The ISU Grand Prix Championship Series finally starts this week! From October 19 to 21, the first stage will take place in the city of Allen, in the state of Texas (USA), and there we will see brilliant performances by the strongest skaters on the planet.
The main attention will undoubtedly be attracted by the American with Russian roots Ilya Malinin, who has a unique quad axis and, apparently, is ready to go further, performing a characteristic jump in a triple waterfall. Nika Egadze, a student of Tutberidze and representative of Georgia, will undoubtedly try to accompany Malinin on the podium. Last year he took an unfortunate fourth place in the American leg and should be more motivated than ever to medal abroad.
The women’s competition threatens to become a real sensation. The three American single skaters have a good chance of making the top three and will surely do everything they can to keep their rivals from other countries off the podium.
In pairs, former Russians Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulava and Maria Pavlova/Alexei Svyatchenko compete for the highest positions. And in the competition between dance duos, Tutberidze’s daughter Diana Davis and her husband Gleb Smolkin will seriously claim bronze.
With so much intrigue, the tournament in the United States promises an exciting spectacle and will not let you get bored until the start of the Russian analogue of the Grand Prix series.
Student Tutberidze will fight with the legendary Malinin
Let’s not lie: it is very difficult to imagine that at the United States Grand Prix someone will compete for gold on equal terms with the current world champion Ilya Malinin. An American from a family of Russian emigrants demonstrated excellent preparation for the season at the Lombardia Trophy Challenger in September and calmly scored more than 300 points, despite the lighter content of the free program. By light weight, however, in his case he means four quads instead of six and the absence of the characteristic quad axle between them.
For most single skaters, such difficulty is a dream, and among the participants in the Allen stage with a group of four quads, only the Japanese Kao Miura and the Georgian Nika Egadze previously competed. With a clean skate, Miura is able to close in on Malinin, but it is unlikely that he will suddenly snatch victory from him. The fact is that the Japanese skater does not have the most expensive quadruple lutz in his arsenal, and the quadruple flip he tried only once, and without much success.
At the same Lombardy Trophy, Egadze achieved the quad lutz for the first time, to the delight of Tutberidze’s coaching staff, but he routinely failed in the second half of the free skate. Getting on the podium at the United States Grand Prix would already be a triumph for him. Last year he took a disappointing fourth place there. It’s time to rehabilitate yourself and declare yourself out loud.
Nika Egadze
Photo: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Frenchman Kevin Aymoz, unfortunately, now cannot be considered one of the main contenders for medals. And this despite the fact that in 2023 he won silver in the American stage. Since then, something unimaginable has happened to the talented athlete: he literally fails on skates and cannot deal with his inner demons. At the local tournament held in France at the end of September, Aymoz again set a personal anti-record: he could not cope with a single jump in the free skate and messed up two rotations. Of course, I would like to believe that he will rise from the ashes this weekend and leave the dark streak of his career behind him forever.
In such situations, Malinin can safely take risks at the US Grand Prix and aim for a combination of a quad axle and a triple loop. In the training video, this crazy element seemed perfect to him. If he manages to repeat it within the framework of the competition, Ilya will once again write his name in history.
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The Americans could take over the entire women’s podium
The women’s battle on the ice in Texas will likely become a coalition of American singles skaters against competitors from other countries. Isabeau Levito, Brady Tennell and Alice Lyn-Gracie: the entire trio is aiming for the podium, to which, of course, the walls of their houses will help them as much as possible.
However, a confrontation between them remains inevitable. Yesterday’s junior Lin-Gracie shot unexpectedly in mid-September at the Nebelhorn Trophy tournament and beat compatriot Levito. The world runner-up was to blame because she made serious mistakes in the short, but even with a clean skate she has something to worry about. Alice was very close to Isabeau’s personal best from two years ago: 213.33 points compared to 215.74. It is possible that with ideal performances from both, the judges will dare to put fresh blood on top.
Tennell, who returns to the competition after almost a year off due to injury, will have to work hard to take bronze. The task is difficult, but doable, because the foreign competitors it should fear are not very stable.
Isabel Levito
Photo: Anadolu via Getty Images
Belgian Nina Pinzarrón and three singles skaters from Japan can prevent the Americans from taking the entire podium. For Pinzarrón, the United States Grand Prix will be the first outing of the current season, so his form is a complete intrigue. The figure skater is definitely aiming for a medal, but her weak performance at the 2024 World Championships undermines the desire to bet on her.
The Japanese trixelists Wakaba Higuchi and Rinka Watanabe, judging by their last tournaments, are not yet very ready for a serious fight. This is especially true for Rinka, who desperately attempts a triple axle, but fails, and then other elements fail. However, his desire to progress inspires great respect. Thanks to her, the American scene will not be exempt from ultra-si attempts by women.
Another Japanese woman and senior debutante, Yuna Aoki, is of interest because she has a spectacular triple lutz-triple loop waterfall. It will be nice to see the element that our Olympic champions Alina Zagitova and Anna Shcherbakova glorified, because after their retirement from the sport almost no one practices it.
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Russian school in pair skating and the fight for bronze between Davis and Smolkina with Morozov and Chen
No great sensations are expected in the confrontation between sporting couples for gold at the United States Grand Prix. The Japanese Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara are clear favorites and are unlikely to be knocked out of first place. However, former Russians Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulava and Maria Pavlova/Alexei Svyatchenko should take silver and bronze. Athletes skate for Georgia and Hungary, respectively, but still train in Russia and thus glorify the Russian school. Its superiority over its competitors is absolutely logical. The question is which of them will work better and show a higher result.
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The leaders of ice dancing are also famous. Without a doubt, the judges’ sympathies will be on the side of the two-time world champions: the Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Britain’s Laila Fear and Lewis Gibson will likely take second place. Only the third line will be empty.
This is exactly what Tutberidze’s daughter, Diana Davis, and her husband, Gleb Smolkin, will try to occupy. The United States Grand Prix will be her debut under the Georgian flag and the first tournament after moving to the famous Montreal Academy of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. With mentors like this, the chances of taking bronze increase, although this will not be easy. Diana and Gleb need to defeat the brilliant Czechs Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek and the strong Canadians Marie-Jade Laurieau and Romain Le Gac.
The new tandem of Annabelle Morozov and Jeffrey Chen will not give up the bronze prize without a fight. In the spring, the former Russian successfully moved to the United States and is now making a place for herself in the sun on the international stage.
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where to look
The tournament will be broadcast in full on the Okko online cinema; Absolutely all rentals will be available there live.
Schedule
The competition will take place from October 19 to 21. For convenience, here is the schedule according to Moscow time:
October 19, Saturday
Sports couples, short program – 1:59 Women, short program – 3:25, rhythmic dance – 21:03.
Sunday October 20
Men’s short program – 1:16 Women’s free program – 3:06 Men’s free program – 19:04.
October 21, Monday
Demo performances – 2:45.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin
Photo: International Skating Union via Getty Images
List of participants
Men: Wesley Chiu (Canada), Kevin Aymoz, Francois Pitot (all – France), Nika Egadze (Georgia), Kao Miura, Koshiro Shimada, Nozomu Yoshioka (all – Japan), Denis Vasiliev (Latvia), Donovan Carrillo (Mexico), Lucas Broussard, Ilya Malinin, Maxim Naumov (all from USA).
Women: Olga Mikutina (Austria), Nina Pinzarron (Belgium), Lea Serna (France), Yuna Aoki, Wakaba Higuchi, Rinka Watanabe (all Japan), Minche Kim (South Korea), Sofia Stepchenko (Latvia), Livia Kaiser (Switzerland) , Isabeau Levito, Alice Lyn-Gracie, Brady Tennell (all – US).
Sports couples: Milania Väanänen/Filippo Clerisi (Finland), Anastasia Vaipan-Lo/Luke Digby (Great Britain), Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (Georgia), Maria Pavlova/Alexey Sviatchenko (Hungary), Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (Japan), Alisa Efimova / Misha Mitrofanov, Ellie Kam/Daniel O’Shea, Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman (all – USA).
Ice dancing: Alicia Fabbri/Paul Iyer, Marie-Jade Laurieux/Romain Le Gac (Canada), Katerina Mrazkova/Daniel Mrazek (Czech Republic), Olivia Smart/Tim Dick (Spain), Laila Fear/Lewis Gibson (United Kingdom), Diana Davis/ Gleb Smolkin (Georgia), Elizabeth Tkachenko/Alexey Kilyakov (Israel), Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Annabel Morozov/Jeffrey Chen, Lia Neset/Artem Markelov (all – United States).
