Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (GER) in the Pairs Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China © ISU
Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) struck gold as the Pairs event concluded at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing (CHN) Friday. 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.
Hase/Volodin (GER) fight their way to gold
The new team of Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin of Germany put on a brave performance to claim gold at the ISU Grand Prix Final in their debut season. Italy’s Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii rose from third to earn the silver medal while Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps settled for the bronze.
Overnight leaders Hase/Volodin skated last and it was worth the wait. The Free Skating was a challenge for this new team as Volodin had been sick after the ISU Grand Prix NHK Trophy two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the couple from Berlin turned in a solid skate to “The Path of Silence” and “Power of Mind”, completing a triple twist, triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, triple Salchow, throw triple Salchow and difficult lifts.
The only major error came when Hase stumbled out of her landing of the throw triple loop. The NHK Trophy Champions scored 133.87 points and were ranked second in the Free Skating. Overall they held on to first place with 206.43 points.
“I am just overwhelmed and surprised,” Hase said. “It was super hard to today and we both had to fight through this program. It’s even nicer that this was rewarded with the gold medal in the end.
“I am so proud of Nikita that he held on mentally and physically, that he pushed through until the very end. We pushed through together and it was crowned with the gold medal,” she continued.
“It (this result) was possible thanks to our team around us and thanks to my amazing partner who was with me all the time,” Volodin shared.
Performing to “Cinema Paradiso”, Conti/Macii produced a triple toe-double Axel-double Axel, triple twist, throw triple loop and Salchow as well as four level-four elements.
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (ITA) in the Pairs Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China © ISU
The ISU European Champions posted a personal best of 135.58 points and won the Free Skating segment. With a total of 205.88 they remained in second place to take their second consecutive ISU Grand Prix Final medal after the bronze a year ago.
“To skate today was so hard, the tension was so high. We were third after the short program and we wanted to take a medal. We did not do all elements perfectly, but we were happy when we got off the ice and that was important to us,” Conti told the press.
“We try to be happy every time we get off the ice,” Macii agreed. “This was the first competition we skated clean in both short and free program. It took us five competitions to get here. Last year we got the bronze, now the silver, maybe next year it is the gold,” he added.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps opened their passionate program to “Interview with the Vampire” with a triple twist and a triple toe-single Axel-single Axel sequence. However, both had a wobbly landing on the triple Salchow.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (CAN) in the Pairs Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China © ISU
The Skate Canada Champions continued with a throw triple Salchow and strong lifts to score 133.08 points. Overall they accumulated 204.30 points to win their first ISU Grand Prix Final medal.
“We were the top team by, like, 10 points so we know this is way below expectations. But we are still scoring really competitively with mistakes on all the big elements almost. So if we can just clean it up, we’re going to get higher than what we even got at Skate Canada,” Stellato-Dudek said.
“After coming back from Cup of China, we have been working on a lot of stuff. We have been able to perform it today. We are so proud overall of the week. We want to do better this week and we have accomplished a lot of those things. It’s a long process to the World Championships,” Deschamps added.
Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) finished fourth at 192.02 points followed by Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) on 188.85 points and Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) on 185.16 points.
Full results are available here.
Schedule of the event
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.
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.
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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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