The very first skating competition I attended was the 1996 NHK Trophy at the Namihaya Dome in Osaka. There was a pretty amazing roster that I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time.
Men - Elvis Stojko won skating to something martial artsy.
Ilia Kulik was second and Dmitri Dmitrenko
third. Scott Davis, Eric Millot, Philippe Candeloro and Takeshi Honda also competed (Todd Eldredge withdrew). The thing I remember most vividly was being highly amused by the 花投げコーナー/flower throwing corner that the organisers had designated mainly for the Candeloro fans to throw their flowers from.
Ladies - Maria Butyrskaya won with Tonia Kwiatkowski and her hair cutter second and Julia Vorobieva and her spins. Fumie Suguri and Shizuka Arakawa also competed. Oh and FSU’s first Gay Icon Amber Corwin was dead last.
Pairs - Two American pairs on the podium with Meno/Sand winning and Ina Dungjen third. My how times have changed.
Shishkova/Naumov were second.
Also a young team from China were FORTH.
Ice dance - French 1-2 with Moniotte/Lavanchy winning and Anissina/Peizerat second. OES Romanova/Yaroshenko were third with Drobiazko/Vanagas FORTH and Skary Babs fifth.
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