Shanghai 2015 - About Innovation and Podiums

Patricia Marx once said about Shanghai that you don't have to spend much time in it before you start to think about the meaning of authenticity. China's most populated city is a hub of innovation, which is why it makes sense that when time came for China to host its first ever world figure skating championships, Shanghai was picked as the host city.

Over the next few days, the city will see a fair share of originality and innovation, as the world's best figure skaters will step on the ice of the Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre. Most of them are incredibly young and are looking to win their first world title, so the audience will get the chance to see history being made.

Out of all the favourites for the gold medal, Yuzuru Hanyu is the only one who has won the World Championships before. He comes here after a nightmarish season filled with health problems and a nasty collision that occurred in the very venue the Worlds are held in. Let's hope that doesn't affect him because his main rival, Denis Ten, will be taking advantage of every little mistake. Other skaters in the men competition worth keeping an eye on are Javier Fernandez, Joshua Farris and Maxim Kovtun.

The Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre
Source: www.wfsc2015.com
The ladies' event has the youngest skaters of the competition. One of them, 18-year-old Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has waited a long time for her time in the spotlight and now that it has come, she will not let go easily of her chances at a gold medal. Her main rival is an even younger Russian, the 16-year-old Elena Radionova, who is as charismatic and technically-perfect as figure skaters can get. Ashley Wagner is not to be ignored either. The American has already expressed her wish to take the gold medal home and has so far had a fantastic season.

The world title has higher chances to go to North America in the pairs competition though. Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are almost a sure bet for the win, while the host's Qing Pang and Jian Tong hope to take a medal as well. It is the only reason why they postponed their retirement, after all. The European champions, Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov might also pull off a podium placement, but I am personally excited about seeing Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek skate together again.

Canada seems to have the advantage in ice dance as well. Kailtyn Weaver and Andrew Poje have yet to miss a competition this season and will try to make up for the disappointment of last year's Worlds. The champions en-titre, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte have failed to reach last season's high scores, which means the Canadians might be going up against Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron instead. Madison Chock and Evan Bates will get themselves in the equation too.

Exciting rivalries, beautiful costumes, great music and original routines. Shanghai will definitely get a show out of this year's World Championships. Make sure you don't miss a single event.

Comments

  1. Anonymous24 March 2015 at 19:50

    I forgot that Hanyu had his collision in this very building.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous24 March 2015 at 19:50

    My predictions:
    Men: Hanyu, Ten, Fernandez
    Ladies: Tuktamysheva (although not my favorite), Radionova, Wagner
    Pairs: Duhamel/Radford, Kavaguti/Smirnov, Sui/Han (Gambling on them..... probably Pang/Tong will finish on the podium )
    Dance: Weaver/Poje, Papadakis/Cizeron, Chock/Bates

    ReplyDelete

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