We are kicking off the 2025-2026 ISU Grand Prix Series with a usual order to the events this year. For most seasons, Skate America kicks off the six-event series, but this time around, France will host the first event.
Grand Prix de France returns to Angers for the fourth year in a row. Grand Prix de France was first held in 1987 in Paris. When the ISU launched what was then-known as the Championship Series in 1995, Grand Prix de France became part of the series. With the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been held every year under several different iterations of its name. Trophée de France, the Trophée Lalique, the Trophée Éric Bompard and the Internationaux de France are just some of the names that this event has been called. It has been Grand Prix de France since 2022.
Men
Team USA’s Ilia Malinin will kick off his Grand Prix season in Angers, where hopes to continue his unbeaten streak. The last time the two-time World champion lost an event was at the 2023 Grand Prix de France when France’s Adam Siao Him Fa defeated Malinin in the free skate to win the men’s event. Malinin only competed in one Challenger Series event this fall, winning his second-straight gold medal at Lombardia Trophy in Bergamo, Italy.
Malinin will face Siao Him Fa, the 2024 World bronze medalist, in Angers. This isn’t the first time this season that the two have competed at the same event as Siao Him Fa also competed at Lombardia Trophy where he finished in 5th. Siao Him Fa also competed at Trophée Métropole Nice, where he won the gold medal. Siao Him Fa is the three-time Grand Prix de France champion and is hoping to qualify for second Grand Prix Final. Last season, despite winning gold in France and bronze at Skate America to qualify for the Final, Siao Him Fa withdrew from the event because of an ankle injury.
Other top competitors at this event include Japan’s Kao Miura, the 2023 Four Continents and Junior Worlds Champion. He also competed at Lombardia Trophy, where he finished just behind Siao Him Fa in 6th place. He also had an 8th place finish in Kinoshita Group Cup.
Reigning European Champion Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland is competing in France for the fourth-straight year. He’s coming off a bronze medal at Nebelhorn Trophy. He has not medaled on the Grand Prix since the 2023-2024 season when he won bronze at NHK Trophy.
When Georgia’s Nika Egadze takes the ice in France, he will be competing for the third-straight week. Egadze won silver at Denis Ten Memorial and then followed up with gold at his home country’s event, Trialeti Trophy. Egadze finished fourth at both of his Grand Prix events last season.
Along with Malinin, Team USA will also have 2025 U.S. silver medalist Andrew Torgashev and three-time U.S. pewter medalist Maxim Naumov competing in France. Both have their sights set on one of the three spots for Team USA for the 2026 Olympic Games. Torgashev earned a silver medal this season at Ondrej Nepela Memorial. Last season in only his second season on the Grand Prix circuit, Torgashev won the bronze medal in France and finished 4th at NHK Trophy, an event he was assigned just days before the competition. Torgashev was the second alternate for the Grand Prix Final.
Grand Prix de France will be Naumov’s first Grand Prix series event outside of the U.S. For the past two seasons, Naumov has competed at Skate America. Following the sudden and tragic passing of his parents and coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Naumov is now training with Vladimir Petrenko. He did compete at Lombardia Trophy in September, where he finished in 9th place.
Event info: The men’s short program kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 6:10 p.m. (CEST) / 12:10 p.m. (EDT) ; the free program occurs on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 1:20 p.m. (CEST) / 7:20 a.m. (EDT).
Women
Three-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto will start what will be her final Grand Prix Series season. In June, Sakamoto announced her intention to retire from competitive figure skating following the 2025-26 Olympic season’s conclusion. This will be only Sakamoto’s second time competing in the Grand Prix event in France. So far this season, Sakamoto had a second-place finish in Kinoshita Group Cup. Last season on the Grand Prix Series, she won Skate Canada and NHK Trophy, and finished 3rd at the Grand Prix Final.
2024 World silver medalist Isabeau Levito will kick off her Grand Prix Series in France. She has already won gold at Cranberry Cup International and finished just off the podium at Nebelhorn Trophy. Last season, Levito missed her second Grand Prix event as well as the U.S. Championships due to a foot injury. She returned to competition at the World Championships and finished in 4th place.
2024 World bronze medalist and 2025 Four Continents Champion Chaeyeon Kim of Korea is hoping to improve on her 4th place finish in France last season. She did win the bronze medal at Cup of China last season and was named second alternate for the Grand Prix Final. So far this season, Kim had a 12th place finished at Nepela Memorial.
Making her senior debut this season is four-time World Junior silver medalist Jia Shin, of Korea, who was just assigned this event after the withdrawal of Niina Petrokina, of Estonia. After training in Toronto, Shin has returned to Seoul, where she is working with Hyunjung Chi. She started her senior international debut win a bronze medal at Cranberry Cup, and then took another bronze medal at Nebelhorn Trophy.
Also making her senior debut this season is Japan’s Ami Nakai. The 2024-25 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist won the silver medal at Lombardia Trophy.
The winner of the gold medal at Lombardia Trophy was Japan’s Rion Sumiyoshi. Sumiyoshi has won the bronze medal at the last three Grand Prix de France events.
Along with Levito for Team USA, Elyce Lin-Gracey will also be competing in France. Last season, she made her senior Grand Prix debut and had back-to-back events with Skate America and Skate Canada.
Event info: The women’s short program kicks off on Friday, Oct. 17, at 6:00 p.m. (CEST) / 12:00 p.m. (EDT) ; the free program occurs on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 2:40 p.m. (CEST) / 8:20 a.m. (EDT).
Pairs
In the pairs’ event, two-time World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, of Japan, will go head-to-head with 2024 World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps. For Miura and Kihara, they have won the gold medal at Kinoshita Group Cup and the silver medal at Nebelhorn Trophy so far this season, and for Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, they won the gold medal at John Nicks Pairs Challenge. Both teams are looking to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. For Miura and Kihara, the two are looking to qualify for their third Grand Prix Final, and for Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, they are hoping to return to the Final after winning bronze in 2023. They qualified last season, but had to withdraw due to illness.
Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko are competing for the first time in France. The team has not competed yet this season. Last season, they won the silver medal in Finland and were 5th at Skate America.
This summer, France’s Camile Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev made a coaching change from Laurent Depouilly to 2018 Olympic Champion Bruno Massot. So far this season, the Kovalevs have won French Masters and were 4th at the Skate to Milano, the Olympic qualifying event. This is the fifth time the husband and wife team have competed in France. They won silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023.
For Team USA, 2025 U.S. silver medalists Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman will be competing in back-to-back Grand Prix events. So far this season, they earned the bronze medal at John Nicks Pairs Challenge and finished 5th at Nebelhorn Trophy. They will be joined by Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy, who are making their Grand Prix debut as a team. They were 7th at John Nicks Pairs Challenge and 6th at Skate to Milano.
Event Info: The pairs’ short program kicks off on Friday, Oct. 17, at 7:50 p.m. (CEST) / 1:50 p.m. (EDT) ; the free program occurs on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 8:00 p.m. (CEST) / 2:00 p.m. (EDT).
Dance
For a preview of the dance event, visit Ice-Dance.com.
Event Info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 1 p.m. (CEST) / 7 a.m. (EDT) ; the free dance occurs on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 11:30 a.m. (CEST) / 5:30 a.m. (EDT).
