ISU

Russia’s reigning World Champions Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov shone in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships Wednesday to take the lead ahead of teammates Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and  Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitri Kozlovskii.

2020 World Junior Champion  Andrei Mozalev of Russia came to Tallinn as a last minute replacement and took the lead in the Men’s Short Program as the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 opened in Tallinn (EST).

Europe’s best figure skaters are getting ready for the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia (January 10-16), the last opportunity to test themselves at a major stage before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN). Tallinn will host the ISU European Figure Skating Championships for the second time since 2010 and has hosted as well the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2015 and 2020. The ISU European Championships are back after the event had to be cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.     

The year 2022 kicked off with the exciting National Championships of Canada, the United States of America and the Republic of Korea. Canada, the USA and Korea named their Olympic and ISU Championships teams following Nationals.

Spain has two world class Ice Dance couples in Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz and Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin, but only one spot for the Olympic Winter Games in February and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in March. Hurtado/Khaliavin finished 11th at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 and would have needed to have placed 10th at least in order to give Spain the chance to earn a second spot at the Olympic qualifying competition last September.

The International Skating Union (ISU), together with its partner Art on Ice, will present the third edition of the ISU Skating Awards in 2023 by way of an exciting show featuring spectacular performances, exclusive musical entertainment, as well as a unique ceremony.

When a top skater comes out of retirement it is always an interesting story. And it is even more interesting when two top skaters come back and team up – which is what Pair Skaters Vanessa James and Eric Radford did. She is the 2019 European Champion and 2018 World bronze medalist with her former partner Morgan Ciprès, competing for France. He is a two-time World Champion, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist and Olympic Team Champion with Meagan Duhamel, representing Canada. He retired in 2018, her career with Ciprès ended in 2019, but in 2021 they decided to come back. Together.

Traditionally, Japan is boasting a deep field in Single Skating, just think of superstars like two-time Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu or of Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada. However, Pair Skating and Ice Dance are growing as well in the country of the rising sun and Japan has a realistic medal chance in the team event at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Japanese skating stars are going where no man has gone before.

With the Russian and Japanese Championships, two spectacular Figure Skating events highlighted the Christmas holidays. Japan announced their teams for the Olympic Winter Games and for the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (Tallinn, January 18-23, 2022) while Russia named their Skaters for the ISU European Championships (Tallinn, January 10-16, 2022).

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France needed only one season to soar to the top of the Ice Dance World back in 2014/15. They are France’s hope for an Olympic gold medal in Figure Skating in Beijing and want to crown their career with this medal that eluded them in 2018 when they came a close second to Tessa Virtue/ Scott Moir (CAN). France will also be represented in the Men’s event with two entries, most likely Kevin Aymoz and Adam Siao Him Fa.

As we come to the end of the year, the ISU President, Mr. Jan Dijkema, would like to address a message to all skating friends.

This past week, the National Championships continued in several countries in Europe and more skaters confirmed their spots for the upcoming ISU European Championships and in some cases for the Olympic Games. Most ISU members decide their teams for the ISU Championships and the Olympic Winter Games based on the results from the National Championships and also international events such as the ISU Grand Prix and ISU Challenger Series.

Following the ISU announcement on December 2, 2021 regarding the cancellation of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Osaka (JPN), the ISU evaluated a possible postponement to hold the Event at the end of the season and reached out to the six ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Group to find out if they could host the Event. Unfortunately, despite all efforts made by the ISU and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Group, it was impossible to find a solution to maintain this Event.

Russia’s rising star Kamila Valieva reigned supreme in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series this season. Not only did the 15-year-old prodigy win her two events Skate Canada International and Rostelecom Cup in her international senior-level debut season, but she kept pushing the highest score since the Challenger event Finlandia Trophy. The 2020 ISU World Junior Champion now holds the highest score for the Women’s Short Program (87.42 points), the Free Skating (185.29 points) and total score (272.71 points) – all set at Rostelecom Cup.

Most ISU Members decide their teams for the ISU Championships and the Olympic Winter Games based on the results from the National Championships and also international events such as the ISU Grand Prix and Challenger Series. While in some countries the candidates for the Olympic team have been announced already or are obvious, in others Nationals are decisive of who is going to represent their country on the Olympic stage at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in February.