The figure skating season gets underway in Paris on Thursday at the first of six Grand Prix events. Here are five things to know before event No. 1:

Postponed (?) start
2006 Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen was slated to make her return to competition in Paris, but announced her withdrawal last week, citing calf tendonitis. In the press release, Cohen said she still plans to compete at Skate America, where she will face Kim Yu-Na and 2009 U.S. silver medalist Rachael Flatt in mid-November. Cohen has not competed in an ISU competition since the 2006 World Championships. While her withdrawal from Paris leads many to question her comeback, from the beginning she has said the goal is to be ready by Nationals in January. In a sport where most top athletes are injured to some degree, Cohen withdrawing because of calf tendonitis suggests that she has yet to regain the technical arsenal necessary to be competitive.

Kim v. Asada
The ladies’ event should prove the most competitive of the series with two of the top contenders for Olympic gold meeting in Paris. South Korean Kim Yu-Na and the woman most likely to challenge her, Mao Asada of Japan, have never competed against one another this early in the season. The past three seasons they have met for the first time at the series finale in December having settled in after two Grand Prix events.

At the Torino Games, observers said one the best ladies’ competitors was absent, with Asada 86 days too young to compete in 2006. Kim was skating in the junior ranks, and just 20 days older than Asada, was also age ineligible for Torino. Fast forward four years and the 19-year-olds are favored to go 1-2 in Vancouver. In head-to-head competition, they are tied at five-all, but with Kim winning the last matchup at 2009 Worlds, where she won her first world title and Asada finished off an ISU podium (fourth) for the first time in her career.

Carolina Kostner

With her consistency, the South Korean superstar has the early edge in Paris. Asada, the 2008 world champion, may risk a triple Axel in the short program and possibly two in the free skate. The duo may not be in peak form four months from Vancouver and at a typical Grand Prix event a few mistakes are permissible, but in a stacked field in Paris, Italian Carolina Kostner, American Caroline Zhang and Yukari Nakano from Japan could challenge the two world champions. Should Kim and Asada arrive in competitive form, Paris may prove to be a sneak peek of February 2010.

Joubert and the quad
In the past, Brian Joubert has struggled competing at the event in his home country, but could use two solid skates in Paris (about 200 miles from his hometown of Poitiers). Coming off a disappointing bronze medal at the world championships in March, he needs to prove he’s still the quad king. At the 2009 Worlds, he was the only man on the podium who attempted a quad, with American Evan Lysacek and Canadian Patrick Chan sticking to their consistent triples. For Joubert, good performances at the first Grand Prix can set the standard for the rest of the season-a season where the quad will likely regain its former importance with the return of 2006 Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia. Joubert has attempted quads in competition since he finished 14th at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. The Frenchman finished 6th in Torino and at the past two Olympics the quad was a must-have to land on the medal podium. Joubert, 25, has won every accolade in figure skating except an Olympic medal, and with serious experience completing the quad, he is a leading contender for gold in Vancouver at his third Games.

Back on track
At 2009 Worlds, team Canada won medals in the men’s, ladies’ and dance fields to set up multiple podium contenders for its home Olympics. The one hole was in pairs, where 2008 world bronze medalists Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison dropped to seventh in 2009. The team was out-of-sync all season and unable to come together in time to land on another world podium. The two-time Canadian champions re-grouped in the off-season and went back to their comfort zone artistically. With their more romantic-style free skate, the Canadians look to rebuild in Paris by challenging two-time world champions Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy from Germany. Dube and Davison were young upstarts in 2006 where they finished 10th and will rely on their strong individual skating and emotional connection to land them on the podium at their second Olympics.

Injury free
Canadians Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir return to the Grand Prix series after missing 2008 because of Virtue’s surgery last October. Following the team’s 2008 world silver medal, over training in the off-season led to Virtue experiencing pain in her shins, which required surgery on both legs to relieve chronic exertional compartment syndrome. They came back in time to win a bronze medal at 2009 Worlds, but many expect them to challenge for gold at a home Games. Injury free in 2009, Virtue and Moir are one of four teams in contention for a medal in Vancouver. The Canadians will take on 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, 2009 world champions Oksana Domnina & Maksim Shabalin of Russia, and 2008 world champions Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder of France. The French team competed at its home Grand Prix for 13 consecutive years and won the past two seasons, but will not compete this week as Delobel gave birth to her first child on Oct. 1. Virtue and Moir look to claim Delobel & Schoenfelder’s top spot at the Grand Prix of France and their spot on the Vancouver podium.

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating France Schedule
Friday, Oct. 16
- Compulsory Dance
- Men’s Short
- Pairs Short
- Ladies Short
- Original Dance

Saturday, Oct. 17
- Men’s Free
- Pairs Free
- Ladies Free
- Free Dance