What Is The Grand Prix of Figure Skating?

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is an annual international series of senior figure skating competitions held by the International Skating Union (ISU). The very best figure skaters from around the world compete each year in individual or paired competition while representing their nations. Besides the Olympics, the Grand Prix Final is the most prestigious international figure skating competition in existence. Read on to learn more about the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

• Location: America, Canada, France, UK, Japan, Finland (changes yearly)
• First Held: 1995
• Format: Seven international competitions, four disciplines each
• Most Wins: Evgeni Plushenko (22), Irina Slutskaya (17), Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo (22), Meryl Davis and Charlie White (16)

History

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating was first held as the ISU Championship Series for the 1995-1996 season. Back then, the final competitions were Skate America, Skate Canada, Nations Cup (Germany), Trophée de France, and the NHK Trophy (UK). The skaters with the best scores then competed at the ISU Champions Series Final. In its inaugural year, Alexei Urmanov (men’s singles), Michelle Kwan (women’s singles), Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov (pairs), and Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov (ice dance) won gold.

Several other international competitions have been part of the sanctioned competitions for the Grand Prix, most notably the Cup of China and the Rostelecom Cup. The Cup of China was created in 2003 and was held as one of the six major events that fed into the Grand Prix final. The event was canceled in 2018, 2021, and 2022 but will return in 2023. The Rostelecom Cup, formerly known as the Cup of Russia, was also one of the six major events from 1996 until the Figure Skating Federation of Russia was banned from all ISU competition due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Format

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating is currently made up of six international competitions that all feed into a final championship competition. These six sanctioned competitions are Skate America, Skate Canada, Grand Prix de France, MK John Wilson Trophy (UK), NHK Trophy (Japan), and Grand Prix Espoo (Finland). Skaters who get qualifying scores in their disciplines at these competitions may then compete in the Grand Prix Final. At all seven competitions, the top three skaters or pairs in each discipline are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The four disciplines featured at each Grand Prix competition are men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs skating, and ice dance. Each discipline has its own way of scoring competitors and evaluating GOE (Grade of Execution) according to the ISU Judging System. Each discipline also has its own unique set of qualifying scores that a skater or pair of skaters must reach in order to advance toward the Grand Prix Final.

Players

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating has strict eligibility requirements based on age, technical scores, and home nation. Firstly, every competing skater must have turned 15 years old by the beginning of the current season. Secondly, skaters or pairs must have scored at or above the minimum scores for their disciplines at a recent senior-level ISU international competition. Finally, each ISU member country can only send one to three skaters or pairs for each discipline, even if others meet the minimum required scores.

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