The 2024-2025 Grand Prix season kicks off Oct. 18 with Skate America, taking place at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.
Figure Skaters Online will be covering Skate America. Check back for our coverage on the event.
Entries
| Men | Women | Pairs | Dance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wesley Chiu (CAN) | Olga Mikutina (AUT) | Milana Vaananen/Filippo Clerici (FIN) | Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac (CAN) |
| Kevin Aymoz (FRA) | Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) | Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR) | Katerina Mrazkova/Daniel Mrazek (CZE) |
| Francois Pitot (FRA) | Lea Serna (FRA) | Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) | Olivia Smart / Tim Dieck (ESP) |
| Nika Egadze (GEO) | Yuna Aoki (JPN) | Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) | Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) |
| Kao Miura (JPN) | Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) | Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) | Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin (GEO) |
| Koshiro Shimada (JPN) | Rinka Watanabe (JPN) | Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov (USA) | Jennifer Janse van Rensburg / Benjamin Steffan (GER) |
| Nozomu Yoshioka (JPN) | Minchae Kim (KOR) | Ellie Kam/Danny O'Shea (USA) | Elizabeth Tkachenko/Alexei Kiliakov (ISR) |
| Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) | Sofja Stepchenko (LAT) | Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman (USA) | Madison Chock / Evan Bates (USA) |
| Donovan Carrillo (MEX) | Livia Kaiser | Isabella Flores/Ivan Desyatov (USA) - WD Replaced by Annabelle Morozov / Jeffrey Chen (USA) |
|
| Lucas Broussard (USA) | Isabeau Levito (USA) | Leah Neset/Artem Markelov (USA) | |
| Ilia Malinin (USA) | Elyce Lin-Gracey (USA) | ||
| Maxim Naumov (USA) | Bradie Tennell (USA) |
Pre-Skate America Interview Quotes
(complied by Gina Capellazzi and Scott Mammoser)
2024 World Champion Ilia Malinin said he is very excited to be going to Skate America next week. “I have been training really hard, working hard on improving the program & improving all my abilities, so I think I am ready for the Grand Prix Series,” he said in a media call ahead of Skate America.
A majority of his pre-Skate America call was focused on the backflip, which is now a legal element in competition this season. Ilia has been doing the element in shows this summer, and also attempted to do it while throwing out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox baseball game.
Malinin said he definitely is planning to keep the element for Skate America. He said he learned it at first so he could do it in shows and for the entertaining aspect.
“But when I heard that they allowed backflips into competition, I just came up with the idea that maybe I’ll add it into my program as well. I think I can find a way to make it really cool & kind of scare the audience a little bit, give them that unknown vibe in a way,” he told the media.
Malinin, who won the Lombardia Trophy Challenger Series event this season, is skating to “RUNNING” by XXX, which was an exhibition program that he skated to in shows this summer. Malinin said it was always the plan for it to be the short program.
When asked how he selected his “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse free skate, Ilia said his parents were just listening to music, and that they just found this “crazy” piece of music. Ilia liked it, but wasn’t sure about it as the original is a “little disturbing,” he said. They offered it to Shae-Lynn Bourne, his choreographer.
Malinin said Bourne questioned it too at first, but she ended up choreographing it.
“Overall, the whole program really fits. At first, I thought it was going to be too disturbing or too uncomfortable, but overall, I’m really satisfied w/the program & I really enjoy skating to it.”
Two-time World Champions and 2022 Olympic gold medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates have had quite the summer – from getting married to finally receiving their Olympic gold medals. But now the two are getting ready for their sixth Skate America as a team.
“I’m excited to start the season at Skate America,” said Chock.
This year’s rhythm dance theme is 50s, 60s and 70s. Chock and Bates are skating to several selections, including music from Jive Bunny, The Dovells, Bee Gees, Village People, The Jacksons and Donna Summer. The medley will touch on American culture through all three decades.
“We had quite a time trying to narrow it down, ” Bates admitted. “There was so much music to choose from.”
For the free dance, Chock and Bates are skating to the popular piece “Take Five.”
“It’s a very moody and jazz-inspired theme,” Chock said. “We were really inspired by Lady Luck. We are using luck to our own benefit.”
Chock is once again creating their costumes this season.
“I was very inspired by the film noir theme in the art-deco era. It’s very jazz and sultry. What could be more art-deco than the Empire State Building. I love the mood that created. We really drew on the American Dream.”
Chock and Bates aren’t shy about their plans for the future. They have their eyes set on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. The 2026 Olympics would mark Chock’s fourth games, and Bates’ fifth games.
“It’s safe to say we are headed to that,” Chock admitted. “We are on the road to Milan. It’s silly because it’s so close, just around the corner. We are still really inspired and finding new things we want to work on.”
Chock, 32 and Bates, 35, have been competing together since 2011. This is their 13th season together. Many of the teams they have competed against have since retired. The two addressed their longevity during their pre-Skate America call.
“A lot of it has been how we treat our body and minds outside of the ice rink — that includes nutrition, recovery, and how far sport science has gone in the last decade,” Bates said. We take that student mentality off-ice.”
World silver medalist Isabeau Levito feels well trained heading into Skate America.
“Being World silver medalist definitely gave me more confidence, but I don’t feel any more pressure than I usually do. I am just excited to skate my best.”
Skate America marks Levito’s third competition of the season. She won the bronze medal at Cranberry Cup in August, and then the silver medal at Nebelhorn Trophy. This is also Levito’s third Skate America appearance. She has won silver at both of her previous Skate America appearances.
“I am focused on trying to be more consistent with my performances. I want to keep building up my accomplishments and do what I did last season,” said Isabeau.
Event Schedule
Friday, October 18, 2024
Pairs’ Short Program: 5:59 p.m. (CT), 6:59 p.m. (ET) / 4:59 p.m. (PT)
Women’s Short Program: 7:25 p.m. (CT), 8:25 p.m. (ET) / 6:25 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Rhythm Dance: 1:03 p.m. (CT), 2:03 p.m. (ET) / 12:03 p.m. (PT)
Pairs’ Free Skate: 2:43 p.m. (CT), 3:43 p.m. (ET) / 1:43 p.m. (PT)
Men’s Short Program: 5:15 p.m. (CT), 6:15 p.m. (ET) / 4:16 p.m. (PT)
Women’s Free Skate: 7:06 p.m. (CT), 8:06 p.m. (ET) / 6:04 p.m. (PT)
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Men’s Free Skate: 11:04 a.m. (CT), 12:04 p.m. (ET) / 10:04 a.m. (PT)
Free Dance: 1:22 p.m. (CT), 2:22 p.m. (ET) / 12:22 p.m. (PT)
TV Schedule
Friday, October 18, 2024
7-10 p.m. ET | E!
Saturday, October 19, 2024
7-10 p.m. ET | E!
Sunday, October 20, 2024
12-2 p.m. ET | NBC
2-5 p.m. ET | E!
Streaming Schedule
Friday, October 18, 2024
Pairs’ Short Program: 6:55 p.m. (ET)
Women’s Short Program: 8:20 p.m. (ET)
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Rhythm Dance: 2 p.m. (ET)
Pairs’ Free Skate: 3:40 p.m. (ET)
Men’s Short Program: 6:10 p.m. (ET)
Women’s Free Skate: 8 p.m. (ET)
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Men’s Free Skate: 12 p.m. (ET)
Free Dance: 2:20 p.m. (ET)
Previous Winners
| Past Winners | Men | Women | Pairs | Dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 (Allen) | Ilia Malinin (USA) | Loena Hendrickx (BEL) | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel (GER) | Madison Chock / Evan Bates (USA) |
| 2022 (Norwood) | Ilia Malinin (USA) | Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) | Alexa Knierim / Brandon Frazier (USA) | Madison Chock / Evan Bates (USA) |
| 2021 (Las Vegas) | Vincent Zhou (USA) | Alexandra Trusova (RUS) | Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov (RUS) | Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (USA) |
| 2020 (Las Vegas - Domestic) | Nathan Chen (USA) | Mariah Bell (USA) | Alexa Knierim / Brandon Frazier (USA) | Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (USA) |
| 2019 (Las Vegas) | Nathan Chen (USA) | Anna Scherbakova (RUS) | Cheng Peng / Yang Jin (CHN) | Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) |
| 2018 (Everett, Washington) | Nathan Chen (USA) | Satoko Miyahara (JPN) | Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov (RUS) | Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (USA) |
| 2017 (Lake Placid) | Nathan Chen (USA) | Satoko Miyahara (JPN) | Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot (GER) | Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani (USA) |
