The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating culumate this week with the Finals in Barcelona (ESP). The events feature the top six skaters/couples in each category from the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final
26 skaters/couples from seven ISU members will compete in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. They are vying for a global prize money of U.S. $ 272,000. Six skaters/couples in each category qualified in the six events of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series: Progressive Skate America in Milwaukee, Skate Canada International in Lethbridge, Audi Cup of China in Beijing, Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (RUS), Trophée Eric Bompard in Bordeaux (FRA) and NHK Trophy in Nagano (JPN). A seventh Pair Skating couple has been exceptionally included into the Grand Prix Final following a decision of the ISU Council as the Free Skating event at Trophée Eric Bompard had to be cancelled. According to the decision, any first substitute skater/couple (placed 7th in the Grand Prix standings) was invited to the Final provided he/she/they had competed the Short Dance/Short Program in Bordeaux.
Overview over the participants
Reigning World Champion Javier Fernandez (ESP) leads the Grand Prix standings with two victories at Audi Cup of China and Rostelecom Cup. The defending ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist comes with a seasons best of 271.43 points to Barcelona. Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) ranks second in the Grand Prix with a gold medal from NHK Trophy and a silver from Skate Canada, but he achieved new personal best scores at Nagano, setting a new highest total score of 322.40 points and becoming the first skater to break the 300 points barrier. ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champion Shoma Uno (JPN) returns to Barcelona now in the senior Final following a silver medal from Progressive Skate America and a first place finish in the Short Program in Bordeaux (seasons best 257.43 points). World Junior silver medalist Boyang Jin (CHN) also qualified for the Final in his first year on the senior circuit by claiming silver medals at Audi Cup of China and NHK Trophy (seasons best 266.43 points). Three-time World Champion Patrick Chan (CAN), who returns to competition this season following a break, won Skate Canada and ranked fifth in the Short Program at Trophée Eric Bompard to qualify for the Final (seasons best 271.14 points). Daisuke Murakami (JPN) advances with a bronze medal from Lethbridge and a third place in the Short Program from Bordeaux. Murakami will compete in his first ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Uno and Jin in their first senior-level Final.
Gracie Gold (USA) and Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) top the Ladies standings with a gold and silver medal from their two events each. Gold finished second to Medvedeva in Milwaukee and ranked first in the Short Program in Bordeaux. Reigning World Junior Champion Medvedeva won Skate America and earned the silver medal at Rostelecom Cup. The Russian has a seasons best of 206.76 points, the American comes with a seasons best of 202.80 points to Spain. World silver medalist Satoko Miayahara (JPN) qualified with a gold medal from NHK Trophy and a bronze from Progressive Skate America (seasons best 203.11 points). Three-time World Champion Mao Asada JPN (seasons best 197.48 points), who is back on competition ice this year, and World bronze medalist Elena Radionova (RUS/seasons best 211.32 points) picked up a gold and a bronze medal as well on their way to the Final. Ashley Wagner (USA/seasons best 202.52 points) made it to Barcelona with a victory at Skate Canada and a fourth place finish in Japan. Gold, Medvedeva and Miyahara are newcomers to the Final. Gold qualified last year, but withdrew due to injury. Medvedeva won the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final one year ago and Miyahara competed in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2012/2013.
Reigning World Champions Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN) lead the Pairs and are the only couple to have won both their Grand Prix events. The Four Continents Champions collected gold medals in Lethbridge and in Nagano and have a seasons best of 216.16 points. European Champions Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov earned a gold medal in Beijing and a silver medal in Moscow to book their ticket to Barcelona (seasons best 216.00 points). Olympic silver medalists Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) qualified for the Final with a victory at Rostelecom Cup and a fourth place finish at Progressive Skate America (seasons best 214.70 points). Alexa Scimeca/ Chris Knierim (USA/seasons best 191.97 points) and Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin (CHN/seasons best 197.75 points) advance to the Final with a silver and a bronze medal from the circuit. ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Julianne Séguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN/seasons best 189.49 points) were the first substitutes but invited to the Final as they competed in the Short Program at Trophee Bompard. Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang (CHN), who also competed in Bordeaux, replaced Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) who withdrew due to injury. Scimeca/Knierim and Séguin/Bilodeau debut at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (senior level).
The Ice Dance event promises to be exciting with the top team being close to each other this season. Defending ISU Grand Prix Final Champions Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) come to Barcelona with victories at Skate Canada and Rostelecom Cup and are the only couple to have won their two events (seasons best 173.79 points). World silver medalists Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA/seasons best 173.22 points) qualified with gold from Skate America and silver from Cup of China. 2014 World Champions Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA/seasons best 173.30 points) and Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA/seasons best 174.43 points) come to the Final after claiming a gold and a silver in their events as well. Madison Hubell/Zachary Donohue (USA) earned their spot with a first place finish in the Short Dance in France and a bronze medal in Japan. Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS), who sat out the past season due to injury, made it with a silver and a bronze to Barcelona. Hubbell/Donohue will debut at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
The prize money is awarded to winners and placed skaters/couples as follows:
Men and Ladies, Pairs and Ice Dance (per couple)
1st place: US$ 25,000
2nd place: US$ 18,000
3rd place: US$ 12,000
4th place: US$ 6,000
5th place: US$ 4,000
6th place: US$ 3,000
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final
24 skaters/couples from eight ISU members have qualified for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Six skaters/couples per discipline qualified in the seven events of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Slovakia, Latvia, USA, Austria, Poland, Spain and Croatia.
Nathan Chen (USA/seasons best 236.76 points) is the top qualifier in the Men’s as he won his two events. Dmitri Aliev (RUS), World Junior bronze medalist Sota Yamamoto (JPN), Roman Sadovsky (CAN), Daniel Samohin (ISR) and Vincent Zhou (USA) have reached the Junior Final as well. Aliev, Samohin and Zhou are newcomers to the Junior Final. Yamamoto is the defending ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist.
Polina Tsurskaya (RUS/seasons best 189.50 points), Maria Sotskova (RUS/seasons best 186.30 points) and Yuna Shirawa (JPN/seasons best 186.80 points) top the Ladies standings with two victories on the circuit. Marin Honda (JPN), Mai Mihara (JPN) and Alisa Fedichkina (RUS) are the other qualifiers. Sotskova will compete in her third consecutive Junior Final and had won in 2013, the other five competitors will debut at the event.
Amina Atakhanova/Ilia Spiridonov (RUS/seasons 162.50 points) lead the Junior Pairs with a gold and a silver medal from their events. They are joined by Renata Oganesian/Mark Bardei (UKR), Ekaterina Borisova/Dmitry Sopot (RUS), Anastasia Gubanova/Alexei Sintsov (RUS), Anna Duskova/Petr Bidar (CZE) and Anastasia Poluianova/Stepan Krotkov (RUS). All couples will compete in their first Junior Final.
World Junior silver medalists Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter (USA/seasons best 162.63 points) and Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (USA/seasons best 160.79 points) qualified with two victories. Both teams return to the Final after missing it last season. Defending ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists Alla Loboda/ Pavel Drozd (RUS) and bronze medalists Betina Popova/Yuri Vlasenko (RUS) are back as well. Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac (FRA) and Anastasia Skoptcova/Kirill Aleshin (RUS) will debut at the Junior Final.
The prize money made available by the ISU is 105,000 US$. The prize money is awarded to winners and placed skaters/couples as follows:
Junior Men and Ladies Junior Pairs and Dance (per couple)
1st place US$ 6,000 1st place US$ 9,000
2nd place US$ 5,000 2nd place US$ 7,500
3rd place US$ 4,000 3rd place US$ 6,000
4th place US$ 3,000 4th place US$ 4,500
5th place US$ 2,000 5th place US$ 3,000
6th place US$ 1,000 6th place US$ 1,500
Synchronized Skating
For the first time, a Synchronized Skating Free Skating event has been included into the Final. The top five ISU members of the past ISU World Synchronized Championships have been invited: Team Canada, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden and Team USA.
A global prize money of 17,500 US$ has been made available for the Synchronized Skating event and will be awarded as follows:
Synchronized Skating Teams
1st place US$ 5,000
2nd place US$ 4,250
3rd place US$ 3,500
4th place US$ 2,750
5th place US$ 2,000