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 GP FIN Gala Group 2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1057305206 (1)

Group Picture at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Helsinki (FIN)2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

In the past weeks, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series travelled to six countries on three continents and a total of 139 skaters/couples competed. 40 Ladies and 40 Men, 25 Pairs and 34 Ice Dance Couples provided us with exciting competition, spectacular performances, interesting programs and some firsts as the series went from Skate America in Everett, WA to Skate Canada in Laval, QC, on to the Grand Prix Helsinki, Finland and to NHK Trophy in Hiroshima, Japan before concluding with Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Russia and Internationaux de France in Grenoble.

Let’s have a look at some of the highlights of the series and what happened during these six weeks on the circuit.

Jumping high

GP RUS Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1062740476

Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) not only won the Grand Prix in Helsinki with the highest scores achieved so far this season (297.12 points), but he also landed an unique quadruple toeloop-triple Axel sequence. Performing this jump sequence in competition has been a goal for Hanyu. “I was trying hard to do the quad toe-triple Axel without a hop in between and when I’m fresh I felt the confidence I can do it,” he said. By the way, did someone count how many Winnie-the-Pooh bears were thrown on to the ice for the Japanese super star?

GP FRA Nathan Chen (USA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1064451362

Nathan Chen (USA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Internationaux de France 2018©International Skating Union(ISU)

World Champion Nathan Chen (USA) has started as a freshman in Yale, but he combines studying and skating and won his two Grand Prix events Skate America and Internationaux de France.

GP FIN Alina Zagitova (RUS)2018©International Skating Union 1056907868 (1)

Alina Zagitova (RUS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Helsinki (FIN)2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Olympic Champion Alina Zagitova (RUS) excited the crowd at her events in Helsinki and Moscow to top the list of Ladies’ qualifiers for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

GP NHK Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1059925254

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy (JPN)2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) celebrated a strong comeback on this season’s Grand Prix. The 2015 World Champion claimed her first Grand Prix gold since 2014, when winning Skate Canada, and returns to the Grand Prix Final for the first time in four years. Tuktamysheva landed the triple Axel in Canada and also in Japan.

GP FRA Vanessa James Morgan Cipres (FRA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1064889502

Vanessa James/Morgan Ciprès (FRA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Internationaux de France 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

World bronze medalists Vanessa James/Morgan Ciprès (FRA) especially impressed with their performances at Skate Canada, achieving the highest score in Pair Skating this season so far (221.81 points).

GP FRA Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron(FRA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1064512420 (1)

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Internationaux de France 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Three-time World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) were unable to compete at NHK Trophy, but returned to competition in style at Internationaux de France, setting the highest score in Ice Dance this season so far with 216.78 points.

New kids on the block

Several newcomers shone in their debut at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and made the podium.

GP FRA Rika Kihira (JPN)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1064835172

Rika Kihira (JPN) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Internationaux de France 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Rika Kihira (JPN) not only was on the podium, she even won her two events NHK Trophy and Internationaux de France in her debut on the senior Grand Prix. En route to her gold medals, the 16-year-old hit the triple Axel and even a triple Axel-triple toeloop combination.

GP USA Sofia Samodurova(RUS)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1052714216

Sofia Samodurova (RUS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Skate America 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Sofia Samodurova (RUS), another 16-year-old Grand Prix debutant, claimed a silver and a bronze medal in her two events and made the Final like Kihira did.

GP USA Matteo Rizzo(ITA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1052577004

Matteo Rizzo (ITA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Skate America 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Matteo Rizzo (ITA) competed on the Grand Prix for the first time and became the first Italian man to win an ISU Grand Prix medal at the senior level when earning the bronze at NHK Trophy.

GP RUS Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin(RUS)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1062352964

Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

 

World Junior Pairs Champions Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) not only earned two bronze medals in Helsinki and Moscow in their first year on the senior circuit, but also qualified for the Final.  

GP RUS Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko(USA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1062755618

 Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Mako Yamashita (JPN), Stanislava Konstantinova (RUS), Eunsoo Lim (KOR), Pair Skaters Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii (RUS) and Ice Dancers Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) won medals in their debut season on the ISU Grand Prix as well.

Firsts, firsts, firsts

During the Grand Prix Series, you were able to witness some historical firsts.

GP USA Morisi Kvitelashvili(GEO)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1052577204

Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Skate America 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia earned the first ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating medal for his country when he claimed the silver in Moscow.

GP RUS Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin (SPA)2018©International Skating Union (ISU) 1062309576

Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin(SPA) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Spain’s Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin are the first Ice Dancers from Spain to win a medal on the Grand Prix, a silver at Rostelecom Cup.

GP RUS Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise(ITA)2018©International Skating Union(ISU) 1062812756

Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA)at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise picked up two silver medals on the circuit and are the first Italian Pair Skaters to qualify for the Final.

GP RUS Julian Zhi Jie Yee (MAS) 1062304436

Julian Zhi Jie Yee (MAS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup (RUS) 2018©International Skating Union (ISU)

Julian Zhi Jie Yee became the first skater to represent Malaysia on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and even ranked third in the Short Program at Skate America.

Finally, Finland hosted an ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event for the first time with the Helsinki Grand Prix.