by Matteo Morelli

The 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final took place in Grenoble, France. The Patinoire Polesud is not new to the Grand Prix events, having hosted some Grand Prix events in the past.

This season’s top junior and senior teams challenged themselves to crown the top three teams in each category, with Madison Chock and Evan Bates winning the senior category for a second consecutive time and Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara winning the junior title.

SENIOR

Madison Chock and Evan Bates take the United States back to the top of the Grand Prix Final. They now claim a total of eight attendances to the Final, with their first one being in 2014, and a total of six medals (two golds and four silvers), placing them next to the record achieved by Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat.

“It is incredible to hear those kind of stats”, Bates shared. “We have been so passionate about skating, dancing with with one another, it has given us a new sense of passion for skating and I would have never guessed we would be here after ten years”. 

Despite of a shaky start of the season with a second place at Skate America, this experienced team got back on track quickly to win NHK Trophy and impose themselves as the leaders in the final, winning with a comfortable margin from the other teams.

“The progression that we have had from skate America to here has been really positive”, Bates said. “We are doing the right work, listening to our bodies. We have been doing this for a long time and we know what to expect, but at the same time we never know what is around the corner and we rely on our team in Montreal to keep us centred”.

Both Chock and Bates are now officially the oldest winners of a Grand Prix Final title, a stat that they received with some humour but also expanded on during the press conference.

“It is truly an honour to be able to have the longevity that we have had and to be healthy and passionate about skating”, Chock reflected on. “As long as you are passionate and healthy, you can achieve any goals”.

Their rhythm dance earned 87.73 points and was delivered with confidence and passion, leaving those in the arena on their feet to applaud them.

Their free based on a modern adaptation of the jazz classic “Take five” received 132.12, confirming their clear leadership in the context and showing that the improvements they added to their programme are paying back.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri add another silver medal to their other silver and two bronze medals from past events. Like Chock and Bates, their first Grand Prix also didn’t end as expected, with a second-place finish and unusual mistakes for this experienced team.

“In Angers, we had the worst performance of our entire career”, Fabbri admitted. “We are still not in perfect condition, we made some mistakes here but it was still much better than Angers, and we now want to be ready for the second half of the season”.

Their rhythm dance earned 83.12 points, less than a point away from third. Their robots-themed free dance received 122.99 points, showing some changes and improvements in the programme layout but with the judges flagging an issue with their choreo step.

“We are going to look at the protocols and ask for feedback”, Guignard said.

This team, notoriously hard working and extremely focused, has enjoyed a period of continuous success, however during the press conference Fabbri admitted that the start of this season wasn’t the easiest for them.

“I have been through so many things over the last two months, not just in figure skating but also in my personal life, so to recover from this bad period made me realise I am stronger than I thought I was”, Fabbri said.

After sharing this, all other medallists gave Fabbri a warm applause and wished him the best, showing how skaters are not just competitors but also care for each other.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson made history for Great Britain, earning the first grand Prix Final medal ever for their country.

“There are legends that have come from Great Britain in the past, to be making history as new generation skaters is really cool”, Gibson said.

This bronze medal shows their continuing progression this season: they were, in fact, the only team to qualify with full points, winning both Skate America and Grand Prix of Finland. It was at their second Grand Prix that Fear suffered a bad fall during a practice, which she luckily recovered well and quickly from.

“In Finland, I learned with the injury I had to stay very present and trust myself to do my job, and that worked again here, so it is a lesson that has proven itself twice” Fear shared. 

They earned 82.31 for their rhythm dance, with a costly level two on Fear’s twizzles (caused by a wobble to implement a new move), and 122.87 for their free, both programmes just less than a point shy from the second place.

“I just decided to add a little fun position that lost two levels, so I don’t recommend doing that at home but I was really proud of my recovery!”, Fear shared.

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha ended in fourth place, improving from their sixth-place finish from last year’s Grand Prix Final. They delivered solid programmes, earning 77.73 for their rhythm dance and 122.11 for their free, which was delivered in a particularly moving and intense way.

“Maybe this program will become our favourite in a few years, it definitely differs from previous ones and it is so much fun to perform it”, Lagha shared.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier had to pay the price for a fall by Poirier during their rhythm dance. This costly mistake put them temporary in a disappointing sixth place with 72.15 points, however they managed to gain one position back by delivering the second best free in the final (127.12).

Followed the trend they started this season, they skated their rhythm dance with new costumes, inspired by scuba diver suits.

“So far, we just want to feature all of them and wear a different one every competition”, Poirier said. “As we go on the second half of the season. We will see which costumes will feel the most comfortable in or maybe the one our fans are really enjoying the most”.

At their first Grand Prix Final, Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud could enjoy the very warm support they received from their home audiences. They earned 76.58 for their rhythm dance and 118.93 for their free.

“It is our first Final and it is in France”, Lopareva said. “I don’t know how to describe it, but we definitely feel the support of the French public for us, so it helps a lot in this competition”.

JUNIOR 
In their second season together and entering the event as the top qualifier, Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara of Italy won the event and confirmed their continued growth during this season.

“We tried our best not to think about placements and scores, our goal was to be here, stay focused, stay with ourselves in the moment”, Lafornara said.

They earned 68.66 for their rhythm dance and 101.32 for their free, with this and the combined overall score becoming new personal bests for them.

“We are going to re-watch our programmes and keep trying to improve them, including the areas of weakness, refocusing for Junior Worlds so we can come even more prepared for it”, Tali said.

They will be able to move up to senior from next season and will surely be greatly inspire by the Olympic Games hosted in the town they train in, Milan. The process for Lafornara’s citizenship request has already started, however they remain focussed on the work they need to do as a team.

“We are planning to move to senior next year, that is why over the next months we not only want to improve our programmes, but also our skating skills and everything that goes around the skating itself, so to approach the senior category in the best shape possible”, Tali shared.

USA’s Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski ended in silver medal position, earning 65.57 points for their rhythm dance and 99.41 for their free dance. They both qualified for a Grand Prix Final before when they were skating with different partners, but it got cancelled because of the pandemic.

“It is great to have a second opportunity and really experience the Grand Prix Final”, Wolfkostin said.

They are feeling optimistic about going to Junior Worlds, and like other junior teams at the event, they watched the senior ice dance competition to find inspiration to grow further.

“We really enjoyed the seniors, we always get great ideas from them”, Tsarevski shared.

Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy of Germany won the bronze medal, adding to the one they earned at the Final last year. Their free earned them 64.84 points and a new personal best, while their free totalled 97.02 points.

At the start of this season, they decided to leave their coaching team and temporarily relocated across Maurizio Margaglio’s school and Matteo Zanni’s school (he was with them at this Final).

“We entered the competition with zero expectations, especially with the change of coaches”, Savistskiy shared. “We have been welcomed warmly by both Margaglio in Finland and Zanni in Egna”.

They are expected to announce which of the two teams they will be joining by the end of the year.

Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval of Ukraine ended in fourth place, with 62.36 points for their rhythm dance and 89.91 points for their free. They were pleased with their first Junior Grand Prix Final experience.

“We enjoyed performing on a big arena with so many Ukrainian flags, we really enjoyed it”, Pidgayna shared. “It is nice to be competing with really strong couples and knowing we are a strong couple as well”.

Célina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux skated in front of their home crowds in their second Junior Grand Prix Final attendance. They earned 63.24 points for their rhythm dance and 88.46 for their free, paying the price for some mistakes in both programmes.

“I missed two major elements of the (free) program which made us lose a lot of points, but in the rest of the program we managed to show what we trained for, so I am still glad even though I am disappointed that we couldn’t rank higher”, Forneaux said.

The other American team of Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal ended in sixth-place, with 60.19 points for their rhythm dance and 82.89 points for their free. They did not have the performances they were hoping for, but were still happy to have qualified to the final.

“It definitely wasn’t our best today (in the free)”, Ethan shared. “We are happy to be here that is the main thing, for us it is a stepping stone for Nationals”.