Preview: 2024 NHK Trophy

With the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series halfway completed, all eyes turn to Tokyo, Japan for event #4 – NHK Trophy!

NHK Trophy has been part of the Grand Prix series since it was created by the ISU in 1995. This is the 10th time Tokyo has served as the host and the event was last held in Tokyo in 2021. For the past two years, the competition has ended in an upset with the presumed gold medalists settling for silver and others taking the top spot. Last year, Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson of Great Britain defeated Italy’s Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri.

Teams at the event

2024 World Champions Madison Chock & Evan Bates of the United States have the opportunity to qualify for their ninth Grand Prix Final. Though the team settled for silver at Skate America, they’ve had additional weeks to fine-tune their programs. Their rhythm dance is comprised of a record eleven music selections spanning the entire list of selectable rhythm dance music decades. At October’s Skate America, a fall on the character steps cost put the team at a disadvantage heading in to the free dance, but they rebounded with a free dance performance that nearly made up the point deficit. Their free dance is a step away from the character-driven programs from the past few seasons and showcases their style and lines. Two years ago, Chock & Bates were upset by another team at this exact event and they’ll look to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

Lithuania’s Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevičius are competing at back-to-back events and finished fourth at last week’s Grand Prix de France. Last season, the team won bronze at both of their Grand Prix events and should figure into the medal scene in Tokyo. The 2024 European bronze medalists marks in France were about 4 points off their personal bests set earlier at Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur.

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko finished first and second at their Challenger Series events and NHK Trophy is the Grand Prix debut for this season. Carreira & Ponomarenko set their personal best scores at Nebelhorn Trophy. Although they are higher than the Lithuanians, their RD scores are nearly the same. The Americans finished just behind Reed & Ambrulevičius at the 2024 World Championships.

Caroline Green & Michael Parsons finished about 3.5 points behind Reed & Ambrulevičius at Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur. The team has been coming back from injury and two great skates at NHK Trophy would set them on a strong path.

Finland’s Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen are competing in their first of two back-to-back Grand Prix events. Tokyo is the only Grand Prix event for Jennifer Janse Van Rensburg & Benjamin Stefan of Germany.

Two teams from Japan will make their Grand Prix debuts. Utana Yoshida & Masaya Morita are the reigning national bronze medalists, while Azusa Tanaka & Shingo Nishiyama are national silver medalists. Both teams are in the second year of their partnerships and NHK Trophy is each’s lone Grand Prix assignment.

France sends two teams to Tokyo, with Marie Dupayage & Thomas Nabais competing in their second consecutive event after finishing 10th in Angers last week. Loicia Demougeot & Theo Le Mercier are making their 2024 series debut.

Event info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Friday, November 8, at 12:35pm (local time); the free dance occurs on Saturday, November 9, at 12:00pm (local time).