With the exception of Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii, the outlook for the podium in the pairs event at 2021 Internationaux de France is open, and you can envision a number of different scenarios in play - there’s a lot of talent, but that talent is also generally fairly new and less tested internationally than others. What we see here this week could produce some interesting Grand Prix Final qualification scenarios for next week.
2021 Internationaux de France predictions
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GOLD Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii RUS - In some ways, a “lighter” competition this week might be just what Boikova/Kozlovskii needs to do a bit of a reset heading into Russian Nationals, where they are not just fighting for top billing going into the Olympics, but also fighting to make sure they will make it to Beijing among the deep field of Russian pairs. They are the heavy favorites here; skating freely without as much pressure as they likely felt at Skate America will be key.
SILVER Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier USA - The US champs are looking like the ones who have the upper hand among them, James/Radford, and Artemeva/Nazarychev - they have been the most consistent among the three pairs and they come in having delivered some very solid skating in their competitions so far. A silver here, combined with their fourth place at Skate America, could put them in the Grand Prix Final.
BRONZE. Vanessa James/Eric Radford CAN - Fourth at Skate Canada, James/Radford have not had the exponential growth that they probably hoped for in their first season together. Lest we forget, it’s still been less than a year since they paired up, and their pairing is still in progress. Their inconsistency in the three international events they’ve skated this season seem to chalk up to timing, as they are still trying to figure out how each other works in competition mode. They will likely be battling for bronze against Artemeva/Nazarychev.
4. Iuliia Artemeva/Mikhail Nazarychev RUS - With a bronze in their senior Grand Prix debut in Italy two weeks ago, the Russian junior champs come in with another look at a possible podium finish. They will need to clean up some of their errors in Italy to get there.
5. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA - In their sixth season together, Ghilardi/Ambrosini are seeing some very strong growth this season. They took bronze at Lombardia Trophy and a career-high GP finish with a fifth place at Gran Premio d’Italia two weeks ago.
6. Ioulia Chtchetinina/Mark Magyar HUN - 14th at Worlds last season, they took bronze at Budapest Trophy earlier this season. This will be their first Grand Prix event in a full Grand Prix season.
7. Coline Keriven/Noel-Antoine Pierre FRA - The French silver medalists come in as the top French pair. They were sixth at Lombardia and 13th at Nebelhorn.
8. Camille Kovalev/Pavel Kovalev FRA - Kovalev/Kovalev were seventh at Lombardia Trophy and just a fraction behind Keriven/Pierre there. It’s a bit of a fight for the top pair spot in France this week.