2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is a series of invitational senior internationals which will run from October 2020 through December 2020. Medals will be awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters will earn points based on their placement at each event and the top six in each discipline will qualify to compete at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China.

2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
Type:	Grand Prix
Date:	October 23 – December 13, 2020
Season:	2020–21
Previous: 2019–20 Grand Prix
Next: 2021–22 Grand Prix

Organized by the International Skating Union, the series sets the stage for the 2021 Europeans, the 2021 Four Continents, and the 2021 World Championships. The corresponding series for junior-level skaters will be the 2020–21 ISU Junior Grand Prix.

Reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic

On May 1, 2020, the International Skating Union established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-President for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its responsibilities include determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the 2020–21 season and the financial impact of any potential cancellations.[1] The ISU announced that a host federation must make a decision regarding potential cancellation of their event at latest 12 weeks prior to the event.[2]

On July 9, the General Administration of Sport of China announced that no international sporting events would be held in China in 2020, except for 2022 Winter Olympics test events.[3] The Chinese Skating Association was scheduled to host several events during the season, including the Cup of China and the Grand Prix Final. While the Grand Prix Final, to be hosted in Beijing, is exempt from the Chinese government's ruling due to its status as the test event for the Olympic Games, the ISU has not yet discussed a contingency plan regarding Grand Prix event cancellations.[4] The ISU announced on July 13 that the it plans for the Cup of China to remain as scheduled, due to its connection to the Beijing test event, the Grand Prix Final.[5]

On August 4, the ISU confirmed that the Grand Prix series would proceed as scheduled during the fall, with a decision to be made regarding the Grand Prix Final at a later date.[6] The competitions are expected to feature skaters from the home country, skaters already training in the host nation, and skaters assigned to that event for geographic reasons; all officials will also be from the national organizing member.[7]

Schedule

The series will comprise the following events:[8]

Date	Event	Location	Results
October 23–25	2020 Skate America	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Oct. 30 – Nov. 1	2020 Skate Canada	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
November 6–8	2020 Cup of China	Chongqing, China[lower-alpha 1]
November 13–15	2020 Internationaux de France	Grenoble, France
November 20–22	2020 Rostelecom Cup	Moscow, Russia
November 27–29	2020 NHK Trophy	Osaka, Japan
December 10–13	2020–21 Grand Prix Final	Beijing, China

Requirements

Skaters were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit if they had reached the age of 15 before July 1, 2020. They were also required to have earned a minimum total score at certain international events.

Discipline	Total score
Men	TBA
Ladies	TBA
Pairs	TBA
Ice dance	TBA
Must be achieved at ISU Championships, Grand Prix, Challenger Series, or Junior Grand Prix events in the 2019–20 season or during the Challenger Series in the 2020–21 season

Assignments

Men

Skater	Assignment(s)
2 Assignments
1 Assignment
Withdrew

Ladies

Skater	Assignment(s)
2 Assignments
1 Assignment
Withdrew

Pairs

Skater	Assignment(s)
2 Assignments
1 Assignment
Withdrew

Ice dance

Skater	Assignment(s)
2 Assignments
1 Assignment
Withdrew

Changes to preliminary assignments

Skate America

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

Skate Canada

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

Cup of China

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

Internationaux de France

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

Rostelecom Cup

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

NHK Trophy

Discipline	Withdrew		Added		Reason/Other notes	Refs
	Date	Skater(s)	Date	Skater(s)

Medal summary

Medalists

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Skate America	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Skate Canada	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Cup of China	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Internationaux de France	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Rostelecom Cup	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
NHK Trophy	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Event	Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Grand Prix Final	Men
	Ladies
	Pairs
	Ice dance

Medal standings

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Totals (0 nations)		0	0	0	0

Qualification

At each event, skaters earned points toward qualification for the Grand Prix Final. Following the sixth event, the top six highest scoring skaters/teams advanced to the Final. The points earned per placement were as follows:

Placement	Points (Singles)	Points (Pairs/Dance)
1st	15	15
2nd	13	13
3rd	11	11
4th	9	9
5th	7	7
6th	5	5
7th	4	–
8th	3	–
9th	–	–
10th	–	–

There were originally seven tie-breakers in cases of a tie in overall points:

1. Highest placement at an event. If a skater placed 1st and 3rd, the tiebreaker is the 1st place, and that beats a skater who placed 2nd in both events.
2. Highest combined total scores in both events. If a skater earned 200 points at one event and 250 at a second, that skater would win in the second tie-break over a skater who earned 200 points at one event and 150 at another.
3. Participated in two events.
4. Highest combined scores in the free skating/free dance portion of both events.
5. Highest individual score in the free skating/free dance portion from one event.
6. Highest combined scores in the short program/short dance of both events.
7. Highest number of total participants at the events.

If a tie remained, it was considered unbreakable and the tied skaters all advanced to the Grand Prix Final.

Qualification standings

Bold denotes Grand Prix Final qualification.

Points	Men[9]	Ladies[10]	Pairs[11]	Ice dance[12]
30
28
26
24
22
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
0

Qualifiers

	Men[9]	Ladies[10]	Pairs[11]	Ice dance[12]
1
2
3
4
5
6
Alternates
1st
2nd
3rd

Top scores

For the all-time highest scores, see list of highest scores in figure skating.

For the season's highest scores, see 2020–21 figure skating season § Season's best scores.

Men

Best total score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Best short program score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Best free skating score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Ladies

Best total score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Best short program score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Best free skating score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Pairs

Best total score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Best short program score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Best free skating score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Ice dance

Best total score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Best rhythm dance score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Best free dance score

Rank	Name	Nation	Score	Event
1	/
2	/
3	/
4	/
5	/
6	/
7	/
8	/
9	/
10	/

Notes

1. The ISU announced on July 13 that it plans to keep Cup of China as scheduled, due to its connection to the Beijing test event.[5]

References

1. Morgan, Liam (May 1, 2020). "ISU creates COVID-19 working group for figure skating". Inside the Games.
2. "Communication No. 2320: Decisions of the Council". International Skating Union. April 30, 2020.
3. huaxia, ed. (July 9, 2020). "No international sport events in China this year except for Beijing 2022 trials". Xinhua News Agency.
4. Zhukov, Vladislav (July 9, 2020). "Финал Гран-при по фигурному катанию не попадает под запрет о проведении турниров в Китае" [Figure skating Grand Prix Final does not fall under ban on tournaments in China] (in Russian). TASS.
5. "ISU Events scheduled to be held in China in 2020". International Skating Union. July 13, 2020.
6. "Figure skating: ISU Grand Prix series to go ahead as planned in fall". Kyodo News. August 4, 2020.
7. The Associated Press (August 4, 2020). "Grand Prix figure skating series downsized to localized events". CBC.
8. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and ISU Challenger Series announced" (Press release). International Skating Union. March 27, 2019.
9. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/2021 – Men". International Skating Union.
10. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/2021 – Ladies". International Skating Union.
11. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/2021 – Pairs". International Skating Union.
12. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/2021 – Ice Dance". International Skating Union.