The figure skating Grand Prix circuit will not stop in China and Russia in 2022-23 and will be contested without Russian and Belarusian representatives due to the international context, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced on Thursday.
“Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the deterioration of the health context due to covid, the Russian Cup and the Chinese Grand Prix cannot take place”the UIS said in a statement.
The 2022-23 season of the Grands Prix, the most important events in figure skating, outside the World/European Championships and the Olympic Games, will consist of seven stages, including a final.
It will begin from October 21 to 23 with Skate America, in Norwood, in the northeastern United States. The international circuit will then notably stop in France in Angers from November 4 to 6.
The final, which opposes the six best skaters/skaters/couples/pairs at the end of the six previously disputed stages, will take place from December 8 to 11 in Turin (Italy).
However, the ISU still has to find a host city for its fourth stage scheduled for November 11-13.
The slot normally allocated at the end of November to the Russian Cup, renamed Rostelecom Cup, has been awarded to Finland.
The International Skating Federation has also decided that “no skaters belonging to the Russian and Belarusian federations are authorized and invited to participate in events organized by the ISU with immediate effect and until further notice”.
The 2021-22 edition, which concluded with the Rostelecom Cup at the end of November, well before Russia invaded Ukraine, was played out with the Russians who are part of it, especially in women and in pairs. , of the best skaters in the world.
The last two seasons of the Grands Prix, in 2020-21 and 2021-22, have been cut off from their final, scheduled respectively in China in Beijing and in Japan in Osaka, due to the health context. Last season, the Chinese leg was also canceled due to Covid travel restrictions.
The program for the 2022-23 Grand Prix season
- October 21-23, Skate America in Norwood (USA)
- October 28-30, Skate Canada in Mississauga (CAN)
- November 4-6, French Open in Angers (FRA)
- November 11-13, city yet to be determined
- November 18-20, NHK Trophy in Sapporo (JPN)
- November 25-27, Finnish Grand Prix in Espoo (FIN)
- December 8-11, final in Turin (ITA)