Internationaux de France: Kagiyama, Shcherbakova in search of more gold and what else to watch for 

From Torino to Tokyo to Grenoble, figure skating has bounced around the globe the last two weeks as the Grand Prix Series of the Olympic season heads back to Europe for it's fifth stop in 2021.

The Internationaux de France is set for this coming Friday and Saturday (19 & 20 November) and packs plenty of intrigue across all four disciplines, with Torino winners Anna Shcherbakova, Kagiyama Yuma and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron each looking to punch their tickets for the Grand Prix Final next month.

The Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Russia (26 & 27 Nov.), will wrap up the series, with the top six skaters and teams then to be confirmed for the final, which will take place December 9-12 in Osaka, Japan.

Both Shcherbakova, the reigning world champion from Russia, and Kagiyama, the world silver medallist from Japan, needed comeback efforts in Italy two weeks ago, each stating they’d like cleaner performances in the short program on their next outing.

Shcherbakova’s Russian teammates Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii are favoured in the pairs field.

MORE: What we learned at NHK Trophy

Here, five things to watch out for at the Patinoire Polesud, the same site of this event for the fourth year running after hosting it in 2017, 2018 and 2019. (The 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid protocols.)

Men: Kagiyama, Messing, Brown lead the way

Eighteen-year-old Kagiyama, the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games champion and surprise silver medallist at worlds earlier this year, had another learning experience at the Gran Premio d’Italia, where he bounced back from a disastrous short program, in which he placed seventh, to win the event.

It was a new situation for the teen, who is still finding his feet on the senior circuit as the Olympic Games Beijing 2022 grow nearer.

“I was really feeling low; I didn't know what to do about the whole situation,” Kagiyama said about his short result program in Torino. “My coach said, 'Let's forget about what you did last year... my position, my record.' I took all of those things off of my shoulders and I said that I was a challenger starting from scratch. That turned out well."

Kagiyama will be favoured for the podium, but has challenges from experienced skaters Jason Brown of the U.S. and Canada’s Keegan Messing, as well as a trio of Russians to contend with.

Brown was sterling at Skate Canada in the short program and held on for the silver medal after the free, while Messing suffered a hard fall in his free skate and never seemed to recover, dropping from third to fifth overall.

The main home hope is Kevin Aymoz in men’s singles, though injuries have hampered his progress so far this season.

A consistent Kagiyama will be hard to beat, however, as he looks to apply his learnings from Torino onto the ice in Grenoble.

Women: Shcherbakova favoured; Kostornaia, Higuchi to watch for

The 17-year-old Shcherbakova was not as low as seventh after the short in Italy, but her third-place position did surprise as the Russian turned her planned triple Lutz-triple loop combination into a triple-double.

It was a learning experience for her, too, and she was steady in her free skate – which included a quadruple flip – to claim the gold.

“It was not a technical problem, it was a problem in my head,” Shcherbakova admitted after the short program. “Today I was thinking too much. [Coach] Eteri [Tutberidze] told me I was thinking too much. I was trying to think about how I could do it better.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone bettering Shcherbakova this week as she looks to go two-from-two at the Grands Prix this year, though the field also features her compatriot Alena Kostornaia, Japan’s Higuchi Wakaba, who owns a triple Axel, Americans Mariah Bell and Karen Chen and Lee Hae-in of the Republic of Korea.

While Kostornaia, the 2020 European champion, could be the closest contender, her 214.54 is more than 20 points below Shcherbakova’s 236.78 total from Torino.

Shcherbakova will hope to put out her quad flip again in Grenoble, a jump she was particularly proud of in Italy (see above).

Pairs: Boikova/ Kozlovskii look to return to GP gold

Scratchy skating from the Russian duo of Boikova/Kozlovskii at Skate America last month snapped their three-event win streak on the Grand Prix circuit, which dated back to 2018. They were third in Las Vegas.

The 2020 Russian and European champions look to clean up their free skate, and in particular the side-by-side jumps, where they’re attempting to earn extra points with a harder-than-usual triple Salchow-Euler-triple Salchow combination.

The pairs field is an open own, however, as Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier look to build on their fourth-place finish at Skate America while the new duo of Vanessa James and Eric Radford are hoping for more consistency in their partnership.

Former world junior medallists Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev of Russia will look to build off their bronze in Torino from two weeks ago, as well.

Dance: World champs Papadakis/ Cizeron take on Gilles/ Poirier

It’s a long-awaited homecoming for Papadakis/Cizeron, who will skate in their first international event in front of a home crowd since winning here two years ago.

The ice dance duo didn’t compete whatsoever during the truncated 2020-21 season, but looked as sharp as ever in their win at Gran Premio d’Italia, beating training mates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue en route.

This weekend the Olympic silver medallists will be challenged by world bronze medallists and Skate Canada champs Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who will aim for a strong performance to lock in their Grand Prix Final spot.

Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin of Russia are also featured, the duo having won bronze in Torino. Team USA’s Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are hoping for better scores from their outing at Skate Canada.

Internationaux de France: Schedule, how to watch

Official practices kick off on Thursday morning (18 Nov.), with the women and dance set for Friday’s afternoon session and the men and pairs to be featured in the evening.

This is the fifth ISU Grand Prix event of the year, with all signs pointing towards the Grand Prix Final in December, as well as the Winter Games in Beijing come February.

The ISU Grand Prix events can also be key for Olympic team selections. These are made by each nation individually, based on quota spots earned for Beijing 2022. Most teams are named in late December or early January following national championship events prior to the Games.

Many governing bodies take into account a skater or team’s “body of work”, especially internationally, meaning each and every event leading up to Beijing carries its own importance.

Schedule of Internationaux de France

Friday, 19 November (local time in France - CET, which is GMT+1)

13:00 Women’s singles – short program

15:00 Ice dance – rhythm dance

16:45 Men’s singles – short program

18:45 Pair skating – short program

Saturday, 20 November

13:00 Women’s singles – free skate

15:10 Ice dance – free dance

17:00 Men’s singles – free skate

19:10 Pair skating – free skate

Sunday, 21 November

14:30 Exhibition gala

How to watch Internationaux de France live

The ISU’s list of international broadcasters can be found here.

American fans can watch the action on Peacock.