The 21st edition of the ISU Four Continents Championship will be held this week at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California (USA), the fifth time the event has been held in the U.S.. The schedule:
● 07 February: Men’s and Women’s Short Program
● 08 February: Pairs Short Program, Ice Dance Rhythm Dance, Women’s Free Skate
● 09 February: Men’s and Pairs Free Skate
● 10 February: Ice Dance Free Dance
The Four Continents was created as a counterpart to the annual European Championships and showcases skaters primarily from Asia and North America. Among the top contenders:
Men:
● Boyang Jin (CHN) ~ 2018 Four Continents Champion; 2016 Four Continents silver
● Shoma Uno (JPN) ~ 2018 Four Continents silver; 2018 Olympic silver medalist
● Jason Brown (USA) ~ Third at 2019 U.S. Nationals; 2018 Four Continents bronze
● Vincent Zhou (USA) ~ 2019 U.S. Nationals runner-up
Women:
● Rika Kihira (JPN) ~ 2018 Grand Prix Final winner; second at 2019 Japan Nationals
● Mai Mihara (JPN) ~ 2017 Four Continents winner; second in 2018
● Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) ~ 2018 Four Continents winner; 2019 Japanese Champion
● Mariah Bell (USA) ~ Sixth in 2017 Four Continents; fifth in 2018
● Bradie Tennell (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. National Champion; 2019 runner-up
Pairs:
● Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (CAN) ~ Sixth at 2018 World Championships
● Cheng Peng/Yang Jin (CHN) ~ 2018 Grand Prix Final runners-up; ninth at 2018 Worlds
● Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) ~ 2018 Winter Games silvers; 2017 World Champions
● Ashley Cain/Tim LeDuc (USA) ~ 2018 Four Continents silvers
● Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (USA) ~ 2017 U.S. National Champions
● Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea (USA) ~ 2018 Four Continents winners
Ice Dance:
● Piper Gilles/Paul Poirer (CAN) ~ 2014 Four Continents silvers; eighth in OWG 2018
● Kaitlin Weaver/Paul Poje (CAN) ~ 2015 Four Continents golds; 2018 Worlds bronze
● Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) ~ Four Continents 3-2-2-3 in 2013-15-16-17
● Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) ~ 2018 Four Continents golds
● Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue (USA) ~ 2014 Four Continents golds; 2018-19 U.S. champs
NBC has coverage of the Four Continents on Thursday on NBCSN at 5 p.m. Eastern and 11:30 p.m. Eastern time (delayed); on Friday (delayed) at 6 p.m. Eastern and midnight Eastern and on Saturday at midnight Eastern (delayed). Sunday’s coverage is only online. Look for results here.
