Outside of Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, there has been no bigger return mystery than that of Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, the Olympic bronze medalists from eight years ago. A lot of skating observers have taken a “they aren’t back until we see them start their program” approach to this return, but given that it’s the day before NHK Trophy starts, it would seem that their competition comeback is imminent. It’s been two Olympic cycles since their PyeongChang podium finish—how will they fare this week in this brand new landscape?
2025 NHK Trophy predictions
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GOLD Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR - It was here two seasons ago where they notched their very first Grand Prix victory, and they will once again face off against Guignard/Fabbri, whom they beat at that event and earlier this season at Grand Prix de France. They come in with a strong season’s resume, including two wins earlier in the season and a silver at GP France. Gold or silver here will put them into the Final.
SILVER Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA - There were a heck of a lot of furrowed eyebrows and question marks coming out of Grand Prix de France three weeks ago, where they were expected to contend and ended up a distant fourth. Guignard/Fabbri are two-time World medalists and their debut in Angers leaves them with a lot of room to improve, both in their skating and in their scores. They should be back on the podium this week, but how they fare here will say a lot about their direction this Olympic season.
BRONZE Caroline Green/Michael Parsons USA - A freak fall in the rhythm dance at Cup of China two weeks ago took them completely out of the competition, as Parsons did not want to risk further injury in the free dance. They are back this week, but there are question marks as to where how much they have been able to recover in the past couple of weeks. If they are back in form, a podium finish is within reach—the rhythm dance will be crucial.
4. Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler CZE - It’s likely been a frustrating few seasons for the Czechs, who looked like they were on the rise at the beginning of this Olympic cycle. But the past couple of seasons have been something of a stall for them. They come into this season with a coaching change and a renewed outlook, and they will look to continue to improve after silver at Nepela Memorial and gold at Trophee Metropole Nice.
5. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani USA - We literally have no idea what their form is or even how long they have been training, really. Rules have changed, elements have evolved, and teams have come and go since the last competed in 2018, and it will be curious to see 1) what the state of their elements is, and 2) how they will stack up in components against the rest of this field.
6. Yuka Orihara/Juho Pirinen FIN - They were sixth last year at this event—Orihara/Pirinen have made some improvements since their sixth-place finish at Nepela Memorial in September. They won Mezzaluna Cup three weeks ago and will be looking to repeat the level of cleanness they had there.
7. Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan GER - Eighth last week at Skate Canada, the German champs go back-to-back on the Grand Prix circuit this week. The free dance was their strength last week, and they will want to improve on the rhythm dance here.
8. Katarina WolfkostinDimitry Tsarevski USA - The World junior silver medalists make their Grand Prix debut this week after a superb free dance at Lombardia that earned them the bronze there. They had an issue with their character step at Nepela Memorial and will want to fix that here.
9. Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita JPN - Ninth at their home Grand Prix last year, Yoshida/Morita are not only looking at this field as competition, but they are looking at a new team at home and scoping out their scores from last week’s West Sectionals. They will want to build momentum with this event to stave off the rise of Ikura Kushida/Koshiro Shimada, who are not here this week but will certainly be their biggest competition at Japan Nationals in December.
10. Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer CAN - The two-time Canadian bronze medalists were fifth and fourth at their two Challenger series events earlier in the season. A good score this week on the Grand Prix will help their trajectory as they head toward Canadians.