With the conclusion of NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan on Sunday, all qualifiers for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2016/17 have been determined. 36 skaters from eight ISU Members will compete in Marseille (FRA) December 8 to 11 at the Final.
Two-time World Champion Javier Fernandez (ESP) and three-time World Champion Patrick Chan (CAN) top the standings in the Men’s as they won their two events. Fernandez was successful at Rostelecom Cup in Moscow and at Trophée de France in Paris, while Chan took gold at Skate Canada International and Audi Cup of China. Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) advances with his gold medal from NHK Trophy and his silver from Skate Canada to the Final. Hanyu performed a clean quadruple loop at NHK Trophy and scored 301.47 points. Shoma Uno qualified with a victory at Progressive Skate America and a silver medal from Rostelecom Cup. Nathan Chen (USA) and Adam Rippon (USA) will compete in their first ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Chen booked his ticket to Marseille with a silver medal at NHK Trophy and a fourth-place finish at Trophée de France while Rippon picked up two bronze medals at Skate America and in France.
The substitutes are Boyang Jin (CHN), Sergei Voronov (RUS) and Alexei Bychenko (ISR).
World and ISU Grand Prix Final Champion Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) returns to the Final in style after winning in Canada and France. World bronze medalist Anna Pogorilaya (RUS), who missed out in the past season, came back strong with two victories in Moscow and Sapporo. European silver medalist Elena Radionova (RUS) collected a gold at Audi Cup of China and a silver at Rostelecom Cup on her way to her fourth consecutive Grand Prix Final. ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist Satoko Miyahara (JPN) earned her spot in Marseille with silver in Japan and bronze in Canada. Skate Canada and Cup of China silver medalist Kaetlyn Osmond will compete in her first final as will 2016 World Junior silver medalist Maria Sotskova (RUS), who took a silver and a bronze medal in her debut on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
The substitutes are Ashley Wagner (USA), Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) and Mai Mihara (JPN).
In the Pairs, two-time World Champions Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford and World bronze medalists Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot (GER) qualified for the Final taking gold in their two events. Duhamel/Radford won their home event Skate Canada and NHK Trophy. The German duo struck gold at Rostelecom Cup and Trophée de France in their debut as a team on the circuit. Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang (CHN) and Cheng Peng/Yang Jin (CHN) have been skating together only since last spring as they switched partners in between them. Yu/Zhang qualified with a gold from Cup of China and a silver from Skate Canada while Peng/Jin collected silver medals in Beijing and Sapporo. Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) return to the Final after winning Skate America and placing fifth at Rostelecom Cup. Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS) qualified for their first Final with a silver medal from Paris and bronze medal from Chicago.
The substitutes are Natalia Zabiiako / Alexander Enbert (RUS), Haven Denney / Brandon Frazier (USA) and Liubov Ilyushechkina / Dylan Moscovitch (CAN).
2010 Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) celebrated a strong comeback to the Grand Prix circuit after taking two seasons off and took gold at Skate Canada International and NHK Trophy. On their way to the Final, the 2014 Olympic silver medalists set a new record score in the Short Dance (79.47 points) and for the total score (195.84 points) at NHK Trophy. World silver medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani won Progressive Skate America and Audi Cup of China to earn their berth in the Final. Reigning World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) advance with a gold from Trophée de France and a silver from NHK Trophy to the Final. Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) were victorious in Moscow and got a bronze from Skate America. Two-time World medalists Madison Chock/Evan Bates collected two silver medals as did Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA). All teams competed in the Final before.
The substitutes are Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN), Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) and Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA).
37 Men, 39 Ladies, 25 Pairs and 35 Ice Dance couples competed in the series that started in October with Progressive Skate America in Chicago/Hoffman Estates, IL. The series continued then with Skate Canada in Mississauga, ON, Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (RUS), Trophée de France in Paris before moving to Asia with Audi Cup of China in Beijing and NHK Trophy in Sapporo. The skaters also competed for a prize money of US $ 180,000 per individual event of the Grand Prix.