Top things to know about the Olympic figure skating season ahead of Beijing 2022

With the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on the horizon, the world’s best figure skaters are hoping to be at their very best during the 2021-22 season after a challenging year of stops and starts.

The goal? The podium in Beijing - though there is plenty of skating to happen before then.

ISU Challenger events in September and October have already provided intriguing storylines, with Olympic quota spots being confirmed at Nebelhorn Trophy, and fresh faces like 16-year-old American Alysa Liu making their senior debut, while veterans like four-time world champion ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France revealing their programs for the Olympic season.

With the ISU's Grand Prix Series about to begin at Skate America in Las Vegas (22-24 October), Olympics.com looks at the favourites in each discipline as we make our way closer to Beijing 2022. The Series is held over six weeks in October and November, with the top six skaters in each discipline making the Grand Prix Final, set for mid-December in Osaka, Japan.

Olympic team spots are announced by individual national governing bodies, usually between mid-Dec. and mid-January after the completion of national championships.

MORE: Figure skating schedule - Beijing 2022 | Grand Prix 2021-22 informations (entries & criteria)

Here's our guide for what you need to know this Olympic figure skating season.

The women's favourites: The battle of the teenagers?

Three Russian athletes dominate the world rankings: Anna Shcherbakova (17 years old) is number one, Alexandra Trusova (17) number two and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (24) number four. The trio swept the podium at the 2021 World Championships and will each be hoping to continue to shine over the coming months.

But none of the three reigning world medallists are assured even a ticket to the coming Games as Russian athletes have bubbled to the top of women's singles in the global picture over the last several years. Alena Kostornaia missed out on Worlds last season, but she - along with fellow teens Kamila Valieva, Maiia Kromykh and Daria Usacheva - are all ones to watch.

Yes, that makes seven Russian women to keep an eye on in what will be the most competitive Olympic team qualification scenario this year in the sport.

Who can challenge the ROC skaters in Beijing? That task could fall to Japan's Kihira Rika, who has displayed bursts of brilliance in the last two seasons and has recently switched to coach Brian Orser in Canada. Kihira has withdrawn from Skate Canada to recover from an ankle injury, but should still lead a strong Japanese contingent, which also includes 2018 Olympians Sakamoto Kaori and Miyahara Satoko - among others.

The aforementioned Team USA prodigy Liu is on top form right now, having won her first two senior international events. She'll need her triple Axel to be more consistent to compete with the quad-jumping Russians and Kihira. Compatriots Karen Chen and Bradie Tennell will be factored into the U.S. conversation, as will 2020 national medallist Mariah Bell.

Republic of Korea’s 17-year-old skater You Young will hope to build upon the gold medal she earned at the Youth Olympics Lausanne 2020 - though her consistency has wavered over the last season.

Don't sleep on Belgian veteran Leona Hendrickx, who placed fifth at Worlds in 2021; or Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova, who has already shown strong skating this season.

Men's preview: Can anyone stop Hanyu or Chen?

While the top men in the world come from a fist full of countries, two will stand apart for a second consecutive Olympic season: Japan’s Hanyu Yuzuru, the double Olympic champion (2014, 2018); and the three-time and reigning world champion, Nathan Chen of the United States.

The two on-ice foes are friends off of it, and have saluted one another for pushing the sport to higher technical heights. For Hanyu, who turns 27 in December, he's chasing a third consecutive gold - not done in men's skating since Gillis Grafstrom in 1920-28. Meanwhile, for Chen, it's about trying to stand atop the podium having finished fifth at PyeongChang 2018 after a disappointing short program.

Like on the women's side, there is plenty of intrigue just to make the men's singles team for both Japan and the USA. For team Japan, Uno Shoma (23), the silver medallist at PyeongChang, will look to find his best form this season, but he and Hanyu both have 18-year-old Kagiyama Yuma to contend with, the teen who won the silver medal at Worlds last season behind Chen. He also won gold at Lausanne 2020.

Chen, now 22, is the reigning and three-time world champion (2018, 2019, 2021) and will look for a fifth consecutive Skate America title before heading straight for Skate Canada the following week. Who will be his (potential) Beijing teammates? 2019 world bronze medallist Vincent Zhou went through a rocky experience by failing to qualify for the free skate at Worlds in Stockholm but looked crisp in helping the USA to secure its third spot at Nebelhorn a few weeks ago.

Also in the U.S. conversation: 2014 Olympian Jason Brown, who has been outspoken about his desire to get back to the Games after failing to qualify in 2018.

Top men to watch this season also include Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada; Keegan Messing of Canada; and Kevin Aymoz of France, though Aymoz had an injury this summer that has impeded his Olympic season preparations.

Pairs: Sui/Han and Mishina/Galliamov ones to beat

People's Republic of China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong are poised to be home heroes in the pairs event, which China has a rich history in. The pairs schedule has actually been moved to the last of the four disciplines in Beijing, in anticipation of a strong finish for the host nation.

The duo won Olympic silver in 2018, and have captured two world titles previously, in 2017 and 2019.

But injuries for both Sui and Han should be kept an eye on this year, and they were not at their best when they finished in second at Worlds earlier this year to the Russian Figure Skating Federation's Anastasia Mishina and Maxim Galliamov, who were surprise winners at that event ahead of teammates Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii.

Mishina and Galliamov won gold at the Finlandia Trophy in the Challenger Series at the start of October, and will look to lead a crowded ROC pairs field for three Olympic spots, which also includes veterans Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov as well as Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin.

Elsewhere, Canadian skater Eric Radford returns to the ice with new partner Vanessa James, Radford having previously won a bronze in PyeongChang with Megan Duhamel, who has since retired. James' former partner Morgan Cipres has also stepped away from the sport.

China's Peng Cheng and Jin Yang will factor into the Olympic conversation, as could the new (as of last season) American team of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, as well as Japan's Miura Riku and Kihira Ryuichi, who have shown in the past few weeks that they look ready to make a splash on the pairs scene this year.

Ice Dance preview: French stars return

France’s ice dancing stars Papadakis/Cizeron made a brilliant return to the international stage when they won gold at the Finlandia Trophy earlier this month, having not skated internationally since January 2020.

The PyeongChang silver medallists are four-time world champs, and will go head-to-head with the reigning world champs, Russia's Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, at the earliest at the Grand Prix Final in December.

While those two teams headline the ice dance event this year, the American race between former national champions and world medallists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, as well as Madison Chock and Evan Bates, will be fierce, beginning at Skate America in the opening weekend of the Grand Prix.

Also to watch this year: Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada, who landed on the world podium for the first time this past year, as well as Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin of Russia; Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy; and Great Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson.

2021/22 ISU Figure Skating event calendar

ISU Grand Prix

• 22-24 October: Skate America, Las Vegas (USA)
• 29-31 October: Skate Canada, Vancouver (Canada)
• 5-7 November: Gran Premio d’Italia, Turin (Italy)
• 12-14 November: NHK Trophy, Tokyo (Japan)
• 19-21 November: Internationaux de France, Grenoble (France)
• 26-28 November: Rostelecom Cup, Sochi (Russia)
• 9-12 December: Grand Prix Final, Osaka (Japan)

ISU Challenger Series

• 10-12 September: Lombardia Trophy, Bergamo (Italy)
• 16-18 September: Autumn Classic, Pierrefonds (Canada)
• 22-25 September: Nebelhorn Trophy, Oberstdorf (Germany)
• 7-10 October: Finlandia Trophy, Espoo (Finland)
• 13-17 October: Asian Open Trophy, Beijing (China)
• 28-31 October: Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan)
• 11-14 November: Cup of Austria, Graz (Austria)
• 18-21 November: Warsaw Cup, Warsaw (Poland)
• 8-11 December: Golden Spin of Zagreb, Zagreb (Croatia)

ISU Championships

• 10-16 January: European Championships, Tallinn (Estonia)
• 18-23 January: Four Continent Championships, Tallinn (Estonia)
• 21-27 March: World Championships, Montpellier (France)