The six countries with the strongest depth across all four disciplines assemble in Tokyo this weekend for the biennial ISU World Team Trophy.

When is it on?

The ISU World Team Trophy begins Thursday, 17 April with the rhythm dance and concludes Sunday, 20 April with the gala exhibition.

Who is skating?

The United States of America has claimed victory at five out of eight appearances at the event. Given it took three of the four titles at last month’s World Championships, the USA will be hard to beat again this year. Ilia Malinin will be favourite to secure maximum points in the men’s event with Jason Brown a consistent back-up for the two-time World champion. Alysa Liu will be aiming to repeat her success from Boston while Amber Glenn will use her triple Axel to put the American team in the best possible position. Madison Chock and Evan Bates were unstoppable at Worlds and will be expected to deliver again for Team USA. The only potential weak point in the quest for their sixth trophy will be the pairs event where Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov are only ranked fifth of the six entries.

Japan has won World Team Trophy twice before (the last time back in 2017) and like the USA has never finished off the podium in the event. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara provide Japan with their biggest advantage over their American rivals and winning both segments will be a must. Kaori Sakamoto will be keen to avoid the errors that cost her an historic fourth World title while World bronze medallist Mone Chiba makes her event debut. Yuma Kagiyama had a superb short programme and a disastrous free skating in Boston and he will hope to avoid the latter happening again. Shun Sato is competing in his second World Team Trophy and will be trying to gain inspiration from the home fans for as high a finish as possible. Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita are the only ice dancers in Tokyo who did not advance to the free dance at Worlds and it will be an uphill battle for them to come any higher than sixth in their category.

This weekend will be an important test for Italy as they eye an Olympic team event medal next year. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii were the only Italian skaters to medal at Worlds and they will be attempting to push the Japanese as closely as possible while fending off the challenge of the other pairs. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri had a disappointing time in Boston where they finished out of the medals and will seek some redemption in Japan. The men’s field in Italy is perhaps the deepest of any European country and 2025 European silver medallist Nikolaj Memola and 2022 European silver medallist Daniel Grassl will fly the flag in Tokyo. In recent years the women’s event has not been as strong as the other disciplines for the Italians. The performances of Lara Naki Gutmann and Anna Pezzetta will be key to whether Italy can nab a first ever World Team Trophy medal.

Canada has not won a World Team Trophy medal since 2013 and the outlook for a return to the rostrum is bleak. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will be the big point scorers for the Canadians and they finished ahead of Chock and Bates at Four Continents in February. 2024 World pairs champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps missed out on a medal completely in Boston and will be attempting to cap off what has been a difficult season with some good skates. Unfortunately for the Canadians their vulnerability lies in the singles categories where their entries need to surpass expectations for their team to have any shot at a medal.

France are the only European nation to have participated at every edition of World Team Trophy. Their biggest strength is to be found in the men’s event where they will be represented by Adam Siao Him Fa and Kevin Aymoz who finished fourth and fifth respectively at Worlds. European silver medallists Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud suffered a setback with their scores at Worlds and will look to get as close to the leading three ice dance teams as possible. The French appear destined to not do as well in the women’s and pairs events.

Georgia participates in World Team Trophy for the very first time and will be represented by a solid team of skaters who may be in the hunt for medals depending on how they perform.

Everything you need to know (and some things you did not) about the skaters, the competition schedule and results can be viewed here.

When is the skating on?

Late night till early morning in North America, morning till afternoon in Europe and evening in Asia. The times listed for World Team Trophy are local and if you want to know what the time difference is between where you are and Tokyo then this link is your friend.

Where can I watch the pretty skaters?

This season’s ISU World Team Trophy can be viewed on the Skating ISU YouTube channel. Geographic restrictions may apply.

What are the hashtags?

#WTTrophy #FigureSkating