Three figure skaters who have registered for the World Figure Skating Championship can boast a better personal top score than the Belgian Loena Hendrickx. They are the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto, the South Korean Young You and the American Alysa Liu. Although Hendrickx himself was almost not there: the Royal Belgian Figure Skating Federation (KBKF) had forgotten to register her.
This is apparent from the list of participants of the world title battle, which will be held in Montpellier from 21 to 27 March. 34 riders from 26 countries participate in the women’s tournament. As is known, the favorite skaters from Russia are missing because of the war in Ukraine. Belarus is also banned for that reason. China has not reported any drivers, no Chinese have been registered in other parts either.
With a personal best of 233.13, 21-year-old Sakamoto is the rider with the highest points total. With that score she won Olympic bronze last month. Sakamoto is followed by You (223.23) and Liu (219.24). With 219.05, Hendrickx, the number eight in Beijing, is fourth. That total dates from early November, the Italian Grand Prix in Turin. Ten of the participants have a score of more than 200 points. The Japanese Wakaba Higuchi (214.44), the South Korean Yelim Kim (209.91) and the American Mariah Bell (212.19) are outsiders.
The sanctions against Russia are not watertight, however. Ekaterina Ryabova, who plays for Azerbaijan, was born in Moscow and also lives there. The Georgian Anastasiia Gubanova lives in Saint Petersburg, the Polish Ekaterina Kurakova was born in Moscow.
Special attention will be given in Montpellier to Anastasiia Shabotova, who skates for Ukraine. The 16-year-old driver was born in Moscow and now lives in Kiev. The Austrian Olga Mikitina, born in Kharkov, will also attract attention.
On Tuesday afternoon, the organizers published a list of participants on which Hendrickx’s name was missing. That was corrected a few hours later. The Royal Belgian Figure Skating Federation (KBKF) had failed to register Hendrickx. But through the intervention of ISU chairman Jan Dijkema, she was still on the list.
