2020-21 ISU Grand Prix selections announced

[rfisher]

Eyeballing it, projected country gold medal standings:

1. Japan (6) — all NHK, IdF men & ladies, SCI ladies;
2. USA (5) — all SkAm, SCI men;
3. Russia (4) — all Rostelecom;
4. China (4/3?) — all CoC, but ladies hard to handicap;
5. Canada (2) — SCI pairs & dance;
6. France (1) — IdF dance;
7. Italy or Germany (1) — IdF pairs, hard to predict at present.

How dare you take Eva-Lotta's gold from her before she even gets to skate.

 

[Colonel Green]

How dare you take Eva-Lotta's gold from her before she even gets to skate.

Rika lives to crush the dreams of OES ladies.

I notice Alysa Liu is missing from SA. Is she too young for the Senior GP?

Liu only became junior-eligible last season.

 

[victorskid]

A statement on Twitter from the ISU about the competitors:

The ISU #GPFigure events are primarily domestically run events. Selected skaters must reside/train in one of the Grand Prix Member countries, or have no travel restrictions to travel to a Grand Prix Member country in the nearby area.

https://twitter.com/ISU_Figure/status/1311718845732851712

 

[thvu]

I just hope they find a way to get as many international judges as possible for some of these events. Otherwise, foreign competitors might suffer from score deflation. I can totally see US judges giving Tarasova and Morozov equal PCS to the Gribbles.

 

[rfisher]

I just hope they find a way to get as many international judges as possible for some of these events. Otherwise, foreign competitors might suffer from score deflation. I can totally see US judges giving Tarasova and Morozov equal PCS to the Gribbles.

Well, Gribble and the Duck are going for kink this year with those latex costumes so, maybe they will deserve higher PCS.

 

[aka_gerbil]

I just hope they find a way to get as many international judges as possible for some of these events. Otherwise, foreign competitors might suffer from score deflation. I can totally see US judges giving Tarasova and Morozov equal PCS to the Gribbles.

Trankov announced today that T/M are staying in Russia and focusing on Russian Cup events 4 and 5 to get to nationals.

That said, USFS would totally give several of their teams PCS on par with what T/M are capable of earning....

 

[thvu]

Trankov announced today that T/M are staying in Russia and focusing on Russian Cup events 4 and 5 to get to nationals.

That said, USFS would totally give several of their teams PCS on par with what T/M are capable of earning....

Thank Pasha.

 

[Dobre]

That said, USFS would totally give several of their teams PCS on par with what T/M are capable of earning....

It's Skate America. It's first. Scoring only goes up from there.

I feel we are working too hard to try to judge this season by our usual criteria. Wow! The sport has come so far and we are so spoiled normally to see major international match-ups all season long. I'll certainly miss that, though I totally appreciate how hard some of the athletes are working & how many of them are bringing new programs to the table despite the tough training scenarios.

If South Korea is holding it's own early season "National-Championships," @seabm7, with an international stream, I would love a heads-up so that I can add it to the list of GPs on my calendar. (Though if Cup of China can bring in the South Korean ladies, that would be great).

Some of the men's fields look interesting. Thankful for Lambiel's camp, spreading out some of the top Japanese athletes at least.

Does anyone have news about what is up with Kaliszek & Spodyriev?

 

[aka_gerbil]

It's Skate America. It's first. Scoring only goes up from there.

I think most of us are making a guess on how SA will get scored based on how the scoring at US Nationals usually goes. This is essentially a domestic competition and based on past behavior, yes, usfs would throw inflated PCS at their teams to make them on par with T/M....

 

[mjb52]

The SA history is what made me laugh a lot about the complaining about Shcherbakova's scoring at the first Russia cup. Like the US and Canada don't inflate scores at their own domestic competitions. I guess it was a little different since the complaining stemmed from domestic rivalries rather than international tension lol.

 

[MacMadame]

I think most of us are making a guess on how SA will get scored based on how the scoring at US Nationals usually goes. This is essentially a domestic competition and based on past behavior, yes, usfs would throw inflated PCS at their teams to make them on par with T/M....

But it's not being put on as a domestic competition. Only the international judges will be judging, for one.

I think I will wait and see what happens before I complain about what happened.

 

[aka_gerbil]

But it's not being put on as a domestic competition. Only the international judges will be judging, for one.

I think I will wait and see what happens before I complain about what happened.

I know what it’s supposed to be, but I have my suspicions about this (and most of the others). If the skaters are mostly domestic and the judges are international level but actually from the US... looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

 

[Dobre]

Oh no!

The U.S. pairs just might outscore the entire NHK pairs field!

 

[jamesy]

China will be an exciting event. Not. I'm not sure I'll get up in the middle of the night this time around.

You can just go back to bed 20 minutes later when it's done.

 

[Vagabond]

You can just go back to bed 20 minutes later when it's done.

How will she know whether she's actually watching the competition or just having a bad dream?

 

[Kateri]

How will she know whether she's actually watching the competition or just having a bad dream?

Don't joke, that confusion's happened to me...

 

[skylark]

I feel we are working too hard to try to judge this season by our usual criteria. Wow! The sport has come so far and we are so spoiled normally to see major international match-ups all season long. I'll certainly miss that, though I totally appreciate how hard some of the athletes are working & how many of them are bringing new programs to the table despite the tough training scenarios.

^^ This. Some of the athletes have said via IG or otherwise how happy they are to have competitions to aim for, to train for, to organize their efforts toward. If you've ever had to motivate yourself independently to make progress on a large, difficult, personally challenging project, you'll understand how much of a blessing these efforts to hold competitions safely are to the athletes. Most systems have rewards built into them, via paycheck, approval and feedback from superiors, camaraderie with fellow workers, and the huge benefit of working together as a team toward a goal and celebrating small steps along the way.

I can't believe some of the things I'm reading here. I think it's obvious that the athletes and the federations are not going to make the stupid mistake of thinking that the results and the medals are going to be held to the standards of what has been for many years our normal. I think the majority of international and domestic judges are smarter, more principled and more fair than is being suggested by some here.

I also think personal put-downs to some of the skaters are mean-spirited. For some reason I can't find the isu results pages for the 2019 International Classic when Ashley and Tim won the gold over Tarasova/Morozov, who skated a fluke couple of programs in that they struggled with a lot, not just a few of their tech elements. But my memory is that the judges held T/M up very well in PC scores. They also gave A&T good PC scores, which IMO they deserved.

Ashley and Tim aren't a threat to T/M, so why be snarky and mean? They aren't, ever. They know what they aspire to achieve, and they love working with other pairs and admire their competitors.

My memory could be wrong about the scores on the occasion of 2019 IC, but my impression in general after watching so many competitions closely for several years is that the skaters who have earned reputation PC scores mostly continue to receive them. I find it more often the case that pairs or other skaters who've struggled in the past are held down by a reputation for wobbly consistency and not necessarily given their due from the judges.

 

[thvu]

Ashley and Tim aren't a threat to T/M, so why be snarky and mean?

Coming to FSU and asking why people are being snarky and mean is like coming into my Calculus classes and asking my students why they're using the fundamental theorem of calculus.

 

[skylark]

Coming to FSU and asking why people are being snarky and mean is like coming into my Calculus classes and asking my students why they're using the fundamental theorem of calculus.

Well, I'm pretty new here, since Feb 2020, but that is not my experience of this forum.

 

[Sylvia]

BTW, I read the GP Announcement this morning and edited this into my post #1 (was a bit surprised to learn that TES minimums can't be earned in these comps.):

...
ANNOUNCEMENT: https://isu.org/docman-documents-li...-grand-prix-general-announcement-2020-21/file
"For the sake of fairness, no World Standing/Ranking points will be awarded and the scores obtained by the
Competitors shall not count towards the Minimum Total Elements Scores applicable for ISU Championships."

Re. prize money - from the Announcement:

4. PRIZE MONEY FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL EVENT AND EXHIBITION FEE

All Prize Money in favour of the awarded Skaters/Couples will be paid at the end of each individual Grand Prix event through the Organizing Grand Prix Members and subsequently through the ISU Members of the awarded Skaters/Couples. Withholding tax, if any, will be deducted according to the respective law of the Organizing Grand Prix Member taking into account double tax treaties with the countries of the awarded Skaters/Couples. The ISU is not responsible for any taxes, fees, or other costs.

The amount of Prize Money to be paid to the awarded ISU Members and Skaters/Couples is subject that the awarded Skaters/Couples and ISU Members have complied with the relevant ISU Regulations and provisions of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Announcement. Possible reductions of the stated Prize Money amounts may apply as outlined in this Announcement. If applicable, such monetary penalties could be deducted from the amount of Prize Money to be transferred and/or could be deducted from any future ISU contribution payable to the ISU Member of the Skater(s)/Couple(s) concerned.

Definition of a “Qualified” event for the purpose of Prize Money distribution: For each discipline, at least one full group of skaters (6 Ladies, 6 Men, 5 Ice Dance couples, 4 Pairs) whereby there are three (3) entries from the Top 24 Seasons Best or World Standings for 2019/20. The only exception is if one of the Top 24 entries is a World Championship seed (see point 2. a) and b)) thereby satisfying 2 of the ranking criteria, then only one other Top 24 entry is needed (see point 2. c). Actual entries at the time of the competition will be considered.

For a “qualified event”, the following prize money will be awarded (per category):
Per Skater/Couple
1st Place US$12,000
2nd Place US$ 7,000
3rd Place US$ 3,500
4th Place US$ 1,500
5th Place US$ 1,000
Total per category: US$ 25,000

For events that to not meet the definition of “qualified”, the following prize money will be awarded (per category):
Per Skater/Couple
1st Place US$ 5,000
2nd Place US$ 2,000
3rd Place US$ 1,000
Total per category: US$ 8,000

 

[Sylvia]

58 men were selected initially:

This group (29 men) included those with top 24 ISU Season Best Total scores and/or made top 24 in the ISU World Standings:
Nathan CHEN USA 1 SB / 4 WS
Alexander SAMARIN RUS 2 WS / 9 SB
Dmitri ALIEV RUS 3 WS / 5 SB
Kevin AYMOZ FRA 3 SB / 13 WS
Jason BROWN USA 4 SB / 6 WS
Matteo RIZZO ITA 5 WS / 25 SB
Yuma KAGIYAMA JPN 6 SB / 25 WS
Boyang JIN CHN 7 SB / 11 WS
Daniel GRASSL ITA 7 WS / 23 SB
Junhwan CHA KOR 8 SB / 10 WS
Morisi KVITELASHVILI GEO 8 WS / 21 SB
Shoma UNO JPN 9 WS / 12 SB
Nam NGUYEN CAN 10 SB / 14 WS
Keegan MESSING CAN 11 SB / 12 WS
Shun SATO JPN 13 SB / 37 WS
Makar IGNATOV RUS 14 SB / 40 WS
Kazuki TOMONO JPN 15 SB / 26 WS
Deniss VASILJEVS LAT 15 WS / 26 SB
Artur DANIELIAN RUS 16 WS / 20 SB
Camden PULKINEN USA 17 WS / 24 SB
Han YAN CHN 18 SB / 64 WS
Keiji TANAKA JPN 18 WS / 19 SB
Roman SADOVSKY CAN 19 SB / 39 WS
Michal BREZINA CZE 19 WS / 30 SB
Petr GUMENNIK RUS 20 WS / 31 SB
Tomoki HIWATASHI USA 21 WS / 27 SB
Andrei MOZALEV RUS 22 SB / 24 WS
Adam SIAO HIM FA FRA 22 WS / 42 SB
Vincent ZHOU USA 23 WS / 32 SB

Everybody else (29) - ranked by higher placement on WS and/or SB list:
Brendan KERRY AUS 27 WS / 41 SB
Sota YAMAMOTO JPN 28 SB / 31 WS
Vladimir LITVINTSEV AZE 29 WS / 40 SB
Mikhail KOLYADA RUS 32 WS / (no SB)
Alexei KRASNOZHON USA 33 SB / 47 WS
Mark GORODNITSKY ISR 34 WS / 62 SB
Maxim NAUMOV USA 35 SB / 87 WS
Alexei BYCHENKO ISR 35 WS / 43 SB
Nicolas NADEAU CAN 36 SB / 53 WS
Stephen GOGOLEV CAN 38 WS / 57 SB
Irakli MAYSURADZE GEO 41 WS / 53 SB
Joseph PHAN CAN 44 WS / 62 SB
Koshiro SHIMADA JPN 46 WS / 50 SB
He ZHANG CHN 49 SB / 101 WS
Romain PONSART FRA 51 SB / 133 WS
Conrad ORZEL CAN 52 SB / 72 WS
Jimmy MA USA 54 SB / 60 WS
Nikolaj MAJOROV SWE 56 SB / 57 WS
Mitsuki SUMOTO JPN 61 SB / 70-T WS
Roman SAVOSIN RUS 61 WS / 101 SB
Yudong CHEN CHN 67 SB / 113 WS
Ilia MALININ USA 71 SB / 91 WS
Yuto KISHINA JPN 76 WS / (no SB)
Sena MIYAKE JPN 88 SB / 104 WS
Kao MIURA JPN 95 SB / 142 WS
Adrien TESSON FRA 96 SB / 100 WS
Philip WARREN FRA 99 SB / 120 WS
Lucas Tsuyoshi HONDA JPN (no SB or WS)
Nozomu YOSHIOKA JPN (no SB or WS)

Men not selected initially who are ranked on the ISU SB list through #75:
34 Paul FENTZ GER 45 WS
37 Artem KOVALEV RUS 70 WS
38 Aleksandr SELEVKO EST 30 WS
39 Ivan SHMURATKO UKR 42 WS
44 Egor MURASHOV RUS 68 WS
45 Anton SHULEPOV RUS 84 WS
46 Sihyeong LEE KOR 48 WS
47 Gabriele FRANGIPANI ITA 36 WS (Nebelhorn silver, scored 231.65)
48 Andrew TORGASHEV USA 28 WS
55 Ilya YABLOKOV RUS 73 WS
58 Andrei LAZUKIN RUS 33 WS
59 Gleb LUTFULLIN RUS 74 WS
60 Julian Zhi Jie YEE MAS 78 WS
64 Ryan DUNK USA 49 WS
65 Aleksa RAKIC CAN
66 June Hyoung LEE KOR
68 Daniel SAMOHIN ISR
69 Daniel Albert NAURITS EST
70 Roman GALAY FIN
72 Donovan CARRILLO MEX
73 Younghyun CHA KOR
75 Graham NEWBERRY GBR

 

[Sylvia]

52 ladies were selected initially:

This group (21 ladies) included those with top 24 ISU Season Best Total scores and/or made top 24 in the ISU World Standings:
Rika KIHIRA JPN 1 WS / 4 SB
Alena KOSTORNAIA RUS 1 SB / 6 WS
Alexandra TRUSOVA RUS 2 SB / 4 WS
Bradie TENNELL USA 2 WS / 8 SB
Anna SHCHERBAKOVA RUS 3 SB / 3 WS
Kaori SAKAMOTO JPN 5 WS / 18 SB
Evgenia MEDVEDEVA RUS 6 SB / 13 WS
Satoko MIYAHARA JPN 7 WS / 13 SB
Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA RUS 9 SB / 11 WS
Sofia SAMODUROVA RUS 10 WS / 35 SB
Mariah BELL USA 12 SB / 14 WS
Ekaterina RYABOVA AZE 15 WS / 33 SB
Wakaba HIGUCHI JPN 16 SB / 18 WS
Alexia PAGANINI SUI 17 WS / 28 SB
Starr ANDREWS USA 19 WS / 45 SB
Ekaterina KURAKOVA POL 20 SB / 33 WS
Karen CHEN USA 21 SB / 39 WS
Nicole SCHOTT GER 21 WS / 39 SB
Yuhana YOKOI JPN 22 WS / 30 SB
Emmi PELTONEN FIN 23 WS / 42 SB
Eva-Lotta KIIBUS EST 24 WS / 43 SB

Everybody else (31) - ranked by higher placement on WS and/or SB list:
Amber GLENN USA 26 WS / 31 SB
Marin HONDA JPN 27 WS / 47 SB
Rino MATSUIKE JPN 27 SB / 151-tie WS
Viktoriia SAFONOVA BLR 29 SB / 65 WS
Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 30 WS / 60 SB
Alessia TORNAGHI ITA 31 WS / 49 SB
Mako YAMASHITA JPN 32 SB / 32 WS
Mai MIHARA JPN 36 WS (did not compete internationally in 2019-20)
Alina URUSHADZE GEO 37 WS / 46 SB
Mana KAWABE JPN 38 SB / 85 WS
Lara Naki GUTMANN ITA 41 WS / 51 SB
Nana ARAKI JPN 41 SB / 79 WS
Jenni SAARINEN FIN 44 SB / 63 WS
Hongyi CHEN CHN 46 WS / 56 SB
Tomoe KAWABATA JPN 52 SB / 59 WS
Audrey SHIN USA 55 SB / (no WS)
Gabriella IZZO USA 57 WS / 64 SB
Alison SCHUMACHER CAN 57 SB / 67 WS
Alicia PINEAULT CAN 58 SB / 76 WS
Anastasiia GULIAKOVA RUS 58 WS (no SB)
Emily BAUSBACK CAN 59 SB / 86 WS
Chisato URAMATSU JPN 61 SB / 116 WS
Maia MAZZARA FRA 62 SB / 73 WS
Isabelle INTHISONE USA 68 SB / 129 WS
Lea SERNA FRA 71 SB / 72 WS
Kate WANG USA 73 SB / 175 WS
Yi ZHU CHN 87 SB / 145 WS
Ashley LIN CHN 125 WS (int'l debut for China; did not compete internationally in 2019-20)
Madeline SCHIZAS CAN 151-tie WS (no SB)
Pooja KALYAN USA 205 WS (did not compete internationally in 2019-20)
Gracie GOLD USA (no WS & did not compete internationally in 2019-20)

Ladies not selected initially who are age-eligible & ranked on the ISU SB list through #76:
7 Young YOU KOR 12 WS
11 Kseniia SINITSYNA RUS
17 Haein LEE KOR 29 WS
19 Yelim KIM KOR 16 WS
22 Eunsoo LIM KOR 9 WS
[23 Viktoria VASILIEVA RUS - switched to pairs]
25 Anastasia TARAKANOVA RUS 62 WS
26 Seoyeong WI KOR 45 WS
37 Elizaveta NUGUMANOVA RUS 144 WS
40 Hanul KIM KOR 56 WS
50 Serafima SAKHANOVICH RUS
53 Ting CUI USA
54 Alexandra FEIGIN BUL 28 WS
63 Yuna SHIRAIWA JPN
66 Lucrezia BECCARI ITA
67 Jihun TO KOR
69 Niina PETROKINA EST
70 Linnea CEDER FIN
72 Kailani CRAINE AUS 35 WS
74 Gabrielle DALEMAN CAN
75 Yi Christy LEUNG HKG 34 WS
76 Stanislava KONSTANTINOVA RUS 25 WS

 

[Carolla5501]

Well, I'm pretty new here, since Feb 2020, but that is not my experience of this forum.

Welcome to competition season.

There are people on here who think that "if I am snarky and mean about other skaters it make MY favorite look better". And of course there are thousands of "experts" who know a lot more than the coaches or anyone else who has actually MET the skater LOL

But my personal favorite is the group who can diagnosis medical conditions via TV and social media gossip! It's really a shame they haven't put these great skills to use in the world.

 

[Sylvia]

The top 2 ice dance teams on the ISU SB list not selected initially were:
19-tie Natalia KALISZEK / Maksym SPODYRIEV POL
35 Katharina MUELLER / Tim DIECK GER

Mueller/Dieck were added to Internationaux de France in today's update: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...33/entries-5/25025-ice-dance-assignments/file
Yura Min/Daniel Eaton (KOR) have not yet been added to Skate America even though their names were included in USFS' Oct. 1st press release.

USA's Emily Chan/Spencer Howe (2nd year pair team; this will be their international debut) were added to Skate America: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...les-33/entries-5/25028-pairs-assignments/file
Tarasova/Morozov are still listed as of today.

ETA that the Ladies PDF also is dated October 5 on the GP event page: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/events/grand-prix-of-figure-skating
However, the table is still dated Oct. 1 on the bottom left.

 

[SHARPIE]

So I should create forums for these events now? Just seems like tempting fate

 

[Colonel Green]

So I should create forums for these events now? Just seems like tempting fate

Maybe wait til a week out.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

So I should create forums for these events now? Just seems like tempting fate

It's like that children's song:

There were six in a bed
And the little one said
Roll over, roll over
So they all rolled over
And one fell out

 

[PeterG]

Oh no!

The U.S. pairs just might outscore the entire NHK pairs field!

It has been well documented that the international judges have marked the American pairs teams in such a way that they never make the world podium.

 

[mkokos82]

Does anyone have news about what is up with Kaliszek & Spodyriev?

They are scheduled to compete in a domestic competition this weekend - I guess that would be to debut their programs, let's see if they come. Considering their lack of assignments to any other competitions so far, it seems they might not be in competition shape yet (and also on their FB page, there are a few clips from September of Maks jumping (with a farly good 3A attempt, not bad for a dancer but there is much more jumping content than dancing content...)

It also says they have been working on a new free dance (same choreographer with whom they collaborated in 2018/19 season) and that they are keeping RD music (Kinky Boots) possibly with some changes to the program.

Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev

Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev. 3,921 likes. Polish Ice Dance Team 8t National Champions Olympians 2018 Coached by Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka Insta:

www.facebook.com

 

[Theatregirl1122]

It also says they have been working on a new free dance (same choreographer with whom they collaborated in 2018/19 season) and that they are keeping RD music (Kinky Boots) possibly with some changes to the program.

Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev

Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev. 3,921 likes. Polish Ice Dance Team 8t National Champions Olympians 2018 Coached by Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka Insta:

www.facebook.com

Hopefully that'll include the right person wearing the boots.