Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (GER) win the Pairs Short Program at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China © ISU
Newcomers Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) claimed the Pairs Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing (CHN) Thursday. The ISU Grand Prix Final features the best six Skaters/Couples in each discipline of the Grand Prix events competing against each other for the first time this season. Thirty-six Skaters/Couples representing nine countries will compete in Beijing.
New team in town Hase/Volodin (GER) in the lead
The new team of Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin of Germany claimed a narrow lead in the Pairs Short Program ahead of the favorites, Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps. Italy’s Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii stand in third place heading into the final Free Skating on Saturday.
Skating to “Stay“, Hase/Volodin produced a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow and throw triple loop, as well as four level-four elements, to post a personal best score of 72.56 points. The Skaters surprised themselves with this kind of performance as they had almost withdrawn after Volodin fell sick right after the Grand Prix NHK Trophy.
“We didn't expect that performance at all,” Hase said. “We did the first real practice here in Beijing since NHK Trophy, the first triple twist yesterday because of Nikita’s sickness. He was gone for six days.
“We came back and he got directly sick the first day with fever and everything. So skating like this today was emotional and I'm super happy and super proud of Nikita for keeping it together, pushing to the end and the points and the result is just amazing,” she continued.
“It was so hard for me, physically and mentally. We came back from Japan and we went to China, we also thought about not skating (withdrawing),” Volodin commented.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps gave a dynamic performance of their program to “Oxygène”, landing a triple twist, side by side triple toe and throw triple loop. However, the landing of his triple toe and the throw loop were a bit shaky.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (CAN) in the Pairs Short Program Final in Beijing, China © ISU
The 2023 ISU Four Continents bronze medalists scored 71.22 points.
“We've been struggling with this short all year. We've never done it well in my opinion and today was no different,” Stellato-Dudek said.“We had a struggle on the throw, struggle on the jump. So still a pretty good performance other than that, but you can't have that many mistakes.
“This short is very fast, very powerful. It's a lot harder to skate to fast music than it is to skate to slower music. It requires us to be exactly on point on the music to hit booms and things like that. In slower music, it's a little more lenient. So this just requires a lot more work or more precision - and in competition with nerves,” she elaborated.
Conti/Macii’s program to “Cavalleria Rusticana” was highlighted by a triple twist, throw triple loop and side by side triple Salchow. The ISU European Champions achieved a season’s best of 70.30 points.
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (ITA) in the Pairs Short Program at the Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China © ISU
“Today everything was pretty good. My (triple) Salchow was not the perfect one that I did in the six minutes warm-up, but I fight for it,” Macii shared. “I know that she (Conti) is going to do everything. We are happy that our season’s best finally comes back to 70 points.”
Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) put out a personal best performance with 65.51 points to place fourth. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) are currently sitting in fifth at 61.91 points followed by Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) at 61.78 points.
For full results, see here.
Schedule of the event
Thursday, December 7: Junior Men’s, Junior Women’s & Pairs Short Programs, Men’s & Junior Pairs Short Programs
Friday, December 8: Junior Rhythm Dance, Pairs Free Skating, Junior Women’s Free Skating, Women’s Short Program & Rhythm Dance
Saturday, December 9: Junior Free Dance, Junior Pairs & Junior Men’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Women’s & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, December 10: Exhibition Gala
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consisted of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN).
A total of 154 Skaters/Couples competed in the series: 46 Men, 43 Women, 29 Pairs and 36 Ice Dance couples.
The General Announcement of the 2023/24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here. The individual announcements are published under the respective events. Full entry lists and further information are available on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.
Prize Money
The global prize money made available by the ISU for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final isUS$ 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
ISU Grand Prix Standings
Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed on the official ISU YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #GPFigure.
Selection Criteria
For a Skater/Couple to be eligible to compete at an ISU Grand Prix event, a minimum total score must have been achieved in the 2021/22 or current 2022/23 season in an ISU event (Grand Prix, Junior Grand Prix, Championships) or a Challenger Series event. Exceptions apply to host country Skaters, previously ranked Skaters or split ranked Couples who return with new partners. The minimum total score is 3/5 of highest score per discipline at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022 and are as follows: Women: 141.65, Men: 187.49, Pairs: 132.65, Ice Dance: 137.89.
Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).
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