ISU

Camden Pulkinen (USA) skated to the lead in the Junior Men Short Program at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final on Thursday in Vancouver.

Sofia Shevchenko/Igor Eremenko of Russia clinched a narrow lead as the competition opened with the Junior Rhythm Dance in Vancouver (CAN) on Thursday. 

Over the past three seasons, Kazakhstan has begun to feature ever more prominently in Short Track’s elite events, after forming a successful training partnership with the Netherlands. A decade ago, few people in Kazakhstan had even heard of the sport, but with Kazakh skaters starting to win ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating medals with increasing regularity, the country is now preparing to host its first ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating event in Almaty this weekend.

Canada’s Meagan Duhamel looks back at a very distinguished career as a pair skater. For years, she and partner Eric Radford have been a fixture in the skating world, always pushing the limits and setting an example for others.

Track records are to be expected at the Arena Lodowa, when the world's fastest speed skaters line-up for the third leg of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Tomaszów Mazowiecki this weekend. The newly built indoor track opened its doors last year and hosted its first international event, when the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating visited two weeks ago.

The third stop of the ISU World Cup Short Track begins Friday December 7. Don’t miss any of the action – including the first day of qualifying rounds – which will be streamed live to all fans on Skating ISU’s YouTube. Make sure you subscribe to the channel to receive live stream notifications.

After two fascinating meets in North America – Calgary and Salt Lake City – Short Track heads east to Almaty, Kazakhstan for the third ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating of the season. The event, held at the Halyk Arena from 7 to 9 December 2018, should help to clarify whether a new generation of skaters are ready to challenge for the highest honors or if the established guard will stay on top for a while yet.

Following six weeks of exciting competition, the top six Men, Ladies, Pairs and Ice Dance couples of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2018/19 will take center stage at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Vancouver (CAN) this week. A total of 36 skaters/couples from nine ISU members have qualified during the six events of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series – Skate America in Everett, WA, Skate Canada in Laval, QC, Grand Prix Helsinki (FIN), NHK Trophy in Hiroshima (JPN), Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (RUS) and Internationaux de France in Grenoble.

The top six Junior skaters from each discipline will meet at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Vancouver (CAN) this week.

Let’s have a look at some of the highlights of the series and what happened during the six weeks on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit.

During the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series you could see a lot of popular and familiar faces not only on the ice, but also at the boards and in the Kiss & Cry. Many former top skaters have turned to coaching and now travel with their students to competitions such as the ISU Grand Prix events and ISU Championships that some of them have attended themselves not so long ago. We met some of them as the Grand Prix circuit travelled from one stop to the next in the past six weeks.

Canada's Speed Skating future shines bright. At the first ISU Junior World Cup of the 2018/19 season, Canadian skaters topped the medal table with seven gold medals, five silvers and five bronzes. Two other traditional powerhouses, the Netherlands (6-3-2) and Russia (4-5-4), were second and third.

Tomakomai saw a many firsts. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) won her first individual World Cup medal, in ladies' 3000m, while Bart Swings (BEL) and Vitaly Mikhailov (BLR) won the first gold of their World Cup careers in 5000m and 1500m respectively. Meantime, the Japanese pleased the home crowed with a good start, winning three of the four events on the first day of competition.

Three months ago, the mere thought of competing in a Short Track race was enough to make Elise Christie (GBR) question everything she’d spent the past 16 years working towards.

Watch the highlights as the favorites prevailed at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble. Five skaters grabbed the last available spots for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The Internationaux de France was the sixth and last event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2018/19.