Russia 2 or 3 medals (dance, pairs)
Italy 1 (ladies or men, but not both. Don't count out Contesti for the men! Faiella and Scali beat P&B at Europeans but not by much. I don't see them medalling this year. Their FD has not been scoring as well as several other teams..
US 1 maybe 2- men's or dance. The hometown team always gets a boost from the crowd. The men's team is strong, with 3 good competitors and so is the dance, with 2 top six competitors from last year and the JR. worlds champion. D&B might medal if there's a splatfest in pairs, because they will be the last one's standing. No team has been standing on their feet all year, so pairs is the least predictable right now except
Germany 1 pairs, because no way S&S finish lower than 3rd.
Japan 3 ( men's & ladies)
Korea 1 (no way YuNa finishes lower than 3rd)
Canada 1 dance. Against Mao, YuNa and Carolina, not to mention Miki and Akiko, I don't think Joannie makes it. Neither do the US ladies. Patrick Chan has yet to show competition nerves for the World level, given his 2 GPF and 2 Worlds appearances, and he has no quad.
France, definitely 2 in dance or mens. Maybe more. The French men are awesome! For that matter, so are the French dancers.
Dance is very difficult to pick because of the excellence of the competitive levels and the illnesses of the major competitors. It depends on who is healthy at Worlds who will win medals this year. And on whether the paso doble or the Viennese is the CD. Neither is a difficult dance compared to the Finnstep, for example, but they require a very different presentation. If it's the paso doble, one of the American teams might sneak in for a medal.
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and pairs :thumbsup:
