What to watch this weekend in Olympic sports

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The calendar says winter is still a couple weeks away, but we're already in the thick of the winter Olympic sports season. Here are the top things for Canadian fans to keep an eye on in skating, skiing and sliding:

Figure skating: Big titles up for grabs

The exclusive Grand Prix Final is happening in France, where the top six in each discipline compete for one of the most prestigious titles in the sport.

For the fifth straight time, no Canadian singles skaters qualified for the Final. No Canadians are involved in the pairs competition either after reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps withdrew due to an illness.

Canada's two remaining entries are in the ice dance, and both teams are outside a podium spot after today's opening round. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha sit in fourth place, which isn't bad considering they ranked sixth in the season-long standings. But third-ranked Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are dead last after Poirier fell during today's skate. Everyone is chasing back-to-back world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who will try to wrap up their second straight Grand Prix Final gold in the free skate on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. ET.

WATCH | CBC Sports tells you what sports to watch this weekend:

What to Watch: Figure skating Grand Prix final in France, Canadians in the men's super-G

The women's free skate is on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET. Three-peat world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan is a surprising fourth after a disappointing short program. The men's free goes Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. World and