Figure Skating

The Grand Prix Final - the last big world-wide international figure skating competition this year - goes this weekend in Tokyo, but don't expect it to be a complete preview of the Vancouver Olympics.

Sure, there are good things to see. You'll have the first epic clash of the year between what many see as the top two ice dancing teams in the world, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and their Detroit training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Virtue and Moir are all about beauty; Davis and White are all power and speed.

Joannie Rochette will take on Kim Yu-Na for the first time this year.

And all of the major players in the pairs event will be there. Everybody will get a chance to see how the comeback "kids" Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China (he's 36) stack up against the reigning world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, especially since the latter got the first perfect mark of 10 ever awarded in the new judging system at Skate Canada a week ago.

And there will be a showdown between three top American men and two top Japanese skaters with Tomáš Verner thrown in, by the luck of a withdrawal.

And a titillating sideshow? Nobunari Oda against Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, who trade victories and haven't met for a couple of seasons.

The ultimate contest between the two of them? The Japanese men had only one spot at the Turin Olympics, and Oda seemingly won that spot after taking gold in Japanese nationals that year. But the next day, a computer error found in the calculating of the scores made Takahashi the national champion. The Japanese federation split their assignments, sending Takahashi to the Olympics, but Oda got the world championships. Both finished off the podium back then, but are now major players in the men's race internationally.

This time Oda wants his chance at the Olympics.

But missing in action are:

Evgeni Plushenko, the defending Olympic champion who couldn't get two Grand Prix events because he's been out of action since 2006, although he got one, lucky that his home country, Russia, plays host to one;

Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, a two-time world champion who has been away for so long he can't get any Grand Prix, and his country doesn't play host to an event;

The 2007 world champion Brian Joubert, of France, withdrawn from the final because of an injury to his foot. He's had surgery and seems to be on the mend, but not soon enough for this event;

Patrick Chan of Toronto, the world silver medallist, who missed his first Grand Prix event because of injury and then he failed to sparkle in his only other one, finishing sixth, appearing unready for competition battle;

Mao Asada, of Japan, a former world champion who won the Grand Prix Final as a child in 2005, and who was second to Kim in 2006 and 2007;

Former world and Olympic ice dancing silver medallists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of United States, who withdrew when Belbin had oral surgery;

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, of Russia, the reigning world ice dancing championships (in a controversial event) who haven't resurfaced yet this year and nobody will see their aboriginal original dance or their new free dance until the Russian nationals later this month;

The 2008 world ice dancing champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France have missed the entire season so far because Delobel was pregnant. She has now had her baby and is training.

Instead, ice dancers who never dreamed of making the final are headed to Tokyo this year. All it takes sometimes is luck: get into a soft Grand Prix or two, chalk up some points, and voila. Only the top six point earners go. And not all Grand Prix are equally tough.

The delightful young Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy qualified for the Grand Prix Final, way sooner than they expected, although their more experienced teammates Federica Faella and Massimo Scali did not. Faella and Scali withdrew from Skate Canada because of illness, so couldn't chalk up the points.

Canadian silver medallists Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier also benefitted from two withdrawals in the ice dancing event this week, and although they've made only one appearance at a world championship in their lives, and are only in their second year of competing at the senior Grand Prix, are in the lineup as well. It's a very lucky break for them.

Canada was meant to have three entries in the Grand Prix Final, but nobody expected two of them to be ice dancers.

Let's have a little walk down memory lane and see who won the Grand Prix Final before an Olympic Games.

Before the 1998 Nagano Games, the winners were: Ilia Kulik of Russia (Olympic gold), Tara Lipinski of United States (Olympic gold), Berezhnaia and Sikharulidze of Russia (Olympic silver) and Oksana (call me Pasha) Grishuk and Evgeny Platov of Russia (Olympic gold), with Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada second (off the podium in Nagano).

Before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, the winners were: Alexei Yagudin of Russia (over Plushenko) (Olympic gold); Irina Slutskaia of Russia (Olympic silver), Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada (Olympic gold); and Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada (off the podium, sounding familiar?).

Before the 2006 Turin Olympics, the winners were: Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland (Olympic silver medalist); Mao Asada of Japan (too young to go to Olympics); Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia (Olympic gold) and Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia (Olympic gold).

This time, way too many top men and ice dancers are missing from the Grand Prix Final for it to be a forecast of an Olympic finish - although the two most important dance teams are in Tokyo - while Asada's absence may or may not be predictive of what will happen in Vancouver. We'll see.