Preview: 2024 Finlandia Trophy
This week, Helsinki, Finland welcomes the 2024 Finlandia Trophy, the fifth event of the ISU’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The event will take place at Helsinki Ice Hall.
This is the fourth time Finland has hosted an ISU Grand Prix event. In 2018, Grand Prix of Helsinki replaced Cup of China on the series. In 2022 and 2023, Grand Prix Espoo replaced Rostelecom Cup. This year, the Finnish Figure Skating Federation decided to not hold its Challenger Series event, Finlandia Trophy, and to renamed its Grand Prix event, Finlandia Trophy.
Two gold medalists will go head-to-head in Helsinki. Skate Canada champions Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier of Canada will face off against Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson who won Skate America in an upset victory over 2024 World Champions Madison Chock & Evan Bates. Both teams should qualify for the 2024 Grand Prix Final.
Gilles & Poirier showcased grace and consistency in their performances at Skate Canada. Their rhythm dance to music from the Beach Boys stands out from many of the disco programs. Their free dance is a departure from their character/story driven programs of the past few seasons.
Finlandia Trophy is the fourth competition this season for Fear & Gibson. They have finished first at each competition, but the event in Helsinki will be a new test for the duo as they go head-to-head with the 2024 World silver medalists. During the 2018-19 season, the team earned the nickname ‘the Disco Brits’ and their rhythm dance this season to “Le Freak” by Chic and “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder has given them an opportunity to return to these roots.
Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler of the Czech Republic are competing in their second Grand Prix event. The siblings started their season on a positive note, collecting a gold medal at the Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and finishing fourth at Skate Canada.
Finland’s Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis make their Grand Prix series debut in Helsinki and will compete in back-to-back events. The duo started their season with a bronze medal at Budapest Trophy.
Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik of the United States collected the bronze medal at Nebelhorn Trophy with new personal best scores across the board followed by a fifth place finish at Skate Canada. A podium finish is possible. They are joined by fellow Americans Oona Brown & Gage Brown and Eva Pate & Logan Bye.
Event info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Saturday, November 16 at 7:35pm (EET); the free dance follows on Sunday, November 17 at 2:40pm (EET).
Live streaming coverage in the U.S. is available on Peacock.