by Matteo Morelli

The top six junior and six senior ice dance teams that excelled in this year’s Grand Prix season are preparing to compete for the medals available at the Grand Prix Final, taking place at the Patinoire Polesud in Grenoble, France. The event was originally awarded to another French town, Orléans, but ended up in Grenoble, which has already hosted French Grand Prix events (back then called Internationaux de France) until a few years ago.

Qualified teams – Senior

Some interesting stats from this year’s Final:

For the third consecutive time, all reigning world medallists (Chock/Bates, Gilles/Poirier, Guignard/Fabbri) and Grand Prix Final medallists have reached their qualification to the Final;
Five of the six teams that qualified and competed at the Grand Prix Final last year are going to compete again at this year’s Final (new to this Final are Lopareva/Brissaud);
Chock/Bates are the team with the highest number of Grand Prix Final attendances: this will be their eight, with five medals won so far;
Seven athletes are at least thirty years of age, demonstrating the sport’s continued testament to competitive longevity.

Let’s have a look at each team individually.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, Great Britain – 30 point

Fear and Gibson won both their assignments (Skate America and Grand Prix of Finland), accessing their third Grand Prix Final, with full qualifying points for the first time in their career. The British duo is yet to win a medal at a Final, with a fourth-place finish from both their last attendances. They will certainly aim to change things this year, particularly by showing how they enjoy skating on their free based on music by Beyoncé.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, USA – 28 points

Un unusual mistake costed Chock and Bates the gold medal at Skate America, however they came back with full strength to win NHK Trophy and secured their eight Grand Prix Final attendance. With a new free based on a jazz theme and costumes designed by Chock, they will try to end on the podium for a sixth time at a Grand Prix Final, possibly aiming for another gold to reflect last year’s result.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Canada – 28 points

Gilles and Poirier won gold at Skate Canada, however they also paid the price for a mistake that had them ending in silver medal position at Grand Prix of Finland. They enter their fifth Final, where they will aim for the highest medals available and add to their gold and bronze won in the past two editions. So far this season, they have been entertaining with their new rhythm dance on music by Surfaris and some surprising costume changes in each competition and practice session.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, Italy – 28 points

Like the other reigning World medallists, Guignard and Fabbri also had an unusual mistake, falling in silver medal position at Grand Prix de France but coming back strong to win Cup of China and qualify for their fourth Final. This season, they have decided to get away from their comfort zone to come up with a modern free inspired by robots, which has so far seen their costumes morphing from full silver metallic uniforms to black costumes with reminiscences of robotic shapes.

Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, France- 26 points

Lopareva and Brissaud were the surprising winners of Grand Prix the France, the first gold medal at a Grand Prix for them which, adding to the bronze won at Skate Canada, allowed them to secure their first ticket to the Grand Prix Final, bringing their country back to the event since Papadakis and Cizeron. They will showcase their free dance inspired by their gala programme from last season, which is receiving a lot of interest for its originality.

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, Canada – 26 points

Lajoie and Lagha won silver at Skate Canada and Cup of China, which helped them to gain access to their second Grand Prix Final. Last season they ended in sixth place, however this season they will want to show their continuous growth as a team, particularly trying to shine on their moving free based on ‘The sound of silence’.

Qualified Teams – Junior

The top six teams that qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final following all seven Junior Grand Prix events are:

Noemi Maria Tali & Noah Lafornara, Italy – 30 points: they won both of their Junior Grand Prix events in Latvia and Thailand, and although they are only at their second season together, they are considered top contenders for the highest medals.
Iryna Pidgaina & Artem Koval, Ukraine – 28 points: they won gold in Slovenia and silver in Turkey, showing strong performances throughout the season and accessing their first Junior Grand Prix Final.
Celina Fradji & Jean-Hans Fourneaux, France – 28 points: they won gold in the Czech Republic and silver in Slovenia, securing access to their third Junior Grand Prix Final.
Katarina Wolfkostin & Dimitry Tsarevski, USA – 28 points: they won gold in Poland and silver in the Czech Republic, qualifying for their first Junior Grand Prix Final.
Darya Grimm & Michail Savitskiy, Germany – 26 points: they won gold in Turkey and bronze in Latvia, entering their third Junior Grand Prix Final and trying to add another medal to the bronze they won last year.
Elliana Peal & Ethan Peal, USA – 26 points: they won gold in China and bronze in Thailand, accessing their first Junior Grand Prix Final.

Event info: Teams have official practices from Wednesday, December 4. The junior rhythm dance kicks off on Thursday, December 5, from 6:45pm (CET), whilst the senior rhythm dance is taking place on Friday, December 6, from 6:30pm (CET); finals will be taking place on Saturday, December 7, with the junior free dance from 3:55pm (CET) and the senior free dance from 7:40pm (CET).