2025 Grand Prix Assignments

[Jammers]

Why did the US stop hosting the US Classic it used to be a Challenger event and it was in early September the Cranberry Cup is just to damn early in the season at the very least they need to try to make it to the end of August or early September like the US Classic was or host another new event in September that might get to Challenger status.

 

[ice coverage]

... Also, I believe that last year, the USFS extended Champs Camp to the JGP skaters. ...

Off topic for this thread, but to clarify:

Similarly to previous years, USFS was working with Emerging Athletes alongside 2024 Champs Camp.
JGP singles skaters who were involved that week (not quite all of them were) belonged to the EA group.

ETA: Also in the EA group were several non-JGP singles skaters.​

(Past editions of EA have had all four disciplines, but I don't think this particular one in 2024 had dancers or pairs.)

 

[Lutzes&Loops]

While it took awhile for the USFS to update the ISU with their assigned entries, the skaters who won Cranberry (Lucas Broussard & Elyce Lin-Gracey) wound up with the SkAm host spots.

Actually, Sarah won Cranberry. Elyse was second.

 

[Karen-W]

Okay, I've tormented ANL enough and am going to try my lame attempt at handicapping the Women's GP field... These are surely going to be wrong because I'm sure the US women will let me down & the Japanese women will dominate.

GPdF -?Chaeyeon;?Kaori;?Isabeau; 4th Petrokina; 5th Nakai - the GPdF magic has finally run out for Rion
CoC -?Alysa;?Amber;?Repond; 4th Watanabe; 5th Shin
SCI -?Isabeau;?Mone;?Sarah; 4th Bradie; 5th Pinzarrone
NHK -?Kaori;?Wakaba;?Samodelkina; 4th Loena; 5th Repond (back-to-back, intercontinental GPs drain the energy out of Sarah & Pinzarrone)
SkAm -?Alysa;?Chaeyeon;?Yoshida; 4th Watanabe; 5th Higuchi (back-to-back, intercontinental GP drains Wakaba)
Finlandia -?Amber;?Bradie;?Mone; 4th Petrokina; 5th Hendrickx

GPF qualifiers -
30 pts - Alysa
28 pts - Chaeyeon, Kaori, Amber
26 pts - Isabeau
24 pts - Mone
GPF Alternates - Bradie, Wakaba, & Petrokina

GPF -?Kaori - she's competing in Japan ahead of the Olympics, this is such a no-brainer result;?Alysa - girl has ICE in her veins;?Mone - gets the job done here & the air is out of everyone's sails for Amber's chances at an Oly medal; 4th Amber; 5th Chaeyeon; 6th Isabeau.

Okay, the Alysa interview with Boomer Esiason that aired over the weekend where she confirmed she does plan on adding the 3A back to her programs next season has caused me to revisit my Women's GP and GPF predictions.

I'm now predicting Amber will win?at CoC, with Alysa taking?- I feel like the 3A is going to be a little unsteady/not quite successful at her first GP, but that by SkAm, she'll have it under control.

I also think that Amber is going to be buoyed by coming in as the only woman with 2 GP?and she'll pip Mone for?at the GPF, thereby securing her place in the TE in Milano-Cortina.

 

[Debbie S]

Except that if Alysa places higher than Amber at the GPF, in addition to her being WC, it doesn't seem likely that USFS would leave her off the TE.

 

[Jammers]

Alysa got hosed for the TE last time hopefully she gets to skate in the TE this time around if she makes the Olympic team.

 

[Karen-W]

Except that if Alysa places higher than Amber at the GPF, in addition to her being WC, it doesn't seem likely that USFS would leave her off the TE.

Alysa got hosed for the TE last time hopefully she gets to skate in the TE this time around if she makes the Olympic team.

I guess we'll have to see what happens and what Alysa wants to do. It should be hers to accept or decline, I agree.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Okay, the Alysa interview with Boomer Esiason that aired over the weekend where she confirmed she does plan on adding the 3A back to her programs next season has caused me to revisit my Women's GP and GPF predictions.

I'm now predicting Amber will win?at CoC, with Alysa taking?- I feel like the 3A is going to be a little unsteady/not quite successful at her first GP, but that by SkAm, she'll have it under control.

I also think that Amber is going to be buoyed by coming in as the only woman with 2 GP?and she'll pip Mone for?at the GPF, thereby securing her place in the TE in Milano-Cortina.

Well, someone has come to her senses.

Could you imagine if we have three women doing triple axels this coming season?

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I guess we'll have to see what happens and what Alysa wants to do. It should be hers to accept or decline, I agree.

In a fair world, women would be split in the TE this year, but I imagine it will be men and dance that get split.

 

[On My Own]

If men get split won't usa stand to lose vital points against Japan?

 

[Dobre]

I think the best thing any fan of Amber's could do to help her this season would be to stop making predictions and allow her to sneak in under the radar.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

In a fair world, women would be split in the TE this year, but I imagine it will be be men and dance that get split due.

not if ANL has something to say about

 

[Jarrett]

In a fair world, women would be split in the TE this year, but I imagine it will be men and dance that get split.

I can't imagine chock and bates splitting with anyone specifically the shibs lol

 

[Karen-W]

I can't imagine chock and bates splitting with anyone.

LOL. I can. Ice dance is the first individual event after the team event.

And they were hard done by 2018. I don't think that's something they'll ever forget, especially if they're given the first choice as the 3-time World Champs. I fully expect, if CarPon make the GPF and she gets her passport, that ChoBat will split.

 

[Debbie S]

LOL. I can. Ice dance is the first individual event after the team event.

And they were hard done by 2018. I don't think that's something they'll ever forget, especially if they're given the first choice as the 3-time World Champs. I fully expect, if CarPon make the GPF and she gets her passport, that ChoBat will split.

But i don't think they get a choice about who to split with (i wish they did, but...). It goes to the next-ranked team, as determined by USFS. Unless CPom outscore the Shibs on the GP and/or beat them head-to-head at the GPF, I can't see USFS ranking the Shibs behind them.

 

[Karen-W]

But i don't think they get a choice about who to split with (i wish they did, but...). It goes to the next-ranked team, as determined by USFS. Unless CPom outscore the Shibs on the GP and/or beat them head-to-head at the GPF, I can't see USFS ranking the Shibs behind them.

Actually, we do know how the USFS determines the next highest ranked team - it's based on WS. And there's no way the Shibs will be able to overtake CarPon, who are currently ranked #6 & have 3267 points. There's actually no way the Shibs will be able to overtake any of the 4 teams from the 2025 Nats podium. ChoBat have 4080 points, ZingKol have 2724 points and GreenP have 2443 points; they also wouldn't catch NesMark who have 1800 pts & will add some points during the fall. They can overtake any other US team, though, if they won both their Challengers (300 pts each) & both their GPs (400 pts each) & made the GPF.

 

[kwanfan1818]

We also know that USFS will do what it wants to. I hope it's sticking to WS, but we'll see.

 

[Debbie S]

Actually, we do know how the USFS determines the next highest ranked team - it's based on WS.

Hmmm, OK, I thought they loosely used the BoW criteria that they use for Oly consideration, except the TE has always been a bit murky, i.e. USFS doing what they want. Hopefully they follow that (WS).

 

[tony]

Actually, we do know how the USFS determines the next highest ranked team - it's based on WS. And there's no way the Shibs will be able to overtake CarPon, who are currently ranked #6 & have 3267 points. There's actually no way the Shibs will be able to overtake any of the 4 teams from the 2025 Nats podium. ChoBat have 4080 points, ZingKol have 2724 points and GreenP have 2443 points; they also wouldn't catch NesMark who have 1800 pts & will add some points during the fall. They can overtake any other US team, though, if they won both their Challengers (300 pts each) & both their GPs (400 pts each) & made the GPF.

But do they? Nagasu had the higher world standing in 2018 (over Tennell by a lot) and we repeatedly hear about how her having an Olympic medal only because of the Shibutanis taking both segments, allowing the women to split.

I do think it’s more convenient for them to not cause drama by just saying they use it (ie. Chen getting first choice in 2022) but they are going to do what they want in the end.

 

[Karen-W]

But do they? Nagasu had the higher world standing in 2018 (over Tennell by a lot) and we repeatedly hear about how her having an Olympic medal only because of the Shibutanis taking both segments, allowing the women to split.

I do think it’s more convenient for them to not cause drama by just saying they use it (ie. Chen getting first choice in 2022) but they are going to do what they want in the end.

Well, that's what fans have always said, but we don't know which woman would have been used in the TE had the Shibs chosen to split. As it is, the Shibs are the reason why we know they use WS. It was explained in either the US Ice Dance thread last month when the Shibs return was announced, IIRC. The Shibs were neither the Nat'l Champs nor the highest ranked team from the previous Worlds going into Pyeongchang. They were, though, the highest ranked team in the WS.

 

[Debbie S]

The Shibs were neither the Nat'l Champs nor the highest ranked team from the previous Worlds going into Pyeongchang. They were, though, the highest ranked team in the WS.

The Shibs were 3rd at 2017 Worlds, C/B were 7th, H/D 9th. In the SD, the order was the reverse...H/D 3rd, C/B 4th, Shibs 5th, but then disaster struck C/B and H/D in the FD.

It has seemed that USFS has used previous season's Worlds results to rank the dance teams. In 2022, I think C/B were ranked higher than H/D in WS and did outscore them in total points on the GP (but no GPF due to Covid) that fall, and of course won Nats, but H/D were the World medalists and had beaten C/B at SA. There was an argument for either to be ranked #1 but USFS went with H/D (I think we can assume that since H/D skated the RD).

 

[Karen-W]

The Shibs were 3rd at 2017 Worlds, C/B were 7th, H/D 9th. In the SD, the order was the reverse...H/D 3rd, C/B 4th, Shibs 5th, but then disaster struck C/B and H/D in the FD.

It has seemed that USFS has used previous season's Worlds results to rank the dance teams. In 2022, I think C/B were ranked higher than H/D in WS and did outscore them in total points on the GP (but no GPF due to Covid) that fall, and of course won Nats, but H/D were the World medalists and had beaten C/B at SA. There was an argument for either to be ranked #1 but USFS went with H/D (I think we can assume that since H/D skated the RD).

Alright then. My bad. I just woke up about 30 min ago after a restless night due to a back ache & didn't go searching for the other discussion & was just going off memory.

 

[kwanfan1818]

There was an argument for either to be ranked #1 but USFS went with H/D (I think we can assume that since H/D skated the RD).

I don’t think we can assume anything from the program order, since the US was a lock for the frees. I don’t think we know who “agreed” to split, ie, could have refused to, but only that C/B and H/D had a pact to split. I assume that was based on not wanting a repeat of 2018, but I don’t know if they said this explicitly.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Amber explained how she and Alysa ended up at CoC together on This Week in Skating’s podcast interview. Amber had chosen another GP but was usurped by a host pick. It sounds like she was given the option of doing back to back GPs as a second option, but she chose not to do that. So she ended up in China.

 

[Karen-W]

Amber explained how she and Alysa ended up at CoC together on This Week in Skating’s podcast interview. Amber had chosen another GP but was usurped by a host pick. It sounds like she was given the option of doing back to back GPs as a second option, but she chose not to do that. So she ended up in China.

So, basically, she wanted NHK, but the JSF chose Wakaba as a host pick.

Which tells us -

#1 Alysa - chose SkAm & CoC
#2 Kaori - chose NHK & GPdF
#3 Mone - got what she got - SCI & Finlandia (makes sense since Kaori wouldn't have wanted to do SCI & NHK back-to-back)

#4 Isabeau - chose GPdF & SCI (potentially also wanted NHK, but again, iced out by the JSF selecting Wakaba, which left her with SCI, SkAm & Finlandia as her options & she chose SCI)
#5 Amber - wanted NHK & Finlandia, but the JSF had already chosen Wakaba for NHK, which left Amber with the choice of SkAm or CoC as her 2nd GP & she chose CoC rather than have back-to-back events
#6 Wakaba - wanted NHK & CoC, but wound up with SkAm because Amber had priority over her in the selection of their 2nd events

It wouldn't necessarily surprise me if Amber & Isabeau both decided that since the JSF blocked either of them from NHK by selecting Wakaba, they decided to force Wakaba into the back-to-back intercontinental competitions.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Amber explained how she and Alysa ended up at CoC together on This Week in Skating’s podcast interview. Amber had chosen another GP but was usurped by a host pick. It sounds like she was given the option of doing back to back GPs as a second option, but she chose not to do that. So she ended up in China.

The other mystery is why did Alysa pick COC? Just wondering.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Sounds like she done already done had herses.

 

[jägerbomb]

So, basically, she wanted NHK, but the JSF chose Wakaba as a host pick.

Which tells us -

#1 Alysa - chose SkAm & CoC
#2 Kaori - chose NHK & GPdF
#3 Mone - got what she got - SCI & Finlandia (makes sense since Kaori wouldn't have wanted to do SCI & NHK back-to-back)

Impressive deduction work!

 

[Karen-W]

And we have our first GP withdrawal! I was not expecting it to be in dance. Or from Japan.

We should probably start the 2025-2026 thread but I do not want to begin it with a sad news, so here we go...

Ice dancers Azusa Tanaka and Shingo Nishiyama, who were the 2025 Asian Winter Games bronze medalists and two-time Japanese national silver medalists, ended partnership.

【速報】「あずしん」がカップル解散　アイスダンス田中梓沙、西山真瑚組　冬季アジア大会の銅メダリスト - Deep Edge Plus

フィギュアスケートのアイスダンスで2月の冬季アジア大会銅メダルの田中梓沙、西山真瑚組（オリエンタルバイオ）がカップルを解散すると11日、マネジメント会社が発表した。同社は「今後の活動については決まり次第、発表いたします […]

deepedgeplus.kyodonews.jp

So, looking at the Alternates list and the NHK entries list - this spot will go to Janse van Rensburg/Steffan. The Browns are 1st on the Alternates list, however the USA already has 3 teams at NHK, so JvRStef are the lucky team to get a 2nd GP. Maybe not so lucky that their 1st assignment is SCI, so they'll be making the intercontinental travel - Saskatoon to Vancouver then on to Osaka, I would guess.

Updated Ice Dance Alternates List -
Brown/Brown - Finlandia
Lim/Quan - CoC
Fabbri/Ayer - NHK
Pate/Bye - GPdF
Bekker/Hernandez - SkAm
Harris/Chan
Neset/Markelov - SCI
Lauriault/Le Gac - GPdF
Tali/Lafornara - SkAm
Ignateva/Szemko
Lagouge/Caffa
Reitan/Majorov
Yoshida/Morita - NHK
Soucisse/Firus
Manni/Roethlisberger
Val/Kazimov
Larson/Kapran
Wolfkostin/Tsarevski - NHK
Tkachenko/Kiliakov
Matthaei/Liebers
Dupayage/Nabais
Hensen/Lickers
Fradji/Forneaux - SkAm
Paolino/Tuba
Pinchuk/Pogorielov
Mullen/Mullen
Gauthier/Thieren
Peal/Peal
Xiao/He - CoC
Ramanauskaite/Kizala
Ren/Xing - CoC
Dozzi/Papetti
Kudryavtseva/Karankevich
Bordet/Chardain
Zehnder/Sieber
Dovhal/Kulesza
Finelli/Bucciarelli
Nguyen/Giang
Karl/Hoferichter
Csziser/Shapiro
Pallu-Neves/Panesar
Argentieri/Riva

 

[coralline]

And we have our first GP withdrawal! I was not expecting it to be in dance. Or from Japan.


So, looking at the Alternates list and the NHK entries list - this spot will go to Janse van Rensburg/Steffan. The Browns are 1st on the Alternates list, however the USA already has 3 teams at NHK, so JvRStef are the lucky team to get a 2nd GP. Maybe not so lucky that their 1st assignment is SCI, so they'll be making the intercontinental travel - Saskatoon to Vancouver then on to Osaka, I would guess.

Updated Ice Dance Alternates List -
Brown/Brown - Finlandia
Lim/Quan - CoC
Fabbri/Ayer - NHK
Pate/Bye - GPdF
Bekker/Hernandez - SkAm
Harris/Chan
Neset/Markelov - SCI
Lauriault/Le Gac - GPdF
Tali/Lafornara - SkAm
Ignateva/Szemko
Lagouge/Caffa
Reitan/Majorov
Yoshida/Morita - NHK
Soucisse/Firus
Manni/Roethlisberger
Val/Kazimov
Larson/Kapran
Wolfkostin/Tsarevski - NHK
Tkachenko/Kiliakov
Matthaei/Liebers
Dupayage/Nabais
Hensen/Lickers
Fradji/Forneaux - SkAm
Paolino/Tuba
Pinchuk/Pogorielov
Mullen/Mullen
Gauthier/Thieren
Peal/Peal
Xiao/He - CoC
Ramanauskaite/Kizala
Ren/Xing - CoC
Dozzi/Papetti
Kudryavtseva/Karankevich
Bordet/Chardain
Zehnder/Sieber
Dovhal/Kulesza
Finelli/Bucciarelli
Nguyen/Giang
Karl/Hoferichter
Csziser/Shapiro
Pallu-Neves/Panesar
Argentieri/Riva

Isn't AzuShin's spot host spot? Can Japan send another team to replace them?