Richard Dornbush, USA
Johnny Weir, USA

Pairs
Lawrence/Swiegers, CAN
Vartmann/Van Cleave, GER
Della Monica/Guarise, ITA
Bazarova/Larionov, RUS
Martyusheva/Rogonov, RUS
Volosozhar/Trankov, RUS
Denney/Coughlin, USA
Vise/Baldwin, USA

Dance
Virtue/Moir, CAN
Orford/Williams, CAN
Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER
Coomes/Buckland, GBR
Ilinykh/Katsalapov, RUS
Monko/Khaliavin, RUS
Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
Shibutani/Shibutani, USA

Trophee Eric Bompard (Nov 16-18)

Ladies
Elena Glebova, EST
Lena Marrocco, FRA
Mae Berenice Meite, FRA
Jenna McCorkell, GBR
Polina Korobeynikova, RUS
Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, RUS
Joshi Helgesson, SWE
Christina Gao, USA
Ashley Wagner, USA 

Mens Jorik Hendrickx, BEL
Jinlin Guan, CHN
Nan Song, CHN
Tomas Verner, CZE
Florent Amodio, FRA
Brian Joubert, FRA
Romain Ponsart, FRA
Takahito Mura, JPN
Jeremy Abbott, USA
Johnny Weir, USA

Pairs
Duhamel/Radford, CAN
Peng/Zhang, CHN
James/Cipres, FRA
Popova/Massot, FRA
Savchenko/Szolkowy, GER
Berton/Hotarek, ITA
Kavaguti/Smirnov, RUS
Stolbova/Klimov, RUS

Dance
Gilles/Poirier, CAN
Carron/Jones, FRA
Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA
Zahorski/Miart, FRA
Cappellini/Lanotte, ITA
Pushkash/Guerreiro, RUS
Riazanova/Tkachenko, RUS
Hubbell/Donohue, USA

NHK Trophy (Nov 23-25)

Ladies
Zijun Li, CHN
Elene Gedevanishvili, GEO
Mao Asada, JPN
Haruka Imai, JPN
Akiko Suzuki, JPN
Sofia Biryukova, RUS
Ksenia Makarova, RUS
Polina Shelepen, RUS
Alissa Czisny, USA
Agnes Zawadzki, USA

Men
Kevin Reynolds, CAN
Andrei Rogozine, CAN
Yuzuru Haynu, JPN
Daisuke Murakami, JPN
Daisuke Takahashi, JPN
Sergei Voronov, RUS
Javier Fernandez, ESP
Richard Dornbush, USA
Ross Miner, USA
Adam Rippon, USA

Pairs
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, CAN
Sui/Han, CHN
Vartmann/Van Cleave, GER
Takahashi/Tran, JPN
Bazarova/Larionov, RUS
Castelli/Shnapir, USA
Davis/Ladwig, USA
Yankowskas/Reagan, USA

Dance
Orford/Williams, CAN
Huang/Zheng, CHN
Yu/Wang, CHN
Coomes/Buckland, GBR
Reed/Reed, JPN
Ilinykh/Katsalapov, RUS
Davis/White, USA
Shibutani/Shibutani, USA

2012-2013 Figure Skating Schedule

Official ISU events for 2012-2013

August
8-12 ASU Asian Figure Skating Trophy (Taipei)--Ladies and Men
22-26 Junior Grand Prix (France)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Junior Only)
29-Sept 2 Junior Grand Prix (United States)--All events (Junior Only)

September
8-10 Ice Star (Belarus)--All event
12-16 Junior Grand Prix (Austria)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Junior Only)
13-16 U.S. Senior International (United States)--All events (Senior Only)
19-23 Junior Grand Prix (Turkey)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Junior Only)
26-30 Junior Grand Prix (Slovenia)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Junior Only)
27-29 Nebelhorn Trophy (Germany)--All events (Senior Only)

October
3-7 Ondrej Nepala Trophy (Slovakia)--All events (Senior Only)
3-7 Junior Grand Prix (Croatia)--All events (Junior Only)
4-7 Finlandia Trophy (Finland)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Senior Only)
5 Medal Winners Open (Japan)--Ladies and Men (Senior Only)
6 Japan Open (Japan)--Ladies and Men (Senior Only)
10-14 Junior Grand Prix (Germany)--All events (Junior Only)
19-21 Skate America (USA)--All events (Senior Only)
24-28 Cup of Nice (France)--All events
25-28 Tirnavia Ice Cup (Slovakia)--Ladies and Men (Junior Only)
26-28 Skate Canada (Canada)--All events (Senior Only)
Oct 30-Nov 4 Crystal Skate (Romania)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Dance Senior Only)

November
2-4 Cup of China (China)--All events (Senior Only)
2-4 NRW Ice Dance Trophy (Germany)--Dance
6-11 Icechallenge (Austria)--All events
9-11 Rostelecom Cup (Russia)--All events (Senior Only)
11-14 Skate Celje (Slovenia)--Ladies and Men (Junior Only)
15-18 Warsaw Cup (Poland)--Ladies, Men and Pairs
16-18 Trophee Eric Bompard (France)--All events (Senior Only)
16-18 Merano Cup (Italy)--Ladies and Men
16-18 Pavel Roman Memorial (Czech Republic)--Dance
22-24 Grand Prix Slovakia (Slovakia)--All even (Junior Only)
23-25 NHK Trophy (Japan)--All events (Senior Only)
23-25 Golden Bear (Croatia)--Ladies, Men and Pairs (Junior Only)

December
5-9 NRW Trophy (Germany)--Ladies, Men and Pairs
5-9 Santa Claus Cup (Hungary)--Ladies, Men and Dance (Junior Only)
5-9 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (Russia)--All events
13-16 Golden Spin of Zagreb (Croatia)--All events (Senior Only)
18-22 Istanbul Cup (Turkey)--Ladies, Men and Dance

January
3-5 New Year Cup (Slovakia)--All events (Pairs and Dance Senior Only)
8-12 Europa Cup (Serbia)--Ladies and Men 
10-12 Mentor Nestle Nesquick Cup (Poland)--All Events (Ladies and Men Junior Only)
10-12 Coupe Internationale (France)--Dance
10-13 Volvo Open Cup (Latvia)--Ladies, Men and Dance
21-27 European Figure Skating Championships (Croatia)--All events (Senior Only)
31-Feb 3 The Nordics (Iceland)--Ladies and Men



February
6-11 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (Japan)--All events (Senior Only)
7-10 Bavarian Open (Germany)--All events
7-10 Dragon Trophy and Tivoli Cup (Slovenia)--Ladies and Men
14-17 Hellmut Siebt Memorial (Austria)--Ladies and Men
21-24 Citta' di Torino Trophy (Italy)--Ladies, Men and Dance
21-24 Challenge Cup (Netherlands)--Ladies, Men and Pairs (Pairs Junior Only)
25-Mar 3 World Junior Figure Skating Championships (Italy)--All events (Junior Only)


March
10-17 World Figure Skating Championships (Canada)--All events (Senior Only)
22-24 Coupe de Printemps (Luxembourg)--Ladies, Men and Pairs
28-30 Mladost Trophy (Croatia)--Ladies, Men and Pairs (Junior Only)


April
1-3 Gardena Spring Trophy (Italy)--Ladies and Men
3-7 Triglav Trophy (Slovenia)--Ladies and Men
11-14 World Team Trophy (Japan)--All events (Senior Only)

Potential Grand Prix Dance

There are 30 teams on this list, including one that has split and several teams that competed junior this season. 


There are 48 Grand Prix slots (including host picks) with 42 of the 48 slots filled from this list.  Some of these teams may elect to remain junior and once the split teams are removed, there will be more opportunities for second assignments. 

Note that this season the top 6 finishers at Worlds will not be able to compete at three events.   

The assignments will be released on May 21st.  

Top 12 finishers at Worlds (guaranteed 2 GP spots, top 6 are seeded and may do 3 events)

1 Virtue/Moir

2 Davis/White

3 Pechalat/Bourzat

4 Weaver/Poje

5 Ilinykh/Katsalapov

6 Cappellini/Lanotte

7 Bobrova/Soloviev

8 Shibutani/Shibutani

9 Riazanova/Tkachenko

10 Hubbell/Donohue

11 Zhiganshina/Gazsi

12 Huang/Zheng

Top 24 Seasons Best (guaranteed 1 spot)

9 Sinitsina/Zhiganshin (Junior)
11 Stepanova/Bukin (Junior)
12 Yanovskaya/Mozgov (Junior)
13 Coomes/Buckland
15 Carron/Jones
17 Aldridge/Eaton (Junior)
18 Tobias/Stagniunas
19 Papadakis/Cizeron (Junior)
20 Chock/Bates
21 Orford/Williams (Junior)
22 Alessandrini/Vaturi
23 Zlobina/Sitnikov
24 Nazarova/Nikitin (Junior)

Top 24 World Standings (guaranteed 1 assignment)

17 Pushkash/Guerriero
18 Guignard/Fabbri
20 Yu/Wang
21 Ralph/Hill
24 Bonacorsi/Mager (split)

Top 3 at Junior Grand Prix Final and Jr. Worlds (considered for 1 spot)

All meet one of the criteria above.

Number of skaters eligible by country (not including host picks):

Russia: 7
USA: 6 (one split)

Canada: 4
France: 3
Italy: 3
China: 2
Azerbaijan: 1
Germany: 1
Great Britain: 1
Lithuania: 1
Ukraine: 1

Potential Grand Prix Pairs

There are 30 pairs on the list including several that have split but could still receive assignments.


There are 48 Grand Prix slots (including host picks) with 42 of the 48 slots filled from this list.  Some of these teams may elect to remain junior and once the split teams are removed, there will be more opportunities for second assignments. 

Note that this season the top 6 finishers at Worlds will not be able to compete at three events.  Also, teams will no longer be able to compete on both the Junior and Senior Grand Prix.  

The assignments will be released on May 21st.  

Top 12 finishers at Worlds (guaranteed 2 GP spots, top 6 are seeded and may do 3 events)

1 Savchenko/Szolkowy

2 Volosozhar/Trankov

3 Takahashi/Tran

4 Pang/Tong

5 Duhamel/Radford

6 Bazarova/Larionov

7 Kavaguti/Smirnov

8 Denney/Coughlin

9 Sui/Han

10 Marley/Brubaker

11 Berton/Hotarek

12 Dube/Wolfe

Top 24 Seasons Best (guaranteed 1 spot)

10 Zhang/Zhang (split)
12 Moore-Towers/Moscovitch
13 Stolbova/Klimov
14 Evora/Ladwig (split)
16 Yu/Jin (Junior)
17 Iliushechkina/Maisuradze (split)
18 Lawrence/Swiegers
20 Vise/Baldwin
21 Vartmann/Van Cleave
22 Davankova/Deputat (Junior)
23 Bobak/Beharry (rumored to have split)
24 James/Cipres

Top 24 World Standings (guaranteed 1 assignment)

10 Hausch/Wende
15 Gerboldt/Enbert
21 Dong/Wu
22 Kadlecova/Bidar (split)
23 Kemp/King

Top 3 at Junior Grand Prix Final and Jr. Worlds (considered for 1 spot)

JGPF
3 Simpson/Blackmer (Junior)

Number of skaters eligible by country (not including host picks):

Russia: 7 (one split)
Canada: 5 (one split)
China: 5 (one split)
USA: 5 (one split)
Czech Republic: 1 (split)
France: 1
Germany: 3
Great Britain: 1
Italy: 1
Japan: 1

Potential Grand Prix Men

There are 28 men on the list including Kevin van der Perren who announced his retirement but could still receive assignments and several skaters that competed as juniors and may choose to move up to seniors or return to the Junior Grand Prix.


There are 60 Grand Prix slots (including host picks) with 40 of the 60 slots filled from this list, meaning approximately half of the skaters outside of top 12 finishers at worlds will be given a 2nd assignment.  If some of these men choose to remain junior, more spots will be available.  

If the "comeback skater clause is still in effect this season, Evan Lysacek would be eligible as he received assignments last season due to his World Ranking and would not have forfeited his comeback eligibility.

Note that this season the top 6 finishers at Worlds will not be able to compete at three events.


The assignments will be released on May 21st.  

Top 12 finishers at Worlds (guaranteed 2 GP spots, top 6 are seeded and may do 3 events)

1 Patrick Chan

2 Daisuke Takahashi

3 Yuzuru Hanyu

4 Brian Joubert

5 Florent Amodio

6 Michal Brezina

7 Denis Ten

8 Jeremy Abbott

9 Javier Fernandez

10 Samuel Contesti

11 Takahiko Kozuka

12 Kevin Reynolds

Top 24 Seasons Best (guaranteed 1 spot)

3 Evgeni Plushenko
6 Artur Gachinski
13 Nobunari Oda
14 Nan Song
15 Tomas Verner
17 Ross Miner
18 Adam Rippon
19 Han Yan (Junior)
20 Joshua Farris (Junior)
22 Takahito Mura
23 Jason Brown (Junior)
24 Kevin van der Perren

Top 24 World Standings (guaranteed 1 assignment)

15 Alexander Majorov
20 Richard Dornbush
21 Konstantin Menshov
24 Tatsuki Machida

Top 3 at Junior Grand Prix Final and Jr. Worlds (considered for 1 spot)

All meet one of the criteria above

Number of skaters eligible by country (not including host picks):

Japan: 6 
USA: 6
Russia: 3
Canada: 2
China: 2
Czech Republic: 2
France: 2
Belgium: 1
Kazakhstan: 1 
Italy: 1
Spain: 1
Sweden: 1

Potential Grand Prix Ladies

There are 33 ladies on the list including Miki Ando who did not compete last season but could still receive assignments and several skaters that competed as juniors and may choose to move up to seniors or return to the Junior Grand Prix.


There are 60 Grand Prix slots (including host picks) with 45 of the 60 slots filled from this list, meaning few skaters outside of top 12 finishers at worlds will be given a 2nd assignment unless they are given a host pick.  If some of these ladies choose to remain junior, more spots will be available. 

Note that this season the top 6 finishers at Worlds will not be able to compete at three events. 


The assignments will be released on May 21st. 

Top 12 finishers at Worlds (guaranteed 2 GP spots, top 6 are seeded)

1 Carolina Kostner

2 Alena Leonova

3 Akiko Suzuki

4 Ashley Wagner

5 Kanako Murakami

6 Mao Asada

7 Kexin Zhang

8 Valentina Marchei

9 Ksenia Makarova

10 Elene Gedevanishvili

11 Viktoria Helgesson

12 Yretha Silete

Top 24 Seasons Best (guaranteed 1 spot)

5 Julia Lipnitskaia (Junior)
7 Elizaveta Tuktamisheva
8 Alissa Czisny
9 Caroline Zhang
11 Mirai Nagasu
12 Gracie Gold (Junior)
13 Adelina Sotnikova
14 Kiira Korpi
15 Sofia Biryukova
17 Polina Korobeynikova
19 Polina Shelepen (Junior)
20 Satoko Miyahara (Junior)
23 Risa Shoji (Junior)
24 Zijun Li (Junior)

Top 24 World Standings (guaranteed 1 assignment)

15 Mae Berenice Meite

17 Joshi Helgesson

18 Haruka Imai

19 Agnes Zawadzki

21 Amelie Lacoste

22 Miki Ando (did not compete in 2011-2012)

24 Sarah Hecken

Top 3 at Junior Grand Prix Final and Jr. Worlds (considered for 1 spot)

All meet one of the criteria above

Number of skaters eligible by country (not including host picks):

Russia: 8
Japan: 7
USA: 6
China: 2 
France: 2
Italy: 2
Sweden: 2
Canada: 1
Finland: 1 
Georgia: 1
Germany: 1

2012-2013 US International Selection Pool

These skaters will be considered for international assignments in the upcoming season.  Skaters may be added to this list after being monitored at summer events.  I have also indicated their level of international eligibility (determined by age unless a skater has been competing as a senior even though they are age eligible for junior).

Ladies

Kiri Baga
Mariah Bell
Ashley Cain
Samantha Cesario
Alissa Czisny (Senior only)
McKinzie Daniels
Polina Edmunds
Rachael Flatt (Senior only)
Christina Gao (Senior only)
Gracie Gold
Jenelle Herman
Courtney Hicks
Nina Jiang
Leah Keiser
Katarina Kulgeyko
Vanessa Lam
Barbie Long
Hannah Miller
Mirai Nagasu (Senior only)
Gwendolyn Prescott
Yasmin Siraj
Ashley Wagner (Senior only)
Angela Wang
Agnes Zawadzki (Senior only)
Caroline Zhang (Senior only)

Men

Max Aaron (Senior Only)
Jeremy Abbott (Senior Only)
Jason Brown
Stephen Carriere (Senior Only)
Jonathan Cassar (Senior Only)
Nathan Chen (Junior Only)
Harrison Choate
Timothy Dolensky (Senior Only)
Richard Dornbush (Senior Only)
Scott Dyer (Senior Only)
Joshua Farris
Grant Hochstein (Senior Only)
Spencer Howe
Alexander Johnson (Senior Only)
Lukas Kaugars
Evan Lysacek (Senior Only)
Armin Mahbanozzadeh (Senior Only)
Keegan Messing (Senior Only)
Ross Miner (Senior Only)
Brandon Mroz (Senior Only)
Shotaro Omori
Douglas Razzano (Senior Only)
Adam Rippon (Senior Only)
James Schetelich
Kevin Shum
Troy Tomasello
David Wang
Philip Warren (Senior Only)
Johnny Weir (Senior Only)
Jay Yostanto

Pairs

Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage
Caitlin Belt & Michael Johnson
Jessica Noelle Calalang & Zack Sidhu
Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir (Senior Only)
Lindsay Davis & Mark Ladwig (Senior Only)
Brianna de la Mora & Taylor Wilson (Junior Only)
Caydee Denney & John Coughlin (Senior Only)
Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier
Gretchen Donlan & Andrew Speroff (Senior Only)
Kylie Duarte & Colin Grafton (Senior Only)
Audrey Goldberg & Joseph Dolkiewicz
Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker (Senior Only)
Olivia Oltmanns & Joshua Santillan
Jessica Pfund & AJ Reiss
Britney Simpson & Matthew Blackmer
Tiffany Vise & Don Baldwin (Senior Only)
Caitlin Yankowskas & Joshua Reagan (Senior Only)
Christina Zaitsev & Ernie Stevens (Junior Only)
Felicia Zhang & Nathan Bartholomay (Senior Only)

Dance

Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton
Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus (Senior Only)
Madison Chock & Evan Bates (Senior Only)
Meryl Davis & Charlie White (Senior Only)
Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker
Madeline Heritage & Nathaniel Fast
Madison Hubbell & Zach Donohue (Senior Only)
Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt (Senior Only)
Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter (Junior Only)
Whitney Miller & Kyle MacMillan (Junior Only)
Holly Moore & Daniel Klaber
Anastasia Olson & Keiffer Hubbell
Rachel Parsons & Michael Parsons
Elliana Pogrebinsky & Ross Gudis
Hannah Rosinski & Jacob Jaffe
Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (Senior Only)