ISU Grand Prix series enters 16th season

Since 1995, the hallmark of the International Skating Union’s (ISU) fall season has been the Grand Prix of Figure Skating (GP), which links previously independent autumn international events held in the United States, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan. The Series culminates with the Final that pits the top finishers from individual events against each other in a head-to-head battle for top honors and a share of $272,000 USD in prize money. Initially dubbed the “Champions Series,” it contained only five events in the first year, with an event in Russia being added in 1996. The “Champions Series” title was replaced with “Grand Prix” in 1998. In 2003, the ISU replaced the event in Germany with one in China.

Grand Prix entries are determined by seeding top competitors based on ISU world ranking and placement at the prior World Championships. Non-seeded teams can be invited by the host country. Additional benchmarks, such as placing in the top 75 of the previous season’s best scores, have been put into place in recent years. The host country is allowed to choose up to three of their own entries in each discipline. The maximum number of competitors is 12 for singles, 10 for ice dance, and eight for pairs. 2010 marks the 16th season of the ISU’s Grand Prix, which kicks off with NHK Trophy in Nagoya, Japan, from October 22-24. The NHK Trophy was first held in 1979 and has been part of the GP series since the beginning. Until 2009, it was normally the final event of the GP Series, but last year the ISU decided to change the order of events each season.

Up next is Skate Canada, also one of the original five Grand Prix competitions. It has been held since 1973. 2010 Skate Canada International will be held in Kingston, Ontario, from October 29-31.

The third event on the Grand Prix Series is Cup of China, held in Beijing from November 5-7. Beijing will also host the junior and senior Grand Prix Finals in December.

Portland, Oregon will host the 2010 Skate America from November 12-14. Skate America has been a part of the Grand Prix circuit since the beginning. It was first held in 1979 in Lake Placid, NY (then called Autumn Leaves instead of Skate America) and returned to Lake Placid in 2009 to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Grand Prix event number five, Cup of Russia, will take place from November 19-21 in Moscow. The event has occasionally been held in St. Petersburg, but Moscow has been its home since 2006.

The last stop on the GP circuit this season is Paris, France for Trophée Eric Bompard from November 26-28. The Paris competition is one of the original members of the Champion Series, although the event’s/sponsor’s name has changed. Pre-2004, the competition (which debuted in 1987) was primarily known as Trophée Lalique.

Over one-third of the dance entrants on this season’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating will be making their series debuts. Of the 32 teams currently entered, 10 teams are moving from the junior to the senior level. One team, Great Britain’s Penny Coomes & Nicholas Buckland, has competed in “senior B” events, but not the Grand Prix. Nora Hoffmann & Max Zavozin (HUN) have not competed on the Grand Prix together, only with their previous partners. Fresh faces add even more unpredictability to a sport that has had its share of growing pains. Add to that the elimination of the compulsories and creation of the short dance, and the formula for success this year becomes a bit more muddled.

So far, the 59 possible slots have been filled by 32 teams, with most of the teams receiving two assignments each. Eleven countries are represented, with the United States boasting the highest number of entrants at 12, followed by Canada with nine and Russia with eight. This is, of course, subject to change.

*Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada have withdrawn from Skate Canada, but a replacement has not been officially named as of this article’s publication. The replacement for Skate Canada will most likely be the host’s choice of any senior Canadian ice dance team. If Virtue & Moir withdraw from France, then a non-French replacement will be chosen from the ISU roster of available/eligible teams.

The placements of the teams in the final standings of each event are translated into points. Gold is 15, silver is 13, bronze is 11, etc., down to three points for eighth place. If a team wins two events, they earn 30 points and are guaranteed a trip to the Final. A silver and a fourth place finish earns 13+9=22 points and probably puts them on the bubble (depending, of course, how all the events play out). Once Trophée Eric Bompard wraps up and the points are tallied, the top six teams earn tickets to Beijing, China for the Grand Prix Final from December 9-12. Both the junior and senior Grand Prix Finals have been held at the same event since 2009, although the levels compete separately.