The year was 1994.
A scandal broke out that brought figure skating, a low-profile sport into the cover of every major newspaper
but for all the wrong reasons!
It's the Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan attack!
Their drama set major TV rating records for the Olympics that year
but that turned figure skating from a sport into a soap opera
Following that incident, TV coverage of skating was saturated with made-for-TV professional skating events and tabloid
while the traditional competitions were neglected
In order to remedy this situation, the skating federations from the US, Canada, Germany, France and Japan,
began to plan their events as a series with cooperative marketing effort
and with the prize money funded by the sale of the TV rights
then the International Skating Union (ISU) stepped in,
asserted ownership and coordinated this international collaboration
That was how the figure skating grand prix series started in 1995.
It was formerly known as the ISU champion series
and they changed the name to the Grand Prix series by 1999
perhaps adopting the terminology of the Formula One Grand Prix to boost the ratings
Taking reference from the car racing events,
each skater participates in a maximum of two events out of six and accumulating points
and following the sixth event, the top six highest scoring skaters or teams advance to the final
and battle it out for the ultimate crown, the Grand Prix Final champion
So what are some fun facts about the grand prix series?
Let's take a look!
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Top 6 - figure skating Grand Prix series facts to watch
6 - 6 Events, 6 countries, 1 Finale
the 6 Grand Prix events are Skate America and Skate Canada in the American continent
Cup of France and Cup of Russia or otherwise known as Rostelecom Cup in the European continent
NHK Trophy in Japan and Cup of China in Asia
If the countries decided not to host the event, ISU will then invite other countries to bid for hosting rights
This season, China couldn't host the cup of China
So Italy bid for the event and branded as Grand Premio D'Italy
Notice the same name as the Formula One Grand Prix Italy as well?
So what's the incentive of hosting the Grand Prix events?
you get to decide who to invite for the event
and you can invite up to 3 skaters who might or might not qualify for the event under normal circumstances from your own country per discipline
so what's the normal circumstances to qualify for the Grand Prix events?
Let's get to the..
5 - Invitation ONLY
Now that we know the history behind the creation of the ISU grand prix series, which is profit driven
that means participation for these series of competitions are highly exclusive and by invitation only
So who do they invite?
The ones that drive the TV ratings and fill the arena with the audience!
Of course with certain rules applied to maintain the integrity of the sport
First of all, the top 11 skaters in the previous world championships will be guaranteed
the maximum 2 grand prix events
placing 12th to 24th?
or having achieved the top 24 season best scores of the previous season?
Then you will be guaranteed only one Grand Prix assignment
which means you might not even have the chance to fight for the grand prix final ticket
Also, all medalists from the junior world championships of previous season will be considered when they move to senior
though their assignments are not explicitly guaranteed
what these rules implied is that you will not be invited for the Grand Prix series
if you sit out from the previous seasons, even though you were once an Olympic and World champion!
In season 2012/13, Yuna Kim came back to skate competitively after sitting out for two years in order to fight for the 2014 winter olympics spots
However, Kim was not invited to skate on the 2012/13 grand prix circuit
because she missed the previous two seasons, despite being the reigning olympic champion
I had some time out for last seasons because I was busy and overwhelmed with tasks in hand
But since I wasn't invited for the Grand Prix events, I was concerned I would have less opportunity to build up my conditions for the Olympics
So she decided to participate in minor events to score enough technical points
to qualify for the 2013 world championships
drawing quite a huge controversy among fans at that time
and the coverage of the Ladies Short Program continues with the queen
Yuna Kim, the defending Olympic champion from Vancouver
after Vancouver, she took off from competition for a year and a half
returning in late 2012
but then won the world championship in 2013
a right foot injury kept her from competing on the Grand Prix circuit this season and
she has competed in only five international events since Vancouver
even though she's the world champion, she doesn't have the world ranking
well that's why she's skating so early in this draw
because she doesn't have the world ranking
and being on this warm-up earlier with lesser-skilled skaters, she really struggled to get her jumping passes in
So yes, for all the ISU-sanctioned competitions, skaters will earn some points just for participation
which contributes towards their world ranking
That ranking determines which group you will be skating in
If you are not assigned to grand prix events, you will earn less qualifying points
Talking about points, let's move on to the..
4 - It's all about the "points"
In order to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, the skaters have to be in the top six emerging from the six individual events
In each event, the winner earned 15 points; second place earned 13 points; the bronze earned 11 points
and so forth
the advancement is entirely determined by the points earned in the two Grand Prix events you participated in
There are no other limitations such as the "maximum three skaters per country rule" restrictions like they did in the Olympics and world championships
Therefore, it's not uncommon to see almost all Russian events during the Grand Prix Final
for the junior grand prix final this year, you will see it's going to be a mini Russian National Championship there
so what happens if there are skaters who get the exact same points?
That's a very common case actually
which brings us into
3 - Tie breakers
In case there is a tie in the overall points, various tiebreaker rules will be used to determine who advanced and who did not
Rule No. 1 - whoever with the highest placement at any event will advance
In season 2019/20, Boyang Jin, Nam Nguyen, and Jason Brown earned the exact same points in both events as the last qualifier
Boyang advanced to the grand prix final because he placed first in one of the events
Rule No. 2 - the highest combined total scores in both events
beyond that rule has never been used
because it's highly unlikely that skaters will get the exact same numerical scores in both events
the tiebreaker rules are in place to ensure we get the best skaters of the season in the grand prix final
Also, there is one system in place to ensure we have a good fight in the Grand Prix Final
which brings us into..
2 - The seeding
Skaters placed number one to six in the previous world championships are seeded in the Grand Prix events
How does that work?
The seeds get to pick their events
after number one picks the two events, number two will pick from the remaining four;
then number three will have no choice but to choose the last two events
after that, number four choose again, then number five and finally number six
that means number one to three will not face each other in the six events being the first seeds
the same goes to number four to six being second seeds
but the first and second seeds will face one another in the individual events
now did you see an issue there?
Funny enough, number three and number six are the worst positions to be at because they have no choice
number four is in fact the best position strategy wise
because you get to choose who you want to face in the individual events
which brings us into..
1 - The Ultimate Crown
now coming to the most important point
Is the grand prix final title really important?
Honestly outside of the figure skating core circle, no one recognizes this title
Probably most people don't even recognize the world champion either
Except for the hardcore fans like us, the world tunes into figure skating only once every four years
and that's the Olympics
So being the Olympic champion is the ultimate crown for figure skaters, not the Grand Prix Champion
However, grand prix series are serious competitions that give the skaters more exposure
not just to the public, but also a good way to let the judges get familiarized with your programs for that GOE and PCS bonus
Recognizing this fact, here was what the young Hanyu did
In the world championships 2013, Hanyu stumbled and finished fourth due to injuries
that was the only time he finished off the podium
in the world championships he participated in over the last 10 years by the way
but he found the silver lining
Because of his fourth place finish
he got the most strategic position
which is, he gets to choose who he wants to face in the Grand Prix circuit prior to the Olympics
If he were to be satisfied with a smaller victory,
he would have chosen not to face Patrick Chan, the three-time world champion and the by default winner at that time
but the young Yuzuru knew his end game
which was to be the winner of the Olympics
not the winner in any grand prix events
In order to get into the winning position
he knew he had to defeat the strongest man in the field somehow
Therefore he chose to face his toughest competitor at that time during the two grand prix assignments instead of avoiding him
by doing so, Hanyu got to learn first hand on the technique of his strongest competitor
and got himself closer and closer to defeating him
and he stunned the world
pulled up the almost impossible feat and defeated Patrick Chan in the grand prix final 2013.
So close (to 100)!
and carried on the momentum to win the Olympic title eventually
talk about strategizing, this is the best lesson on strategy
"To catch the bandits, first catch their ring leader"
and the rest is history
The two-time Olympic champ
the two-time world champion
he won four straight grand prix final