The top Skaters of the World are getting ready for the first big showdown of the season at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Grenoble (FRA) this week. Reigning ISU World Champions Ilia Malinin (USA), Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) and Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) as well as World and Olympic medalists headline the field and will make sure it is going to be a thrilling competition.

“Quad God” Ilia Malinin the one to beat 

Reigning ISU World Champion Ilia Malinin (USA) leads the Men. The defending ISU Grand Prix Final Champion tops the ISU Grand Prix ranking with two victories at Skate America and Skate Canada and now has had a few weeks to prepare for the Final. Who knows which surprises the “Quad God” has in store. The main challenge should come from Yuma Kagiyama (JPN), who won his two events NHK Trophy and Finlandia Trophy as well. Kagiyama collected already three World silver medals and Olympic silver and is hungry to challenge for the top spot of the podium.  

For Kevin Aymoz (FRA), competing at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble is a dream come true as this is his home rink where he did his very first steps on the ice and where he trains until today. Fueled by an enthusiastic home crowd, the flamboyant Frenchman is looking at giving spectacular performances.

„The Final at home is a chance for me,“ Aymoz said. “First of all, it is cool to make the Final for the third time and secondly to be at home and at the rink where I started skating is magic. I prepared like for the other Grand Prix this season. My goal is to give it all to perform and to enjoy, to give a show in my ice rink.”

Shun Sato (JPN) returns to the Final after missing it a year ago and has won his first ISU Grand Prix gold medal at the Cup of China.

Daniel Grassl (ITA) staged a great comeback this season and advanced to the Final with a silver and a bronze medal for his two ISU Grand Prix events. He competes in his second Final.

Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ) made history by becoming the first Skater to land a triple Axel-quad toeloop combination and he aiming for more achievements like this. The Cup of China silver medalist competes in his first Final. He replaced Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) who re-injured his ankle and had to withdraw.  

Check out the complete ISU Grand Prix Standings: Men

                                                                                               Ilia Malinin (USA) competes at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada in Halifax (CAN) © ISU

Kaori Sakamoto’s (JPN) ISU Grand Prix gold rush 

Will someone be able to stop Kaori Sakamoto’s (JPN) gold rush on the ISU Grand Prix? The three-time ISU World Champion is unbeaten on the ISU Grand Prix since the past season and won the Final a year ago plus her two events Skate Canada and NHK Trophy this fall. 

Sakomoto will feel like at Japanese Nationals this week with four more Japanese women competing against her: Wakaba Higuchi returns to the ISU Grand Prix Final for the first time since 2017 after winning Skate America and coming second at Grand Prix de France.
Hana Yoshida is the current ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist and won the Finlandia Trophy on her way to the Final.
Mone Chiba and Rino Matsuike collected silver medals on the circuit and debut at the Final.

“This year there are five Japanese women in the Final, which is a very rare situation so I’m very excited,” Sakamoto said. “I know I’m at stake for a consecutive win but I want to enjoy this competition. After the NHK Trophy there was three weeks until this Grand Prix Final so I was able to practice well and also rearrange my elements in my free program, so I hope I can perform that to my best ability,” she added.

And there is Amber Glenn  (USA) who wants to spoil the Japanese party. Glenn emerged as a new leader this season, winning her two Grand Prix events Grand Prix de France and Cup of China. The U.S. Champion handed Sakamoto her first defeat in a while when she beat her at the ISU Challenger Lombardia Trophy in September. 

“It means so much (being at the Final),” Glenn noted. “It was a goal of mine to show consistency, and of course, while doing that, that led me to make it here at the Final, aka Japanese Nationals, featuring me. All the girls are so sweet and great competitors, so I'm just going to do my best and really try to enjoy it. I think it's going to be great, a great competition.” 

Glenn feels as ready as she can be. “Honestly, training felt great. I had time to heal and rest up on my ankle and back a bit and training was really good so I'm absolutely thrilled. I just hope I can keep the adrenaline up and keep going.”  

Check out the complete ISU Grand Prix Standings: Women

                                                                                    Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) competes at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada in Halifax (CAN) © ISU

Close battle between top Pairs 

The Pairs event promises to be a close and exciting battle. Three top teams qualified with a gold and a silver medal from their events:
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN), the 2024 World Pairs silver medalists and 2023 ISU World Champions are back in the Final after missing the series in the past season due to injury. They are eager to reclaim the ISU Grand Prix Final crown.
Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) are the defending ISU Grand Prix Final Champions. This team has established themselves at the top in a record time: They have been competing internationally together only since fall 2023 and took bronze at the 2024 ISU World Championships last March.
Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) are Italy’s most successful Pair Skaters to date, the first to win the ISU European title (in 2023) and a World medal (bronze in 2023). They come fresh off their first ISU Grand Prix event win where they beat Hase/Volodin and are the reigning ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalists.

However, don’t count out Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO). A year ago, this young couple won the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, now they continue their success at the senior level. They won the NHK Trophy en route to the Final, beating Miura/Kihara on home ice. 

The field is completed by Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) who qualified for the Final for the first time after taking a silver and bronze medal on the circuit and by Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (ITA), who replace 2024 ISU World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN). The Canadians had to withdraw due to Deschamps falling ill. 

„We are trying to approach the Final the same way like last year. We are here to show what we are capable of and we want to skate as clean as possible,” Hase commented. “This year I’d say the field is harder with almost all teams having achieved over 200 points in their previous competitions. It will come down to the performance on the day. I am excited about this first, very tough competition. It is a good preview of the European and World Championships." 

After the Cup of China, we tried to get back into our usual rhythm as soon as possible and it worked quite well,” Hase added. “We feel well prepared and we are healthy. So there's really nothing standing in the way of a hopefully successful competition.”

Check out the complete ISU Grand Prix Standings: Pair Skating

                                                                                Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) compete at the ISU Grand Prix NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN) © ISU

Ice Dance full of surprises

The Ice Dance events during the ISU Grand Prix season were full of surprises with each of the three World medal winning teams taking a defeat. Two-time ISU European silver medalists Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) are the top qualified couple with their two victories from Skate America and Finlandia Trophy and they’d like to continue their winning ways in Grenoble. They compete in their third Final after 2022 and 2023 but haven’t been on the podium yet. 

Reigning ISU World Champions Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) are looking to defend their ISU Grand Prix Final title. After coming second at Skate America, they won the NHK Trophy. 

“We're so excited to be back at the Grand Prix Final. It's always such a prestigious event and one that I think is very exciting for the fans of skating to watch because you have the top teams from all around the world,” Chock shared. 

“It's like a little mini World Championships before the big World Championships and we're just so happy to be qualified and back in Grenoble,” she continued. “We love France and we can't wait to perform in this rink. We had a good amount of time after our Grand Prix to prepare. We made some enhancements and adjustments to our program. For instance, we changed our circle step, we turned it into a diagonal step sequence in the free dance and made some alterations to our rhythm dance music. We're very excited to debut those little adjustments here.”

The 2024 ISU World silver medalists Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) are like Chock/Bates multiple ISU Grand Prix Finalists and won the event in 2022. They celebrated a confident victory at Skate Canada but lost to Fear/Gibson in Finland and are hoping for redemption. 

Two-time ISU European Champions Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) participated three times already in the Final and were on the podium each time. The Italians took silver at the Grand Prix de France but came back strong to win the Cup of China. 

Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud (FRA) celebrated their first ISU Grand Prix victory at the Grand Prix de France to qualify for their first ISU Grand Prix Final. Marjoie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha (CAN)  return to the Final with two silver medals from the circuit. 

Check out the complete ISU Grand Prix Standings: Ice Dance

                                                                   Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR)  compete at the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN) © ISU

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final is as follows:

Thursday, December 5: Junior Pairs, Junior Women’s Short Programs, Junior Ice Dance Rhythm Dance, Pairs & Women’s Short Programs
 Friday, December 6: Junior Men’s Short Program, Junior Women’s Free Skating, Rhythm Dance, Pairs Free Skating, Men’s Short Program    
 Saturday, December 7: Women’s & Junior Men’s Free Skating, Junior Free Dance, Junior Pairs Free Skating, Free Dance, Men’s Free Skating
 Sunday, December 10: Exhibition Gala

Prize Money

The global prize money made available by the ISU for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final is

US$ 272.000,00.

Men and Women                                  Pair Skating and Ice Dance (per Couple)

1st place: US$ 25,000.00                      US$ 25,000.00

2nd place: US$ 18,000.00                     US$ 18,000.00

3rd place: US$ 12,000.00                     US$ 12,000.00

4th place: US$ 6,000.00                       US$ 6,000.00

5th place: US$ 4,000.00                       US$ 4,000.00

6th place: US$ 3,000.00                       US$ 3,000.00

How did Skaters qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final? 

The ISU Grand Prix Series consisted of the six events Skate America in Allen, TX (USA), Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN), Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA), NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN), Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN) and Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN).
 Skaters compete in a maximum of two events and collect points according to their placements. Tie-breakers such as the highest individual placement and total scores are in place.
 A total of 147 Skaters/Couples representing 28 ISU Members competed in the series: 42 Women, 43 Men, 27 Pairs and 35 Ice Dance couples.

For further information see the General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Please visit the ISU Grand Prix page for full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.

Follow the ISU Grand Prix events:

The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:

5. 18 - 20 Oct 2024            Skate America in Allen, TX (USA)
6. 25 - 27 Oct 2024           Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN)
7. 01 - 03 Nov 2024          Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
8. 08 - 10 Nov 2024          NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN)
9. 15- 17 Nov 2024          Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN)  
10. 22 - 24 Nov 2024         Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final: 

5. 05 - 08 Dec 2024                        Grenoble (FRA)

About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known a s the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.