The ice is fresh. You can almost smell the cold. In the world of competitive figure skating, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is basically the "regular season" on steroids. It isn't just a series of fancy performances with sequins; it’s a brutal, high-stakes qualifying circuit where one bad fall can end a season.
Honestly, if you're just tuning in because you heard about the "Quad God" or saw a clip of a beautiful triple Axel on social media, you might be wondering why everyone is so stressed about these six specific events.
What the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is Really About
Basically, the International Skating Union (ISU) picks the top-tier skaters in the world—we're talking the absolute cream of the crop—and invites them to six international stops. In the 2025-2026 season, these stops spanned from Angers, France, all the way to Lake Placid in the US and Osaka in Japan.
Each skater or pair only gets two assignments. That’s it. Two chances to rack up enough points to be one of the top six in their discipline. If you make that top six, you go to the Grand Prix Final.
Why the 2025 Season Felt Different
With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics looming, this past Grand Prix season was a psychological battlefield. It wasn't just about winning a medal in Helsinki or Chongqing; it was about proving to the judges—and yourself—that you have the technical "ammo" to survive an Olympic podium fight.
Take Ilia Malinin, for example.
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The guy is a freak of nature. He landed seven quadruple jumps in a single free skate during the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya this past December. Seven. Most skaters are happy if they land two. But even he had a "human" moment earlier in the week, sitting in third after a shaky short program where a risky quad Axel-triple toe combo didn't go his way.
Breaking Down the 2025 Grand Prix Final Results
If you missed the action in Nagoya, the US pretty much cleaned up. It was actually the second time in a row the United States grabbed three out of four senior golds.
- Men’s Singles: Ilia Malinin pulled off a record-breaking free skate of 238.24 points. He finished with a total of 332.29, tying Nathan Chen’s record for the most Grand Prix Final titles by an American man.
- Women’s Singles: Alysa Liu made a massive statement. She won the gold in her Grand Prix Final debut, showing a level of consistency that’s kind of terrifying for her competitors. She didn't miss a single jump in her "MacArthur Park" program.
- Ice Dance: Madison Chock and Evan Bates are essentially the veterans of the ice. They secured their third career Final gold and their seventh medal overall in this event. That’s a record, by the way.
- Pairs: Japan’s Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi clawed their way back to the top, beating out the Italians Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii in a super close finish.
The Drama You Might Have Missed
People focus on the winners, but the real story is often the "almosts." Amber Glenn was a huge fan favorite this season. She won the Finlandia Trophy to punch her ticket to the Final and ended up finishing fourth in Nagoya. She landed seven clean triples in her free skate, and honestly, her power on the ice is something you just don't see every day.
Then there’s the comeback of Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier-Beaudry. They took silver in ice dance, proving that even after some time away or shifting partnerships, the French style still dominates the components scores.
How the Scoring Actually Works (The Simple Version)
The ISU judging system is a bit of a headache. You’ve got the Technical Element Score (TES) and the Program Component Score (PCS).
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TES is the math. A quad Lutz has a base value. If you land it clean, you get the points. If you land it with a "positive grade of execution" (GOE), you get extra. If you fall, you get hammered.
PCS is the "art." It’s supposed to be about skating skills, transitions, and composition. But let’s be real: often, if you land the big jumps, your PCS tends to go up too. It's a "halo effect" that fans debate endlessly on Reddit and Twitter.
The "Age Rule" Controversy
You might have noticed some familiar faces missing or new youngsters popping up. The ISU raised the minimum age for senior competition to 17. This was a huge shift intended to protect younger skaters from the physical toll of quad-heavy training, but it also changed the landscape of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating entirely.
The Road to Milano Cortina 2026
The Grand Prix series is the best predictor for the Olympics. Since we're now in 2026, the intensity has shifted from "testing programs" to "survival mode." The European Championships just wrapped up in Sheffield, and we saw Niina Petrokina defend her title after missing the entire Grand Prix season with an Achilles injury.
That’s the thing about this sport. You can dominate the Grand Prix in November and December, but an injury in January can change everything before the Olympics in February.
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What to Watch for Next
If you’re looking to follow the momentum from the Grand Prix into the Olympic Games:
- Watch the "Quad Count": Can Malinin keep up the seven-quad pace without his legs giving out?
- The Consistency Race: Alysa Liu vs. Kaori Sakamoto is the battle of the year. Sakamoto is a powerhouse, but Liu has that "ice in her veins" vibe right now.
- The Italian Home Turf: Watch for Conti and Macii in pairs. They took silver at the Final, and they’ll have the home crowd screaming for them in Milan.
Actionable Steps for New Fans
If you want to actually keep up with the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and the upcoming Olympic events without getting lost in the jargon, here is what you should do:
- Download the ISU "Results" App: It’s the fastest way to see the "small medals" (winners of individual segments like the Short Program) which often tell a different story than the final podium.
- Check the Protocol Sheets: After a competition, the ISU posts PDFs of exactly how every judge scored every jump. If you want to know why someone won despite a fall, the answer is in the "under-rotation" carrots ($<$) or the "edge" calls ($e$) on those sheets.
- Follow Skaters on Social Media: Many skaters, like Adam Siao Him Fa or Amber Glenn, are pretty active. It gives you a much better sense of their "vibe" than just watching them in a 4-minute competitive bubble.
- Watch the Junior Grand Prix (JGP): If you want to see who will be winning in 2030, watch the JGP. The level of talent there is sometimes even more experimental than the seniors.
The Grand Prix is over for this season, but the data it gave us is the blueprint for the Olympic podium. Keep an eye on those top six finishers from Nagoya; they aren't just the best of the fall—they're the favorites for the gold.
Check the official ISU YouTube channel for archived replays of the 2025 series. Study the "Program Components" of the top five ice dance teams to see how the scoring differs between technical precision and artistic expression. Ensure you are following the updated 2026 Olympic broadcast schedule to see these Grand Prix stars face off one last time on the world's biggest stage.