JGP Austria Dance Preview

Yanovskaya and Mozgov established themselves as one of the top Russian junior teams with two JGP medals and a medal at the JGP Final.  They went on to win the Youth Olympic Games but a mistake in their free dance at Junior Worlds left them off the medal stand.  They're starting this season looking for redemption.

Papadakis and Cizeron have continued their climb with their first JGP gold medal in France earlier this season.  They'll need to improve on their performance if they want to earn their second gold of the season, but they should be able to take home a silver medal and earn their first trip to the Final.

Several teams will be fighting for the bronze medal at this event.  Koch and Nuchtern of Germany finished just off the podium in 4th place at both of their events last season and finished 9th at their first Junior Worlds.  Bent and Mackeen of Canada won a bronze medal on the JGP last season but their 4th place finish at Canadian nationals left them off the Junior Worlds team.  Simonova and Dragun of Russia are also in the mix as are Nazarova and Nikitin of Ukraine who won the silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Yanovskaya/Mozgov
Silver: Papadakis/Cizeron
Bronze: Koch/Nuchtern

Bios of the competitors:
Smith/Eisenbauer, AUT: They placed 16th at JGP Austria last season.  Their personal best is 79.50.  She is 15 and he is 14.

Kavaliova/Bieliaiev, BLR: They placed 19th at Junior Worlds.  They finished 9th at JGP France.  Their personal best is 111.34.  She is 18 and he is 19.

Bent/Mackeen, CAN: They won bronze at JGP Romania and placed 5th at JGP Estonia last season.  Their personal best is 120.69.  She is 15 and he is 18.

Prochazkova/Ceska, CZE: They placed 21st at Junior Worlds.  They finished 4th at JGP Latvia and 8th at JGP Austria last season.  Their personal best is 120.49.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Leininger/Caurel, FRA: They placed 11th at JGP Latvia last season.  Their personal best is 90.86.  She is 17 and he is 17.

Papadakis/Cizeron, FRA: They placed 5th at Junior Worlds.  They won gold at JGP France.  Their personal best is 138.70.  She is 17 and he is 17.

Koch/Nuchtern, GER: They placed 9th at Junior Worlds.  They finished 4th at JGP Austria and JGP Italy last season.  Their personal best is 124.35.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Smart/Buckland, GBR: They placed 17th at Junior Worlds.  They finished 13th at JGP Austria and 12th at JGP Estonia last season.  Their personal best is 106.46.  She is 15 and he is 19.

Busi/Fabbri, ITA: They placed 11th at JGP Austria and 12th at JGP Italy last season.  Their personal best is 101.79.  She is 18 and he is 19.

Jakushina/Grishins, LAT: They placed 17th at JGP Latvia and 16th at JGP Estonia last season.  Their personal best is 73.18.  She is 15 and he is 18.

Campbell/Speden, NZL: They placed 17th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  They finished 9th at JGP Australia.  She is 19 and he is 20.

Katkova/Barszczak, POL: This is their international debut.

Simonova/Dragun, RUS: They placed 6th at JGP Romania last season.  Their personal best is 125.22.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Yankovskaya/Mozgov, RUS: They placed 4th at Junior Worlds.  They won bronze at JGP Poland and gold at JGP Estonia last season to qualify for the JGP Final where they won silver.  Their personal best is 146.96.  She is 15 and he is 17.

Nazarova/Nikitin, UKR: Their personal best is 131.68.  She is 15 and he is 17.

Miller/MacMillan, USA: This is their international debut.  She is 14 and he is 14.

Parsons/Parsons, USA: They placed 15th at Junior Worlds.  They finished 9th at JGP Poland last season.  Their personal best is 114.22.  She is 14 and he is 16.