The 2023 Grand Prix Final in Beijing is Over: A Debrief
Recent developments in the figure skating sphere, surprises during competition, and Star Wars at the Gala
So, what’s going on in the skating world?
SO MUCH.
- Russian athletes are being okayed to compete at the olympics… with a catch. They must compete as individuals — not part of a team, and not representing a country. They cannot have gone on record supporting the war in Ukraine nor can they be in Russian colors.
- Kamila Valeiva’s trial was delayed…. Again. Medalists will still not have their medals by January of 2024, nearly two years after the 2022 olympics.
- Criticism of some judges’ calls during the men’s event. Overall ending scores were far enough apart that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
I hope to have more on ALL of this in a future article.
Also, in a heartbreaking turn of events, Niina Petrokina has suffered a broken leg and will miss both Estonian Nationals and the European Championships. This has been a breakout season for her, and I am sad to see it ended so early. I wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her back strong next year.
Funny stuff
This “Attack of the plushies” video posted on Reddit by u/sapfirex shows two Japanese skaters surprised as plushie toys rain down on them.
Also, commenters on Reddit noticed that announcers were translating from Chinese into Japanese and back to Chinese and then into English.
The Men’s event
Who Skated?
Kevin Aymoz (FRA), Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA), Ilia Malinin (USA), Kao Miura (JPN), Shoma Uno (JPN), and Yuma Kagiyama. (JPN).
What happened?
Adam Siao Him Fa had a rough short program, popping his first jump into a double and then only scoring 88 points. He recovered in the short program, but still finished just off the podium in fourth. Fellow French skater Kevin Aymoz also skated beatufilly, but missed some technical elements in both the short ad long programs, finishing in sixth overall.
Japanese skater Kao Miura had some alright skates, overall finding himself in the middle of the pack at this elite level event. Fellow Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama also found himself in the middle of the pack, finishing on the podium in third.
The stars of the show in the Men’s event were Shoma Uno and Ilia Malinin. Criticism of the judging at this event centered around these two. Shomo Uno is both a solid technician of figure skating while also bringing the artistry to each of his movements and edges. Uno has stuck around for another four year olympic cycle hoping to finally secure an olympic gold medal now that Nathan Chen has retired.
Ilia Malinin, the 19 year old now known as “the quad god” because he can land all five quad jumps will always be able to win out over Uno because of Malinin’s unique ability to do a quad axel. The quad axel is not something that Uno plans to attempt to learn at this point in his career. Ilia Malinin did his quad axel in the short program. The jump went un-scored until after his skate concluded because no one had ever done it before in a short program.
Going into the free skate, both Uno and Malinin were tied at 106 points. Uno skated beautifully, but received three edge calls on this jumps plus a one point time violation on his final spin. Malinin attempted his quad axel again. In a surprise twist, Malinin fell. Commentators remarked that Malinin is known to skip the quad and do a triple instead when he thinks he either doesn’t need it or can’t hit the quad axel.
The difference in artistry between Uno and Malinin is stark. Malinin skated better in his free program than he did in his short program. However, Uno still had the advantage on Malinin in overall skating skills. However, because Malinin’s program was still overall more technically difficult, Malinin took the gold and Uno took the silver.
The Women’s event
Who skated?
Isabeau Levito (USA), Leona Hendrickx (BEL), Nina Pinzarrone (BEL), Rion Sumiyoshi (JPN), Kaori Sakamoto (JPN), and Hana Yoshida (JPN).
What happened?
Isabeau Levito fell during the short program and received a score below 60. She completed the skate but was clearly devastated. She came back for the free skate in a sleek new black dress and WOWed, coming in third in the free skate. She may have come in 5th overall, but still won a free skate medal. Also, the International Skating Union (ISU) nominated her for “newcomer of the year.”
Leona Hendrickx was joined this year by fellow Belgian skater Nina Pinzarrone.
This put some pressure on Leona Hendrickx to perform, and she did! Her skates to Madonna highlighted her skating personality when she hit every “attitude” and “pose” with the beat of her music. She did make a couple of mistakes, however, she still easily earned a silver medal, finishing on the podium in 2nd.
At just 17 years old, Pinzarrone is good. She has solid skating skills, jumps, and spins. However, she has room to learn and mature over the coming years. This is good! Every skater hopes to peak in 2026 in time for the Winter Olympics.
Fellow Japanese skaters Rion Sumiyoshi and Hana Yoshida found themselves in fourth and fifth after the short program. Rion Sumiyoshi has a quad toe loop, but unfortunately she popped it in the long program, coming in 6th overall. Hana Yoshia executed her suspenseful and artistic long program with precision and catapulted herself onto the podium in third.
Kaori Sakamoto was the clear favorite going into this event. And, none of the other women were able to keep pace with her — not even Hendrickx. Sakamoto is now being called the “grand slam queen” because she has won all major figure skating championships other than the olympics (Grand Prix Final, Four Continents, and the World Championships).
The Pairs and Ice Dance Skating Teams Brought it at the Gala
“The Gala Exhibition” after each competition is a sweet break in skaters routines where each participating skater or skating pair gets to coordinate a short routine doing whatever they want. There are no rules and the limit does not exist. Pairs skaters don’t usually get to engage in much “musical theater” type routines, except for at the gala. Peacock viewers get to see some of the junior and synchronized skating teams not usually televised on NBC at the gala.
Side note — this is how I know that we will have excellent talent in figure skating of years to come, 2026 and beyond. One junior skater was moving so fast at the gala that the spotlight was barely keeping up with them.
Two pairs teams teamed up in the 2nd half. One pair dressed up as robots while the 2nd pair team (who skated earlier) “wheeled” them out onto the ice for a futuristic and romantic ice dance number. Another skating pair team coordinated an Austin Powers routine. And, a pair of ice dancers dressed up by cowboys. They were then joined on the ice by a second pair of skaters. There were also more traditional ice dances and a couple of pop numbers during the exhibition.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skated to a beautiful song both weary classy black outfits. By the way, the pair is now engaged! Congratulations to them both!
Men and Women Gala Exhibition Skates
Kevin Aymos skated a slow, emotional exhibition number, yet again demonstrating his beautiful skating style and performance ability. He is a skater I can’t help but stop and watch. Kevin, like Adam, enjoys doing flips on the ice.
Both Hana Yoshida and Adam Siao Him Fa dressed up as Darth Vader and skated to Star Wars — red light sabers, helmets and all. Both skaters have been doing Star Wars gala routines at all their grand prix events this season. But, this time we got to watch both of them do their Star Wars gala programs at the same event. Adam’s routine was more traditionally Star Wars while Hana’s was an electronic dance number.
Isabeau Levito skated confidently to “material girl” with her long and glamorous spiral sequences. Kaori Sakamoto skated to a beautiful orchestral adaptation of Elastic Heart in a beautiful blue and red layered tulle costume and her hair down. Sakamoto did something completely out of character in her skate — she fell! Leona Hendrixx later skated to Unicorn by Noa Kirel in her trademark fast-paced, modern “hip hop” influenced skating style. The commentators called Leona’s style “edgy.” However, I feel as if Leona simply follows today’s trends in pop culture in a field where ballet and lyrical is more common.
Shoma Uno rocked out to “Come Together” by Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL. It was like watching him release all the tension that’s built up during this Grand Prix series. It was refreshing to watch him skate something completely different. He clearly enjoyed it, I am not sure I’ve ever seen him skate like that before. 19 year old Ilia Malinin danced to “I got you” by James Brown, spinning on his knees on the ice and doing classic rock-inspired split jumps. Toward the end of his exhibition skate, Malinin dashed toward the wall and slid on his back into a sitting position.
Were you able to watch it on Peacock? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
The Gala ended by all the skaters coming back out onto the ice to participate in a winged group number — literally. The women were each given a set of wings to wear. The choreography was supposedly learned by all in two hours that morning.
That’s a wrap on the first half of this winter’s senior level figure skating season. What’s next?
January 8 ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania
- Many European countries have their national qualifying events at the end of December. In January, skaters all across Europe compete.
January 22 Prevagen US Figure Skating National Championships
- US Nationals determines which skaters will move on to compete at Four Continents and Worlds
January 29 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai, China
- This competition was created to give skaters outside of Europe a “European championships” equivalent. The four continents are North and South America, Asia & Pacific, and Australia.
March 18 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada
- The final competition of the series. The best of the best from across the world compete in the world standings. Only the top 24 skaters from the short program get to continue on to the free skate.