The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (formerly the ISU Champions Series) is a series of international invitational competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Elite figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The junior-level equivalent is the ISU Junior Grand Prix.
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Currently, the sanctioned competitions for the Grand Prix are:
The series ends with the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, which features the top six skaters/teams from the six competitions.
Fall international competitions such as Skate America, organized by the skating federations of their host countries, had been held for many years prior to their organization into a series as separate individual events . Following the Nancy Kerrigan attack in 1994, television coverage of skating was saturated with made-for-TV professional skating events, while the traditional "amateur" or "eligible" competitions were neglected. In order to remedy this situation, in 1995, the skating federations from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan began to plan their events as a series with cooperative marketing of the television rights in those countries, and with prize money funded by the sale of those rights. At this point, the International Skating Union stepped in and asserted its ownership of the international television rights to the series.
When it was first created in the 1995–1996 skating season, the series was known as the ISU Champions Series. It did not become known as the Grand Prix of Figure Skating until the 1998–1999 season, when the ISU gained the rights to use that name. It originally had events in the USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, and France. An event in Russia was added to the series in 1996, the series's second year. In the fall of 2003, the event in Germany, the Bofrost Cup on Ice, was discontinued, and was replaced with one in China, due to the ISU having negotiated a more favorable television contract in that country.
In 1997, the ISU also created a similar series of developmental events for junior age-eligible skaters. Initially known as the ISU Junior Series, these events are now named the ISU Junior Grand Prix. This season begins before the senior-level one does.
Skaters are entered in the individual events either by being seeded or by invitation. The seeding of top skaters at Grand Prix events basically takes into account their placement from the previous World Championships, as well as their ISU international ranking. Skaters who are not seeded can be invited by the hosting country and each country can invite up to three of their own skaters for each discipline. This is to give a balanced field throughout the series, as well as allowing the hosting country a chance to showcase their top competitors.
The Grand Prix of Figure Skating uses a points-based system based on results from the selected international events. The top qualifying skaters from each discipline are eligible to compete in the Grand Prix Figure Skating Final. The entry, seeding, and qualification rules for the individual events have varied from year to year, and also between the different disciplines. Typically, seeded skaters can be entered in either two or three events (the third being designated a non-scoring event), while other skaters may be entered in either one or two events.
Starting with the 2003-04 season, the Interim Judging System was introduced for scoring events in the Grand Prix. This later developed into the ISU Judging System, often called the Code of Points (CoP), of figure skating, replacing the previous 6.0 system.
Over the years, the ISU has experimented with different formats for the Grand Prix Final competition. In some years, skaters were required to prepare three different programs rather than the normal two, with the third program being used for a skate-off between the top two finishers in each discipline after the initial rounds. This is no longer the case.
To be eligible for the senior Grand Prix series, skaters are required to have turned 14 by the preceding July 1 (e.g. July 1, 2009 for the 2009-10 series). A skater must meet the age requirement before it turns July 1 in their place of birth. For example, Adelina Sotnikova was born a few hours into July 1, 1996 in Moscow and consequently, was not eligible to compete until the 2011-12 season.[1]
In 2011, minimum score requirements were added to the senior Grand Prix series and set at two-thirds of the top scores at the 2011 World Championships. Prior to competing in a senior Grand Prix event, skaters must earn the following:[2]
| Discipline | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Men | 168.60 |
| Ladies | 117.48 |
| Pairs | 130.71 |
| Ice dance | 111.15 |
The International Skating Union decided that the minimums do not apply to "host picks", i.e. Canadians Adriana DeSanctis and Elladj Balde were allowed to compete at their home country's event, 2011 Skate Canada, despite failing to reach the minimums at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy.
The events and dates for the 2011-2012 season have been assigned as follows:[2]
| Event | Location | Date Begin | Date End |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Skate America | Ontario, California | October 21, 2011 | October 23, 2011 |
| 2011 Skate Canada | Mississauga, Ontario | October 28, 2011 | October 30, 2011 |
| 2011 Cup of China | Shanghai, China | November 4, 2011 | November 6, 2011 |
| 2011 NHK Trophy | Sapporo, Japan | November 11, 2011 | November 13, 2011 |
| 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard | Paris, France | November 18, 2011 | November 20, 2011 |
| 2011 Rostelecom Cup | Moscow, Russia | November 25, 2011 | November 27, 2011 |
| 2011–2012 Grand Prix Final | Quebec City, Canada | December 8, 2011 | December 11, 2011 |
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