ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (known as ISU Champions Series from 1995 to 1997) is a series of senior international figure skating competitions organized by the International Skating Union. The invitational series was inaugurated in 1995, incorporating several previously existing events. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The junior-level equivalent is the ISU Junior Grand Prix.
Summary
Competitions
Currently, the sanctioned competitions for the Grand Prix are:
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- Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (Champions Series Final from 1995 to 1997). Created in 1995 to serve as the concluding event, it features the top six qualifiers in each discipline from the six earlier competitions. The event adopted its current name in the 1998–99 season. Its location changes yearly.
Discontinued competitions
Background
Fall international competitions such as Skate America, organized by the skating federations of their host countries, had been held for many years prior to being organized into a series as separate individual events. Following the Nancy Kerrigan attack in 1994, television coverage of skating was saturated with made-for-TV professional skating events, while the traditional "amateur" or "eligible" competitions were neglected. In order to remedy this situation, in 1995, the skating federations from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan began to plan their events as a series with cooperative marketing of the television rights in those countries, and with prize money funded by the sale of those rights. At this point, the International Skating Union stepped in and asserted its ownership of the international television rights to the series.
When it was first created in the 1995–1996 skating season, the series was known as the ISU Champions Series. It did not become known as the Grand Prix of Figure Skating until the 1998–1999 season, when the ISU gained the rights to use that name.
It was originally composed of five events, held in the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, and France. Following the demise of the Prize of Moscow News, last held in 1990, the Russian federation created the Cup of Russia, which increased the number of events to six in 1996, the series' second year. In the fall of 2003, the event in Germany, the Bofrost Cup on Ice, was discontinued, and was replaced with one in China, due to the ISU having negotiated a more favorable television contract in that country.
In 1997, the ISU also created a similar series of developmental events for junior age-eligible skaters. Initially known as the ISU Junior Series, these events are now named the ISU Junior Grand Prix. This season begins before the senior-level one does.
Qualifying
Skaters are entered in the individual events either by being seeded or by invitation. The seeding of top skaters at Grand Prix events basically takes into account their placement from the previous World Championships, as well as their ISU international ranking. Skaters who are not seeded can be invited by the hosting country and each country can invite up to three of their own skaters for each discipline. This is to give a balanced field throughout the series, as well as allowing the hosting country a chance to showcase their top competitors.
The Grand Prix of Figure Skating uses a points-based system based on results from the selected international events. The top qualifying skaters from each discipline are eligible to compete in the Grand Prix Figure Skating Final. The entry, seeding, and qualification rules for the individual events have varied from year to year, and also between the different disciplines. Typically, seeded skaters can be entered in either two or three events (the third being designated a non-scoring event), while other skaters may be entered in either one or two events.
Starting with the 2003-04 season, the Interim Judging System was introduced for scoring events in the Grand Prix. This later developed into the ISU Judging System, often called the Code of Points (CoP), of figure skating, replacing the previous 6.0 system.
Over the years, the ISU has experimented with different formats for the Grand Prix Final competition. In some years, skaters were required to prepare three different programs rather than the normal two, with the third program being used for a skate-off between the top two finishers in each discipline after the initial rounds. This is no longer the case.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the senior Grand Prix series, skaters are required to have turned 15 by the preceding July 1 (e.g. July 1, 2009 for the 2009-10 series). A skater must meet the age requirement before it turns July 1 in their place of birth. For example, Adelina Sotnikova was born a few hours into July 1, 1996, in Moscow and consequently, was not eligible to compete until the 2011-12 season.[1]
In 2011, minimum score requirements were added to the senior Grand Prix series and set at two-thirds of the top scores at the 2011 World Championships. Prior to competing in a senior Grand Prix event, skaters must earn the following:[2]
| Discipline | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Men | 168.60 |
| Ladies | 117.48 |
| Pairs | 130.71 |
| Ice dance | 111.15 |
The International Skating Union decided that the minimums do not apply to "host picks", i.e. Canadians Adriana DeSanctis and Elladj Baldé were allowed to compete at their home country's event, 2011 Skate Canada, despite failing to reach the minimums at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy.
Gold medalists
Men
Ladies
Pairs
Ice dance
† From 1995 to 2002, this spot on the Grand Prix calendar was filled by the German Cup on Ice (which went by several different names in succession). The Cup of China replaced it on the circuit in 2003 and has held that spot ever since, with the exception of 2018, when the Cup of China did not take place; its spot on the calendar was filled that year by the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. The names of the medalists in this table reflect the winners of those respective events for the years that the Cup of China was not held.
‡ Previously known as the Trophée de France (1995, 2016), Trophée Lalique (1996–2003), and Trophée Éric Bompard (2004–2015).
‡‡ Known since 2009 as the Rostelecom Cup for commercial purposes.
Top gold medalists
Only top 10 positions by number of victories (in each discipline) are shown here. Bold denotes active skater. Skaters who at least once participated in three Grand Prix events within a single season, the Grand Prix Final not included, are marked with an asterisk (*).
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References
- Vaytsekhovskaya, Elena (December 13, 2010). Елена Буянова: "Сотникова намного лучше, чем была я" [Elena Buianova: "Sotnikova is much better than I was"]. sport-express.ru (in Russian). Retrieved December 19, 2010.
- "ISU Grand Prix 2011 - 12 Announcement". International Skating Union. July 2011. Archived from the original on November 27, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
External links
- ISU Grand Prix Main Page
- Medals table and winner information, 1995–2002
- 1998–1999 Grand Prix
- 1999–2000 Grand Prix
- 2000–2001 Grand Prix
- 2001–2002 Grand Prix
- 2002–2003 Grand Prix
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