Figure skating Grand Prix de France 2023: Kagiyama Yuma to return after long injury layoff
Japan's Olympic silver medallist competes in his first Grand Prix in two years this weekend in Angers, France, from 3–5 November. Discover how to watch.
Figure Skating
For the first time since 2021, Kagiyama Yuma will take to the ice at an ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event this weekend (3–5 November).
The Japanese skater missed all of the last international season recovering from an ankle injury, and finally makes his return at the 2023 Grand Prix de France in Angers.
So what is his aim for this season, where he is set to appear at both the GP de France and at his home NHK Trophy in Tokyo? "Perfect performance and artistic skating!", he wrote on a card which he unveiled at a press conference earlier in October.
The Beijing 2022 Olympic silver medallist, who also claimed silver at that year's World Championships, is one of the biggest names in action this week in Angers, the third stop of six on the Grand Prix series before December's Grand Prix Final in Beijing.
Also competing in France will be Ilia Malinin, chasing his second win of the season after triumphing at Skate America two weeks ago; and world medallists Lee Hae-in in the women's singles, Italian pairs team Sara Conti / Niccolò Macii, and ice dance veterans Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri.
Here are the storylines to follow in Angers.
Kagiyama returns with new coach on team
The men's singles competition in Angers looks to be competitive: Kagiyama and Malinin are both in action, as well as the European and French national champion Adam Siao Him Fa, 2022 Junior Grand Prix Final champion Nikolaj Memola, European bronze medallist Lukas Britschgi, among others.
But most of the attention will be on the first two. Kagiyama will compete for just the second time internationally since his 2022 World Championships silver; his return to ISU competition having come at the Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy in September which he won. That event also marked the debut of his new coaching set-up: while Kagiyama's father, two-time Olympian Masakazu, remains part of his team, he now also has 2012 world champion Carolina Kostner of Italy working with him.
The agreement was reached back in March and April, when Kagiyama held a training camp in northern Italy and worked with Kostner on improving his choreography and artistic expression. "In terms of technique, my father has taught me the finer points of jumping and spinning," the skater said recently. "In terms of skating and expression, I am now coached by Carolina Kostner, who taught me a lot about expression and improving my skating in Italy (earlier this year)."
Malinin, meanwhile, heads to Angers knowing a podium finish will all-but-guarantee the American a place at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing. The only man rocking the quadruple Axel in his repertoire, the 18-year-old scored a career-best 310.47 – just the fifth man to breach the 300-point total ever (Kagiyama, his fellow Japanese Uno Shoma and Hanyu Yuzuru, and Nathan Chen are the other four) – at Skate America.
However, somewhat surprisingly, Malinin did not perform the quad Axel, skating's hardest jump, two weeks ago in Texas en route to victory. He said then that he wanted to focus on skating cleanly and qualifying for Beijing. With that a near-certainty now, the quad Axel could be back in the spotlight in Angers.
Lee, Levito lead women's field
The women's singles event appears to be a straight contest between the skaters who were second and fourth at March's World Championships: Lee of the Republic of Korea, and American Isabeau Levito, who finished second in Texas behind Loena Hendrickx two weeks ago.
Levito, in her second season at the senior level, is looking for her first Grand Prix win, having taken silver at Skate America 2022, the MK John Wilson Trophy 2022, Grand Prix Final 2022/23, and again at this season's Skate America. Lee, too, has never won a Grand Prix, finishing fourth in her two outings last season. Japan's Higuchi Wakaba, who is one of the few women to have landed a triple Axel in competition, is also due to compete.
Conti and Macii, the European pairs champions, will have a chance to consolidate their position as one of the world's best teams in their first Grand Prix of the year. With world champions Miura Riku / Kihara Ryuichi missing the entire Grand Prix season through injury, and world number two Alexa Knierim / Brandon Frazier taking a season off, Conti and Macii are suddenly favourites to sweep their Grand Prix events this year.
There will be a tough fight in the ice dance, meanwhile, with world medallists Guignard and Fabbri of Italy facing off against fellow veterans Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen of Canada. Guignard, who was born in France, and Fabbri are the defending champions at the Grand Prix de France and will be favoured to retain their title.
Figure skating Grand Prix de France 2023: Schedule
*All times listed in Central European Time (UTC +1 hour). *
- Friday, 3 November
13:00 – Women's short program
15:00 – Ice dance rhythm dance
16:45 – Men's short program
18:45 – Pairs short program - Saturday, 4 November
13:00 – Women's free skate
15:10 – Ice dance free dance
17:02 – Men's free skate
19:10 – Pairs free skate - Sunday, 5 November
14:30 – Exhibition gala
You can see the full official schedule here.
Grand Prix de France figure skating 2023: How to watch
American fans can catch the action on Peacock's live stream throughout the weekend. NBC will host a recap show at 12:30pm ET on Sunday November 5. See the full U.S. broadcast schedule here.
For international fans, discover your local broadcaster here. Some regions may be geo-restricted when it comes to availability. TV Asahi is the ISU partner broadcaster in Japan, with SBS Korea carrying coverage in the Republic of Korea, CCTV in China, Eurosport in much of Europe, CBC in Canada and SBS in Australia.