The 2011/2012 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues this Friday with Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France. The Trophee Bompard is the fifth of six events in the series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements.
Competition will be tough with several skaters vying for a spot in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
World Champion Patrick Chan (CAN) is looking for the second gold medal this season. Competition should come from Michal Brezina (CZE), who won Skate America and is aiming to qualify for the Grand Prix Final for the first time and from Nobunari Oda (JPN), the silver medallist from the Cup of China. European Champion Florent Amodio (FRA), Adam Rippon (USA) and Cup of China bronze medallist Nan Song (CHN) are in the mix as well. Brian Joubert (FRA) withdrew from the event citing injury.
Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) and European Champions Nathalie Pechalat/ Fabian Bourzat (FRA) headline the dance field. The Canadians won Skate Canada while the French were silver medallists at Skate America. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) and Elena Ilinykh/ Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) won bronze medals in their first Grand Prix event and are aiming at another podium finish here in Paris.
In the Ladies, Carolina Kostner (ITA), Alissa Czisny (USA) and Elizvata Tuktamisheva (RUS) all won a Grand Prix gold medal earlier this season. While Kostner is already qualified for the Final with her gold and a silver from Skate America, defending Grand Prix Final Champion Czisny and World Junior silver medallist Tuktamisheva want to book their tickets to Quebec City.
World silver medallists Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov (RUS) lead the Pairs. They come with a gold medal from Skate Canada to Paris and want to qualify for their first Final as a team. Skate Canada bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN) have a good shot at making the Final as well. Other contenders include European bronze medallists Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov (RUS), World silver junior silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) and Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig (USA).
The full list of entries is available at www.isu.org
The schedule of Trophee Bompard is as follows: