“It's always a great opportunity for me to compete against him,” Chen told reporters recently about facing off against Hanyu again. Hanyu was in dazzling form at Japanese nationals in December, while Chen matched Hanyu’s fifth domestic title with a fifth of his own a few weeks later in the States. Their last meeting was at the Grand Prix Final in December of 2019. How earthquake survivor Yuzuru Hanyu persevered to achieve his dream Hanyu, Chen and more: Big names to watchĪll eyes will be on the men’s event, which features Hanyu and Chen going head-to-head for the first time in over 15 months. More on that below.)īelow, what you need to know for the event, where the defending – 2019 – champions are Chen, Alina Zagitova (not competing in 2021), Sui and Han in pairs, and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron in dance (not competing). (Though not, exactly, which athletes are qualified. The event will be used as the Olympic qualifier for participating countries, meaning the number of national spots for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games will be decided here. Two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru, two-time world champion Nathan Chen, Olympic silver medallists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong (pictured), as well as Russian rising stars Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova are just a few of the athletes set to compete. The best on ice blades are converging on Stockholm, Sweden, for the 2021 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 24-28 March, the event set for an empty Ericsson Globe as no fans will be allowed to attend. After being cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the figure skating world championships are back.