Olympic Countdown: Championship Events
They're not NOT important.
This time on The Nice Capades…
Europeans happened!
Four Continents is about to happen!
I watch things that are NOT skating, sometimes.
There are THREE weeks until the start of the Olympics. Less than three weeks, actually. We have a lot of ground to cover if you’re going to be ready to, “well, actually,” your group chat when they confuse Ice Dance and Pairs.
For those of you in America, I know it feels like we go from US Nationals straight to the Olympics, but there are two major events that happen between national events and the Olympics: Europeans and Four Continents. These are called “championship events,” and they get a little overshadowed in an Olympic year. But they can have real consequences, so you overlook them at your peril. (Your peril? Good lord. This is just figure skating. I must be watching too many episodes of The Traitors and channeling Alan Cumming.)
Europeans is exactly what it sounds like— an international competition for the European countries. Russia is also included when they aren’t banned from competition, though you’ll see plenty of competitors from Eastern European countries who live and train in Russia so it won’t really feel like there’s no Russian presence. Our old frenemy, actual Disney Villain Eteri Tutberidze, was even in attendance. Europeans has a longer history than Four Continents, and it tends to have a more prestigious reputation, which is silly because Four Continents carries the same weight when it comes to earning World Standing points, based on your event placements. And that’s why you can’t overlook these events— World Standing points matter because they determine the skate order; better skaters and more generous scores are found at the end of the order. It’s unfortunately true that judges “hold back” on scores if you’re in the early skating groups.
If Europeans is for Europe and Russia, Four Continents (4CC) is for everyone else. Except Antartica. They don’t get invited to anything because they are mostly birds and seals and have an unfair advantage. North American skaters don’t tend to prioritize this event because it’s often held in Asia, which makes sense because there’s a much more active fanbase over there. But it’s much easier to pop from France to Great Britain than it is to make the long haul flight from Detroit to Beijing. In addition, 4CC is scheduled after Europeans, and it’s usually a little too close for comfort to the Olympics or Worlds, depending on what year it is. I always think it’s a little unfair because it is actually a championship event and there are actual stakes. Regardless, Team USA is opting to send only one member of the Olympic team to 4CC this year, and it’s likely for specific strategic reasons. We’ll get to that.
Europeans just finished yesterday, and 4CC will start this Wednesday. Here’s the highlights.
The Big Stories Coming Out of Europeans:
Most European countries already named their Olympic teams, but a couple of contentious spots were decided here.
For Estonia, this was the last battle for the SalevBros, the Salevko brothers in direct competition for Estonia’s one Olympic Men’s spot. Elder Estonian, also the boyfriend of Team USA’s Emily Chan, emerged victorious. Prepare yourself for some very Olympic couples photoshoots. I still want to know who takes these pictures because I cannot imagine Emily’s rumored romantic ex and current skating partner, Spencer Howe, is following them around with a camera. Is it Max Naumov? Is that the real story NBC is missing?
And from Italy, a victory for Team Old! Coming in at the ancient age of 27, Matteo Rizzo purposefully held on to compete at the Milan Olympics. It seemed like young whippersnapper Nikolaj Memola might sprint past him to the finish line, but Matteo locked in like a Swiss bank account. He had the best set of performances he’s had in years, landed a silver medal, and punched his Olympic ticket.
Europeans certainly doesn’t dictate who will win the Olympics; half the field isn’t there. But it sure can help teams with momentum. Here’s who got a boost:
Team Georgia— they won both the Pair’s event and the Men’s event. They’re looking better and better for the Olympic Team Event, and I really think the Pairs team could surprise everyone with an individual gold. Actually, at this point, it really shouldn’t surprise anyone if they managed that. They are, unfortunately, mostly Not So Secret Russians.
Niina Petrokina of Estonia was the only top tier Woman at this event who actually looked like a top tier Woman. She won easily, pulling scores that are right on par with some of the top US and Japanese skaters. There’s your Olympic dark horse. You will enjoy her gala program, where she skates to Chicago and convinces a handful of male skaters to let her “kill” them during her performance.
Unfortunately, Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron (aka GuiLo) of France really dominated here, and they’re going into the Olympics with the highest international Ice Dance score of the season. If you’re unsure why this is unfortunate, I have an explainer here. I am even more determined to call them GuiLo (derogatory) as my own quiet protest against casting them as the majestic art skaters.
The Italian Ice Dance team, Guignard/Fabbri, aren’t off the Olympic podium, yet. After scowling at Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson placing ahead of them for the last year, they managed to pull out ahead of the Brits for the silver… and in front of a British crowd, no less. That said… they only beat Lilah and Lewis by a point, and the Brits had a major error in their skate. I don’t think the Italians had a decisive victory, but it’s still got to be good for morale.
Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia showed up reunited with his longtime coach, Stephane Lambiel. It now seems clear that whatever led him to leave his coaching base at the beginning of the season was not his choice, and now he’s back where he started and seems a bit happier. I don’t know that his scores reflected his improved situation, though, because in the Kiss and Cry, Stephane looked right at the camera and pronounced, “You’re killing figure skating,” after Deniss got his mediocre scores. It’s nice when your boss defends you.
And here’s who didn’t get a boost: Kevin Aymoz of France, who flopped so significantly that he didn’t even make it into the free skate. This man won Skate America earlier this season, and he recently won French Nationals. And it’s not even the first time this has happened to him at Europeans. As for which version of Kevin will show up to the Olympics in three weeks…
Meanwhile, Four Continents starts very late Wednesday night. It bears repeating, I am old and I have a full time job where I am expected to actually work (THE NERVE), so I can’t watch most of it live. If you are more adventurous, your viewing options are here. I will catch the replays later on Peacock, so you may see some delayed reactions on my Instagram. Here’s what I’m watching for:
Team USA and Team Canada are mostly not sending their A-teams because of the Olympics, but they’re sending the Fun Ones. We’ve got Starr Andrews running the world, we’ve got the Brown siblings engaging in fratricide on ice, we’ve got Gabby Daleman serving looks, then there’s Tomoki being free as a bird, and we’ll get one more look at Sara Maude Dupuis pretending like she’s bored before a party on ice starts in her short program.
And there’s some genuinely great North American skaters at this event, other than the ones I already mentioned. Green/Parsons JUST MISSED the Olympics, as did Bradie Tennell. Not to mention Efimova/Mitrofanov, who can’t go to the Olympics at all. I know 4CC has a reputation as the consolation prize for the Olympic alternates, but there are seriously great skaters here.
As of the moment I’m writing this, the US delegation is set to include Zingas/Kolesnik for Ice Dance, the only Team USA Olympians at 4CC. Emilea posted a TikTok of her getting ready to travel to Beijing, so I think it’s a pretty firm deal. It’s a gamble. The trip from the US to Beijing back to the US and then to Milan, all within a few weeks, is pretty taxing on the body, not to mention the disruption to the pre-Olympic training schedule. So there’s clearly something to be gained here, from a strategic perspective. Jackie Wong and Michelle Ellis think it could be a defensive move— they could lose their standing in the second to last warm-up group at the Olympics based on other teams gaining World Standing points at Europeans. I think it could also be a forward thinking move. Given who is NOT here, they could win. Winning a championship event before the next Olympic quad starts could set them up pretty well after a bunch of post-Olympic retirements from veterans.
Japan is also sending several of their Olympians, but not all of them. It’s not quite as big of a travel burden for them, so that could be the reasoning. And they could also be holding on to World Standing points. Again, it’s a gamble for them. Travel and competition energy for them aside, they could also lose momentum. Mone Chiba or Ami Nakai could win here. But if they tank right before the Olympics? Or worse… what if they peak here instead of a few weeks from now? We’ll see if it pays off.
Three Non-Figure Skating Things: Three Things I Am Watching That Are NOT Skating
The Traitors (Peacock) though this is admittedly skating adjacent because I wanted to see how Johnny and Tara would do. As always, the editing for this show is excellent with cliffhangers galore to keep you engaged. And it’s a fun cast! I don’t even watch most of the reality shows these people come from, but it’s easy to catch on to the dynamics at play (Housewives think they are loyal to each other until they very quickly are not.) Johnny and Tara are doing fine, though they’re not standouts in terms of charisma. They were relatively smart because they decided to downplay their friendship in front of everyone else, so they have a sneaky alliance going on. Though it is also hilarious that no one DOES know that they’re friends because that’s half their branding. I have a feeling NBC/Peacock may have intervened at least once to say, “Hey, Traitors, if you don’t really have a strong strategy about who gets murrrrdered tonight, could you actually keep the two that are part of our Olympic coverage who are here for promotional reasons?”
Stumble (Peacock/NBC). This is produced by Monica Aldama, which you might remember as the intense tough love coach from that cheerleading docuseries, Cheer. It’s fun! Light, mockumentary style humor. I will be surprised if they get a second season, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. Peaches might be one of my favorite characters currently on TV.
Dog videos. My social algorithms are heavy on dogs lately. I really don’t mind. Dogs jumping into pools. Dogs salty they’re at the vet’s office. Dogs making weirdly human sounds. Dogs frolicking in snow. Dogs meeting their new siblings, human and canine. Dogs pretending to work at computers. I don’t care. Give me all the dogs, doing whatever they want.
What’s Next: Do you want to hear the thrilling tale of how I was heading down the Atlanta highway, not looking for a love getaway, but instead looking for a Wildlife Rehab center? Because I had AN OWL IN MY BACKSEAT? Planning to share the first non-figure skating centric newsletter of the year later this week. But don’t worry, I know why you’re here. I’ll also be back to fill in some gaps about Olympic storylines so you can study up before the big event. I’m also trying to figure out how to explain what is going on with Gabi Papadakis’s memoir, which is definitely going to be a storyline during the Olympics. Lots going on!
…in your backSEAT?! *makes popcorn in anticipation of story.*
I was so happy for Charlene and Marco! They're not my most beloved dance team but I have a soft spot for them and was so glad to see them come out swinging after a bad start to their season and all the IAM politicking.