The 2012 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the

2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating The 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating was a series of senior international figure skating competitions in the 2012–13 season. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skat ...

, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the

Sekisui Heim Super Arena (formerly Grande 21 General Gymnasium and Hot House Super Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Grande 21 Complex in Rifu, Miyagi, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asi ...

Miyagi Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surna ...

on November 22–25. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles,

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

, and

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final.

Eligibility

Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2012 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit. Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to have earned the following scores (3/5 of the top scores at the 2012 World Championships):

Entries

The entries were as follows.International Skating Union
Withdrawals included

Mary Beth Marley Mary Beth Marley (born May 19, 1995) is an American pair skater. With former partner Rockne Brubaker, she is the 2012 Four Continents bronze medalist and 2012 U.S. silver medalist. Previously, Marley competed in single skating and became the 2 ...

Rockne Brubaker Rockne Lee Brubaker, II (born June 21, 1986) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Keauna McLaughlin, he is the 2010 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior champion, and a two-time (2008–2009) U.S. national cham ...

of the United States due to the end of their partnership, Japan's

Narumi Takahashi is a Japanese retired pair skater and six-time Japanese national champion (2009-2012, 2014, 2015). With former partner Mervin Tran, she was the 2012 World bronze medalist, the 2010 Junior World silver medalist, and the 2010–11 Junior Gran ...

Mervin Tran Mervin Tran (born September 22, 1990) is a Canadian pair skater who competes for the United States with Olivia Serafini. Competing for Japan with former partner Narumi Takahashi, he is the 2012 World bronze medalist, the 2010 World Junior si ...

in order to undergo surgery on Takahashi's repeatedly dislocating shoulder, China's

Sui Wenjing Sui Wenjing (; born 18 July 1995) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Han Cong, she is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silver medalist (2015, 2016, 2 ...

Han Cong Han Cong (pronounced "Han Tsong") (; born 6 August 1992) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Sui Wenjing, he is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silv ...

due to an injury to Sui, Russia's Polina Shelepen due to worsening of a long-standing ankle injury (she was replaced by the United States'

Mirai Nagasu is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2007 JGP Final champion, a two-time World Junior medalist (silver in 2007 ...

), the United States'

Alissa Czisny Alissa Czisny (born June 25, 1987) is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Skate Canada champion (2005, 2010), the 2011 Skate America champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion ( ...

to continue her recovery from surgery,

Caitlin Yankowskas Caitlin Yankowskas (born May 6, 1990) is an American retired pair skater. She competed for the United States with John Coughlin (figure skater), John Coughlin from 2007 to 2011. They are the 2010 Cup of China bronze medalists and 2011 U.S. Figure ...

Joshua Reagan Joshua Reagan (born November 5, 1989) is an American pair skater. Competing for Canada with Brittany Jones, he is the 2016 U.S. International Classic champion. Earlier in his career, he represented the United States with Ashley Cain. They beca ...

due to Reagan's rib injury, and Germany's Mari Vartmann /

Aaron Van Cleave Aaron Van Cleave (born 14 March 1987) is a German pair skater. He is best known for his partnership with Mari Vartmann for Germany. They won the 2015 German national title, the 2011 NRW Trophy, and 2010 Warsaw Cup. After they parted ways, he te ...

due to Van Cleave's broken cheekbone.

Overview

The competition took place in

, one of the regions severely affected by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, with the arena used as a temporary morgue. The Japan Skating Federation said it selected the location to "send a message about our recovery, in response to support from around the world." Moderate tremors occurred during the weekend of the event but did not affect the competition. Skating in his hometown, Japan's

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), a two-time World champion (2014, 2017), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), the 2020 Four Continents champion, the 2010 World J ...

won the men's short program with a world record score of 95.32 points – slightly surpassing the record he set at the

2012 Skate America The 2012 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington on October 19� ...

(95.07) – while his teammate

Daisuke Takahashi is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule ...

and Spain's Javier Fernández rounded out the top three. Daisuke Murakami attempted to continue after partially dislocating his right shoulder in a fall but eventually withdrew. In the free skating, Hanyu maintained his lead and won the second GP gold medal of his career, Takahashi took silver, and the United States' Ross Miner rose from fourth after the short to take the bronze. Japan's Mao Asada won the ladies' short program ahead of the United States'

and China's

Li Zijun Li Zijun (; December 14, 1996) is a Chinese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic bronze medalist and the 2014 Four Continents bronze medalist. Li is also the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, 2010 JGP ...

Akiko Suzuki (born March 28, 1985) is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2012 World Championships bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist ( 2011 silver, 2009 & 2012 bronze), a two-time Four Continents silver medalist ( ...

of Japan won the free skating by over nine points and finished with the silver medal, Asada was second in the segment but finished first overall by 0.05 points, and Nagasu took the bronze.

Meryl Davis Meryl Davis (born January 1, 1987) is a former competitive American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2014 Olympic champion, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2011, 2013) World champion, five-time Grand Prix Final ...

/ Charlie White of the United States placed first in the short dance, followed by their teammates

Maia Shibutani Maia Harumi Shibutani (born July 20, 1994) is an American ice dancer. Partnered with her brother Alex Shibutani, she is a two time 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Fou ...

Alex Shibutani Alex Hideo Shibutani (born April 25, 1991) is an American ice dancer. Partnered with his sister Maia Shibutani, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2018), a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016; bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 Fou ...

and Russia's

Elena Ilinykh Elena Ruslanovna Ilinykh (russian: Елена Руслановна Ильиных; born 25 April 1994) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Ruslan Zhiganshin, she is the 2015 Russian national champion. With former partner ...

Nikita Katsalapov Nikita Gennadyevich Katsalapov (russian: Никита Геннадьевич Кацалапов; born 10 July 1991) is a Russian ice dancer. With Victoria Sinitsina, he is the 2022 Olympic champion in the team event, 2022 Olympic silver medalis ...

. Ilinykh fell ill with food poisoning before the free dance. Davis / White also placed first in the free dance and won the gold medal, Ilinykh / Katsalapov the silver, and the Shibutanis the bronze. Russia's

Vera Bazarova Vera Yevgenyevna Bazarova (russian: Ве́ра Евге́ньевна База́рова, born 28 January 1993) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Yuri Larionov, she is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time Eur ...

Yuri Larionov Yuri Yuryevich Larionov (russian: link=no, Юрий Юрьевич Ларионов, born 19 August 1986) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Vera Bazarova, he is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time European m ...

won the pairs' short program, slightly ahead of Canada's

Kirsten Moore-Towers Kirsten Moore-Towers (born July 1, 1992) is a Canadian retired competitive pair skater who competed internationally at the senior level for thirteen seasons from 2009 to 2022. She first achieved distinction partnered with Dylan Moscovitch, winnin ...

Dylan Moscovitch Dylan David Moscovitch (born 23 September 1984) is a retired Canadian pair skater. He competed with Liubov Ilyushechkina from 2014 to 2018. They were the 2017 Four Continents bronze medalists, two-time bronze medalists on the Grand Prix series ...

, with the United States'

Marissa Castelli Marissa Castelli (born August 20, 1990) is an American retired pair skater. With her skating partner, Mervin Tran, she is the 2017 U.S. national silver medalist. With her former partner, Simon Shnapir, she is the 2013 Four Continents bronze me ...

Simon Shnapir Simon Shnapir (born August 20, 1987) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Marissa Castelli, he is the 2013 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2009 World Junior bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion (2013 & 2014 ...

in third. The top three remained the same after the free skating and Bazarova / Larionov won their first gold medal on the Grand Prix series.

Results

Men

Ladies

Pairs

Ice dancing

References

External links

2012 NHK Trophy results

{{2012–13 in figure skating NHK Trophy, 2012 NHK Trophy