I am in the air; Vancouver bound and getting really excited about the competition.  Time to lay out my predictions.

There are so many hopes riding on the shoulders of the Canadian figure skating team that it’s time to really look at the who’s who and what’s what. Starting with pairs, it’s hard to imagine that Canada’s champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won’t be on the podium on the strength of their spellbinding free program at Canadians in January. The problem, as I see it, for any contender is the need to deliver in the short program.

Time and time again, I have said that you can’t win an event based on the strength of a short program, but if the competition is really tight like it will be for pairs, you sure can lose it. I think it will be the two-time Olympic Bronze medalists from China, Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao who will prevail. I am picking China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong over teammates and 2006 Olympic silver medallists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang for silver based on their performance in the Grand Prix. What about the German two-time World champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy? This should have been their year but they had to scrap their free and start over with a terrific program but they seem to be striggling with nerves. European champions Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia seem to be the strongest candidates for the bronze but if  Dube and Davison can perform "career" short and free programs they are definitely in the mix for the bronze.

The defending Olympic champion from Russia, Evgeny Plushenko is ahead of the pack coming into Vancouver and. I believe that he will dominate the competition here as the most consistent competitior in the field. His prowess as a jumper and as a skater have never been questioned it's just the construciton of his programs that leaves something to be desired. He gets credit for his skill and gets a bit of a "gimme" for his programs when he could be brilliant.  If I had had my way, I would have paired him with one of the legendary names in choreography like Lori Nichol, David Wilson, Catarina Lundgren, Marina Zueva or Tom Dickson to name a few, to produce a program that would have endured the test of time. Give me a reason to remember the 2010 Olympic Games! I am trying to decide who will fill the other two spots and with a field as deep as any I have seen in a long time, it’s tough. American champion Jeremy Abbott is a male version of Kostner in that as solid as he is one competition, he can fold like a house of cards the very next time out. For this reason, I believe that defending world champion from the United States, Evan Lysacek, has reached the point in the season where it’s time to “hit the ice skating”. Last year, he was on a slow build towards Worlds and in fact had been left off the radar by more than a few people in favour of Abbott, only to take the title in a show of determination and brilliant skating. Canadian favourite and defending world silver medallist, Patrick Chan will hopefully have put the three weeks between nationals and the Olympics to good use in his journey back to optimum health after a calf tear and a case of the flu in the fall had sidelined him. If there was ever a time to get your head out of the way and let your body and feet do what they know how to do, this would be it. If that is the case then he could definitely be in the running for a medal. That said, so could Japan’s Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahashi, Swtizerland’s Stephane Lambiel and France’s Brian Joubert. See what I mean? A list of contenders as long as my arm.

Figure skating.   Who’s going to step up?

Time will tell and that time is almost here.

Let’s review: you can’t win an event based on the strength of a short program, but if the competition is really tight, you sure can lose it. 

In a field where none of the women has been consistent over the season it really is anybody’s to take. My money is still on defending world champion from Korea, Yu-Na Kim, because of her competitive strategy over the season. I admire that she has “kept her eye on the prize” and not been dissuaded or distracted by events like the 4 C’s despite any pressure that she might have felt to support a competition in her home country. For the rest of the podium, there are a number of different possibilities: I love the fact that three-time European champion from Italy, Carolina Kostner is as unpredictable as a two-year old’s mood: “When she’s good, she’s very, very good and when she’s bad she’s awful.” You just never know. Joannie Rochette, Canada’s 6 time national champion and defending world silver medallist, has everything in place but cannot afford to drop the ball in the short only to try and come back in the free program. She seems to do her best skating when she is mad at herself and  “doing the chasing”, as in coming back from 2^nd place at Nationals in the short. The problem is at the Olympic Games there are no points to spare. The other two names to watch for are Japanese world champions from 2007 and 2008, Miki Ando and Mao Asada respectively.   Both women know what it’s like to stumble in the full glare of public expectation. With only splashes of brilliance and many moments of trepidation during the season all of the top women are looking to the Olympics for redemption.

I believe that the winds of change are upon us in the field of ice dance with Canada’s three time champions and two-time world medalists leading the pack.   Not going down without a fight are two-time American dance champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White who were kept off the world podium a year ago by Virtue and Moir and a margin of only .04. They are training mates, friends, at the same stage of life and without a doubt so well matched in talent, ability and programs that it will be the performances that will make the difference and not the material. I believe that Italian ice dance champions, Massimo Scali and Federica Faiella have successfully launched themselves into contention for a medal in Vancouver. Although they came second at the European Champions to defending World dance champions from Russia, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, they won both the original and free dance portions which tells me that, correctly, their star is on the rise.  The 2008 World Champions from France, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder have not been seen in international competiton since the Grand Prix Final from a year ago but were well known for their creativity and strength. Shoulder surgery and the birth of a baby for Isabelle has limited their training time and they are the real wild cards of the event which "ups" the interest and anticipation for me.

The Tango Romantica is the compulsory dance that has been drawn and what better way to start the drama than with a tango?

I remain at your mercy..."

From my perspective it's no GREEK MEET BALLS (from Athens 2004) but given the fact that it is being submitted as a jumping off point, I think we will have to accept it.

Game on!