The 2012 NHK Trophy was the final 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 Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi 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 ...

, 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. A ...

. 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 /

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 cha ...

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 G ...

Mervin Tran Mervin Tran (born September 22, 1990) is a retired Canadian pair skater. Competing for Japan with former partner Narumi Takahashi, he is the 2012 World bronze medalist, the 2010 World Junior silver medalist, the 2010 JGP Final champion, and ...

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

Sui Wenjing Sui Wenjing ( zh, s=隋文静, p=Suí Wénjìng; 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 ...

Han Cong Han Cong (; 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 silver medalist (2015, 2016, ...

due to an injury to Sui, Russia's

Polina Shelepen Polina Sergeyevna Shelepen (; born 28 July 1995) is a retired Russian figure skater. She is a two-time (2009, 2011) JGP Final silver medalist and a two-time (2011, 2012) Russian national junior silver medalist. She competed for Russia through 2 ...

due to worsening of a long-standing ankle injury (she was replaced by the United States'

Mirai Nagasu is an American former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. She is a Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Four Co ...

), the United States' Alissa Czisny to continue her recovery from surgery, Caitlin Yankowskas /

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 Figure Skating Championships, 2015 German national title, the 2011 NRW Trophy, and 2010 ...

due to Van Cleave's broken cheekbone.

Overview

The competition took place in Miyagi, one of the regions severely affected by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, 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 figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skat ...

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 retired Japanese figure skater ( men's singles and ice dance) and ice show producer. As a singles skater, he is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2010 World champion, the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2008, 2011) ...

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 is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics - Ladies' singles, 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Skating Championships, World champion (2008, 2010, 2014), a three-t ...

won the ladies' short program ahead of the United States'

and China's

Li Zijun Li Zijun (; December 14, 1996) is a retired Chinese 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 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 an American former competitive 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 Fin ...

/ 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 Olympic bronze medalist (2018), a three-time World medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2016 F ...

/ Alex Shibutani and Russia's

Elena Ilinykh Elena Ruslanovna Ilinykh (; 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, she is a 2014 Olympic champion in th ...

Nikita Katsalapov Nikita Gennadyevich Katsalapov (; born 10 July 1991) is a Russian ice dancer. With Victoria Sinitsina, he is 2022 Olympic silver medalist, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, 2021 World champion, two-time European Champion (20 ...

. 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 (, 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 European medalist (silver in 2012; bronze in 2011 and 2014), t ...

Yuri Larionov Yuri Yuryevich Larionov (, 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 medalist (silver in 2012; bronze in 2011 and 2014), the 2 ...

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 Figure Skating Championships, 2017 Four Continents bronze medalists, ...

, with the United States' Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir 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