2021 Grand Prix Final qualifiers for men, women, pairs and ice dance. The Final, which is Dec. 9-12 in Osaka, pits the top six per discipline from the six-event autumn Grand Prix Series. It is usually the best competition indicator for Olympic medal prospects ...
Men
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) — 30 points
Shoma Uno (JPN) — 28
Vincent Zhou (USA) — 28
Nathan Chen (USA) — 26
Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) -- 26
Jason Brown (USA) — 24
Kagiyama, the 18-year-old world bronze medalist, was the only man to win both of his Grand Prix starts this fall. But he ranks fourth in the world by best total score this season, 20.77 points behind the leader Chen. The U.S. put three men into the Grand Prix Final for the third time ever. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu missed the Grand Prix season with an ankle injury.
Women
Kamila Valiyeva (RUS) — 30
Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) — 30
Yelizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) — 26
Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 24
Maliya Khromykh (RUS) — 24
Aliona Kostonaya (RUS) — 24
Russia is the first nation to earn five spots in any discipline in Grand Prix Final history (since 1995). Four of the Russians are coached by Eteri Tutberidze, led by the 15-year-old Valiyeva, who has the world’s top score this season by a whopping 35.93 points. The field lacks another Russian Olympic medal threat in Aleksandra Trusova, who was slowed by injury and missed a Grand Prix. No U.S. women in the Grand Prix Final in an Olympic year for the second consecutive time. No U.S. woman made a Grand Prix podium in a season for the first time ever.
Pairs
Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov (RUS) — 30
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (CHN) — 30
Yevgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS) — 28
Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitriy Kozlovskiy (RUS) — 26
Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) — 26
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) — 24
Russia breaks the record for pairs entries in a Grand Prix Final with four, led by Mishina and Galliamov, who last season became the youngest world champions in more than 30 years. Sui and Han, close silver medalists at the last Olympics and worlds, may still be the Olympic favorites given they’ll be on home ice in February. Miura and Kihara are the first Japanese pair to qualify for a Final since 2011, boosting the nation’s chances of contending for an Olympic team event medal. The last time a U.S. pair made the Final was 2015.
Ice Dance
Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) — 30
Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) — 30
Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) — 28
Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) — 28
Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) — 26
Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) — 26
Papadakis and Cizeron, four-time world champions, and Sinitsina and Katsalapov, reigning world champions, face off for the first time since the January 2020 European Championships, when the Russians dealt the French their lone defeat of this Olympic cycle. This season, the French have competed three times and posted the three highest total scores in the world. The U.S. put multiple dance couples into the Final for a seventh consecutive time.
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