Figure skatingOlympic medallists on display at NHK Trophy

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Japan's Mao Asada is ready to unveil an overhauled routine. (Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images)

The first of six ISU Grand Prix figure skating events gets underway this weekend with the NHK Trophy in in Nagoya, Japan.

It's going to be a great way to start the new season with Olympic medallists competing in each of the four events. Figure skaters are aiming to become one of the top six in each discipline in order to qualify for a spot at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Beijing in early December.

In the women's competition, 2010 Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim of Korea is not slated for the Grand Prix series, but long-time rival, and two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan is. It seems as if Asada has undergone a personal re-invention over the course of the off-season. She has gone back to choreographer Lori Nichol for her free program to Liebestraum and the much more fluid and lyrical style that propelled her to the top in the first place.

She has also returned home to Japan to train full-time with coaching legend Nobuo Sato. The only hitch has been in re-working her jumps. At the recent Japan Open, her performance was abysmal. She did two single jumps and didn't receive anything in the plus range for the execution of her other jumps. That said, she has had about three weeks to make more progress and is a very determined competitor, which is what persuades me she will take the title here.

The American contingent of Ashley Wagner, Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt, as well as three-time European champion Carolina Kostner from Italy are all going to do their best to ensure that doesn't happen.

The pairs' competition is perhaps the most predictable of the events in Nagoya. China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong, the 2010 Olympic silver medallists and world champions, will undoubtedly take the title here and by a huge margin. Their real competition should come from American pairs champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett; however, let the names Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov of Russia sit in the back of your mind as the potential spoiler for the silver medal. In my mind, they are the quintessential Russian pair with all of the grace, strength and elegance that ensured Russian dominance of the sport until recently.

Canadians will challenge in ice dance, men's

American ice dance champions - and 2010 world and Olympic silver medallists - Meryl Davis and Charlie White will be the team to beat. What this team does well is to play to their strengths. This includes fast skating and strong technique instead of the typical romantic or personal chemistry we see played out in ice dance by some of the other teams.

Davis and White's biggest challenge will come from Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte whose style emulates that of choreographers Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. Be also on the lookout for 2010 Four Continents' champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada, who earned their first Grand Prix medal this past season and will be looking to add to their collection here.

The men's event is always interesting. In the case of the Japanese, 2010 Olympic bronze medallist and world champion Daisuke Takahashi will be joined by teammate and 2010 junior world champion Yuzuru Hanyu illustrating the depth of the men's field in that country. Takahashi should be able to claim the title at the NHK Trophy without a struggle.

The rest of the podium could see American champion Jeremy Abbott - whose Grand Prix outings are typically during the strongest part of his season - take the silver medal and Canada's Shawn Sawyer and Jeremy Ten battling it out for a podium finish.

Sawyer is looking to add to his Grand Prix medal from last year, while Ten wants to dispel any doubts about his return to health and display his terrific skating.

Pj's Picks:

MEN: Daisuke Takahashi - JPN
LADIES: Mao Asada - JPN
DANCE: Meryl Davis and Charlie White - USA
PAIRS:  Qing Pang and Jian Tong - CHN

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