Moscow, Russia

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Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada celebrated a golden comeback at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup Saturday in Moscow, taking the second Grand Prix title of his career after missing the past season due to health issues. Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia claimed his second Grand Prix silver medal, while Petr Gumennik of Russia earned the bronze on his senior Grand Prix debut.

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Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO), Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) and Petr Gumennik (RUS) at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) International Skating Union (ISU) © International Skating Union (ISU)

Performing to “Nureyev” from the movie “The White Crow” about the famous Russian ballet dancer, Kolyada nailed a quad toe-triple toe and followed up with a quad toe. He landed four more triples including two Axels as well as two level-four spins and level-four footwork. The only glitch in his spectacular performance was a popped Axel. The 2018 World bronze medalist scored 188.55 points and racked up 281.89 points overall. 

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Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) in his golden performance to 'Nureyev' © International Skating Union (ISU)

“Coming back is always hard,” Kolyada said. “It was hard this time, but also nice. I want to thank everyone for their support.”

The 25-year-old added: “I knew basically everything about (Rudolf) Nureyev. When I visited the ballet museum and met (Russian-Georgian ballet dancer) Nikolai Maximovitch Tsiskaridze, he told me about Nureyev’s life, some stories and showed me the costumes. So I know what I am skating. However, I have my own idea of the program that I want to bring across to the audience.”

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Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) was pushed back into second place © International Skating Union (ISU)

Kvitelashvili put out a strong performance to “Tosca”, reeling off a quad Salchow-double toe, quad toe-double toe, triple Axel as well as four more triples and two level-four spins. However, he fell on a quad toe. The 2020 ISU European bronze medalist was ranked fourth in the Free Skating with 176.24 points and slipped from first to second overall with a total 275.80 points. 

“I am happy how everything came together, even though not everything worked in the free skating,” the 25-year-old Georgian said. “I skated much better in the Short Program. I want to continue to work to improve and to achieve better results in the next competitions.”

Gumennik’s dramatic performance to “The Phantom of the Opera” was highlighted by a quad Salchow-double toe-double toe, a triple Axel-triple toe and a triple Lutz-triple loop combination, but he missed his second quad Salchow and fell on a connecting step. The 2020 ISU World Junior bronze medalist was sixth in the Free Skating with 172.21 points but held on to the bronze medal with a total of  268.47. 

“I am happy to have won a medal at my first (international) senior competition, but I am a bit sad that my program wasn’t that great,” the 18-year-old said. “But I am not too upset about it and I’m sure I will not repeat these mistakes as I have been consistent in practice.”

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Petr Gumennik (RUS) was proud of a medal in Moscow on his senior international debut © International Skating Union (ISU)

After ranking second in the Free Skating, 2020 ISU World Junior Champion Andrei Mozalev (RUS) moved up from sixth to fourth (266.69 points). The 2020 ISU European Champion Dmitri Aliev (RUS) remained in fifth place at 265.11 points. Evgeni Semenenko (RUS) pulled up one spot to sixth with the third-best Free Skating (260.78 points).

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit: https://isu.org/GrandPrix. Follow the discussion on social media by using #FigureSkating #GPFigure

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ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final that was to be held as an Olympic Test Event on December 10-13 has been postponed. The ISU, in consultation with all stakeholders and considering the pandemic developments, is evaluating the continuation of the 2020/21 season.

About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known a s the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Due to the current situation, the usual selection criteria do not apply. Please see the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating page for further information.