World champion Uno Shoma kicks off post-Olympic season at Skate Canada

What history will figure skating fans witness in week two of the Grand Prix season?

Last week at Skate America it was the quadruple Axel (by Ilia Malinin – the first on the Grand Prix [and second ever]) and the oldest Grand Prix medallist (that would be Deanna Stellato-Dudek, the 39-year-old Canadian pair skater).

Skate Canada International in Mississauga, Canada, is set for 28-30 Oct., with reigning world champion Uno Shoma headlining an event that has plenty of question marks around it, including the form of Kihira Rika, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, who is making her way back from a series of injuries.

Here, a full preview of each discipline – including the star skaters to watch – plus how and when you can tune into the action.

Read more: How Uno Shoma has found new motivation for this season

Men: Uno aims high

Where does Uno Shoma go from here? The Japanese skater is a three-time Olympic medallist and now a world champion, but is still only 24 and appears to be as hungry as ever.

He’ll have familiar company in Ontario with Canadian favourite Keegan Messing back for another season at age 30, as well as Latvian Deniss Vasiljevs, who shares coach Stephane Lambiel with Uno.

Uno’s 17-year-old compatriot Miura Kao just finished second at Skate America last weekend, the 2022 Japanese junior national champion making his mark on the senior scene.

That’s the hope for Stephen Gogolev, another 17-year-old, too. The Toronto native was the Junior Grand Prix Final champion in 2018 but has faced a series of injuries over the last four years and now stands 6 feet tall.

Also to keep an eye on: Matteo Rizzo of Italy and American Camden Pulkinen, who was fifth at Worlds in 2022.

Women: All eyes on Kihira Rika

While Uno is favoured in the men’s field, his countrywoman Kihira returns to the big stage – but with uncertainty around her current form. She suffered from a stress fracture in her right foot in 2021, missing the entirety of the Olympic season.

The two-time Japanese and Four Continents champ, now 20, competed in the Japan Open earlier this month and did not attempt any Lutz or flip jumps, her 113.44 free skate score far off her personal best of 154.72 at NHK Trophy in 2018.

South Korea’s You Young aims for her first Grand Prix gold having won a trio of bronzes. The Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 champion was sixth at Beijing 2022 and is one of just a fistful of female skates to possess the triple Axel.

Twenty-year-old Watanabe Rinka of Japan was impressive with a win at the Lombardia Trophy Challenger Series event earlier this season, winning gold, while Madeline Schizas will be the featured home hope for Canada. The 19-year-old grew up just next door in Oakville and is the reigning Canadian champ.

2017 world bronze medallist and PyeongChang 2018 team gold medallist Gabrielle Daleman of Canada is also in the field.

Reigning junior world bronze medallist Lindsay Thorngren, just 16, will look for a strong senior Grand Prix debut after American teammate Isabeau Levito won silver at Skate America in her debut.

Pairs: Miura and Kihara take on new role

A week after reigning world champs Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier opened their season with the win in Boston, the world bronze medallists Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi hope to do the same in Mississauga.

The expressive Japanese duo is coached by Canadians Bruno Marcotte and Meagan Duhamel, the latter a two-time world champion. Miura/Kihara had a breakout season last year and will surely be the crowd favourites as they train in the Toronto area.

The Canadian team of Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier finished third at Skate America, while their teammates Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar are the reigning junior world bronze medallists.

Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert of Germany are in their first full international season together, coming in second twice at Challenger Series events to start the year. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy won Lombardia Trophy last month, while Emily Chan and Spencer Howe of the U.S. will be in the podium conversation, as well.

Ice dance: Gilles and Poirier are back for more

While the international pairs field feels very wide open, the jockeying in ice dance in the new Olympic quad is fierce and competitive.

Enter 2021 world bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who had made it their goal to land on the Olympic podium last season only to fall disappointedly short. The Canadian team enters its 13th season together and will try for a third Skate Canada win, having triumphed in 2019 and again last year.

Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson will challenge them for that top spot, the Montreal-based team having already clinched two Challenger titles this season.

Fear/Gibson will star later this season in the first-ever Grand Prix in their home country at the MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, Great Britain (11-13 Nov.).

Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha already have two Challenger wins this year, as well, while the French-turned-Canadian team of Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac won bronze at Skate America last weekend.

Also in the field: Komatsubara Misato and Koleto Tim of Japan and Team USA’s Caroline Green and Michael Parsons.

Schedule and how to watch

Official practices are set for Thursday (27 Oct.), with the competition being held Friday and Saturday inside the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga.

Friday, 28 Oct.
1400 Women’s short program
1550 Ice dance rhythm dance
1845 Pair skating short program
2010 Men’s short program

Saturday, 29 Oct.
1315 Women’s free skate
1525 Ice dance free dance
1800 Pair skating free skate
1936 Men’s free skate

Sunday, 30 Oct.
1400 Exhibition gala

American fans can watch on Peacock, while the ISU streams the Grand Prix on its YouTube channel – though many territories are geoblocked from watching.

You can get the full list of ISU broadcasters for the Grand Prix here.