The Golden Spin of Zagreb () is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Croatian Skating Federation () at the Klizalište Velesajam in Zagreb, Croatia. The competition debuted in 1967 when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. It was suspended in 1991 owing to the Croatian War of Independence, but continued as a Croatian event beginning in 1992. When the ISU launched the Challenger Series in 2014, the Golden Spin of Zagreb was one of the inaugural competitions. It has been a Challenger Series event every year since, except for 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; and as part of the Challenger Series, skaters earn World Standing points based on their results.
László Vajda of Hungary holds the record for winning the most Golden Spin of Zagreb titles in men's singles (with four), while Sanda Dubravčić of Yugoslavia holds the record in women's singles (with five). Three teams are tied for winning the most titles in pair skating (with two each): Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach of East Germany, Cornelia Haufe and Kersten Bellmann of East Germany, and Anastasia Martiusheva and Alexei Rogonov of Russia; Rogonov also won an additional title with a different partner. Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy hold the record in ice dance (with four).
History The first installment of the Golden Spin of Zagreboriginally called the Zagreb International Figure Skating Championship ()was held in 1967 in Šalata, a neighborhood of Zagreb, in what was at the time Yugoslavia. The competition featured skaters from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. The competition adopted the name "Golden Spin" () in 1971. The breakup of Yugoslavia began with the secession of Slovenia and Croatia in June 1991, and no competition was held that year owing to the Croatian War of Independence. Despite some hesitation, the Croatian government was adamant that the Golden Spin of Zagreb be held in 1992, even while Croatia experienced intermittent combat with Yugoslavia. In addition to its jubilee status as the event's 25th anniversary, 1992 also marked the 750th anniversary of the establishment of Zagreb as a free royal city. Organizers hoped the competition would help dispel international perceptions of potential danger in travel to Croatia. While some nations declined to send athletes, the competition was held in 1992, and every year thereafter, except for 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2001, the Golden Spin of Zagreb served as the qualifying competition for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and organized by ISU member nations. Its objective is to ensure consistent organization and structure within a series of international competitions linked together, providing opportunities for senior-level skaters to compete at the international level and also earn ISU World Standing points. The 2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb was one of the inaugural competitions. When an event is held as part of the Challenger Series, it must host at least three of the four disciplines (men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance) and representatives from at least ten different ISU member nations. The minimum number of entrants required for each discipline is eight skaters each in men's singles and women's singles, five teams in pair skating, and six teams in ice dance. Each ISU member nation is eligible to enter up to three skaters or teams per discipline in each competition, although the Croatian Skating Federation may enter an unlimited number of entrants in their own event.
In February 2016, the ISU declared that the Nebelhorn Trophy, the Finlandia Trophy, the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, and the Golden Spin of Zagreb would constitute a core group of Challenger Series events in recognition of their long-standing tradition. In April 2026, the ISU again announced that the Golden Spin of Zagreb would again be included in a core group of Challenger Series events, along with the Nebelhorn Trophy, the Nepela Memorial, and one competition from either Canada or the United States. The Golden Spin of Zagreb has been a Challenger Series event every year since the series' inception, except for 2020, when the event was cancelled. The 2026 Golden Spin of Zagreb is scheduled to be held from 2 to 5 December in Zagreb.
Senior medalists
CS: Challenger Series event
Men's singles +Men's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 1967 Günter Anderl Josef Schneider Petr Starec 1968 Günter Zöller Klaus Grimmelt Günter Anderl 1969 Zoltán Horváth Janusz Czakon Stefano Bargauan 1970 Daniel Höner László Vajda Michael Glaubitz 1971 László Vajda Mr. Masek 1972 Michael Glaubitz Rudi Cerne 1973 Sergey Volkov Zdeněk Pazdírek Didier Gailhaguet 1974 László Vajda Alexander Majorov Christophe Boyadjian 1975 Miroslav Šoška 1976 František Pechar Igor Lisovsky Gerhard Haubmann 1977 Gert-Walter Gräbner Gerhard Haubmann Torsten Ohlow 1978 Jean-Christoph Simond Helmut Kristofics-Binder László Vajda 1979 Rudi Cerne Reggie Raiford Helmut Kristofics-Binder 1980 Hervé Pornet Ralf Lewandowski James Santee 1981 James Santee Hervé Pornet 1982 Masaru Ogawa Joachim Ehmann Miljan Begović 1983 Scott Hamilton Norbert Schramm Makato Kano 1984 Scott Williams Grzegorz Filipowski Fernand Fedronic 1985 Heiko Fischer John Filbig Nils Köpp 1986 Viktor Petrenko Philippe Roncoli James Cygan 1987 Scott Kurttila Cameron Medhurst Martin Marceau 1988 Riko Krahnert András Száraz Norm Proft 1989 Sergei Dudakov Craig Heath Peter Johansson 1990 Aren Nielsen Ralph Burghart Igor Pashkevich 1991 Competition cancelled due to the Croatian War of Independence 1992 Axel Médéric Tomislav Čižmešija Luis Taifas 1993 Rodolphe Marechal Rastislav Vnučko Mr. Roublin 1994 Zsolt Kerekes Igor Sinyutin Rastislav Vnučko 1995 Marius Negrea Jan Čejvan Terrence Besnier 1996 Roman Serov Szabolcs Vidrai Anthony Liu 1997 Trifun Živanović Szabolcs Vidrai 1998 Yevgeny Martynov Sergei Rylov Stefan Lindemann 1999 Roman Serov Gabriel Monnier 2000 Ryan Bradley Markus Leminen 2001 Sergei Davydov Kevin van der Perren Vakhtang Murvanidze 2002 Gheorghe Chiper Alexei Vasilevski Benjamin Miller 2003 Ma Xiaodong Zoltán Tóth Roman Serov 2004 Hugh Yik Martin Liebers Anton Kovalevski 2005 Gregor Urbas Marc-André Craig Ilia Klimkin 2006 Denis Leushin Martin Liebers 2007 Adrian Schultheiss Vladimir Uspenski 2008 Yasuharu Nanri Samuel Contesti Alexander Majorov 2009 Denis Ten Artem Borodulin Adrian Schultheiss 2010 Denis Leushin Michal Březina Anton Kovalevski 2011 Tatsuki Machida Denis Ten Ivan Bariev 2012 Vladislav Sesganov Mark Shakhmatov Justus Strid 2013 Sergei Voronov Artur Gachinski Ivan Righini Denis Ten Michal Březina Konstantin Menshov 2015 CS Adam Rippon Adian Pitkeev 2016 CS Alexei Bychenko Daniel Samohin Keegan Messing 2017 CS Morisi Kvitelashvili Alexei Bychenko Artur Dmitriev Jr. 2018 CS Jason Brown Mikhail Kolyada Alexander Samarin 2019 CS Morisi Kvitelashvili Makar Ignatov 2020 Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 CS Keegan Messing Andrei Mozalev Jimmy Ma 2022 CS Camden Pulkinen Matteo Rizzo Mihhail Selevko 2023 CS Jin Boyang Mikhail Shaidorov Aleksandr Selevko 2024 CS Mihhail Selevko Aleksandr Selevko François Pitot 2025 CS Kévin Aymoz Arlet Levandi Luc Economides
Women's singles +Women's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 1967 Wilfriede Reiter Zsófia Wagner Iva Matysová 1968 Britt Elfving Bärbel Fimmen Maja Winter 1969 Zsófia Wagner Brigitte Bergau Anita Johansson 1970 Charlotte Walter Steffi Knoll Frigge Drzymalla 1971 Marion Weber Zsuzsa Homolya Ilka Spormann 1972 Birgit Süß Manuela Bertelé Frigge Drzymalla 1973 Anett Pötzsch Zdenka Fiurašková Susanne Altura 1974 Tatiana Rakomsa Vera Burding Yvette Stalová 1975 Lia Gabelaja Gabriele Mechling Iva Cibulková 1976 Carola Weißenberg Lotta Crispin Sanda Dubravčić 1977 Sanda Dubravčić Belinda Coulthard Liudmila Mineyeva 1978 Claudia Kristofics-Binder Sanda Dubravčić Katarina Witt 1979 Dagmar Lurz Claudia Kristofics-Binder Sanda Dubravčić 1980 Sanda Dubravčić Priscilla Hill Janina Wirth 1981 Nathalie Hildescheimer Mercedes Roskam 1982 Natalia Ovchinnikova Katrien Pauwels 1983 Rosalynn Sumners Karin Telser 1984 Agnès Gosselin Kelly Webster Claudia Villiger 1985 Constanze Gensel Manuela Tschupp Heike Gobbers 1986 Caryn Kadavy Ana Kondrasova Željka Čižmešija 1987 Jeri Campbell Charlene Wong Katrien Pauwels 1988 Lisa Sargeant Kelly Szmurlo Anja Geissler 1989 Kelly Szmurlo Dianne Takeuchi Lily Lyoonjung Lee 1990 Julia Vorobieva Anja Geissler Tisha Walker 1991 Competition cancelled due to the Croatian War of Independence 1992 Melita Juratek Ivana Jakupčević Vanessa Gusméroli 1993 Julia Vorobieva Ms. Usatova Véronique Fleury 1994 Tomoko Imagawi Barbara Maros 1995 Mojca Kopač Julia Vorobieva Ivana Jakupčević 1996 Joanne Carter Sabina Wojtala 1997 Tatiana Malinina Brittney McConn Júlia Sebestyén 1998 Julia Soldatova Júlia Sebestyén Vanessa Gusméroli 1999 Viktoria Volchkova Zuzana Paurová Tamara Dorofejev 2000 Julia Soldatova Kristina Oblasova 2001 Michelle Currie Amber Corwin Julia Lautowa 2002 Alisa Drei Yebin Mok Júlia Sebestyén 2003 Zuzana Babiaková Diána Póth Idora Hegel 2004 Idora Hegel Galina Maniachenko Diána Póth 2005 Alisa Drei Meagan Duhamel Silvia Fontana 2006 Nella Simaová Tamar Katz Alisa Drei 2007 Akiko Suzuki Kiira Korpi Katarina Gerboldt 2008 Júlia Sebestyén Joshi Helgesson Jenna McCorkell 2009 Shion Kokubun Ekaterina Kozireva Katarina Gerboldt 2010 Sonia Lafuente Kako Tomotaki Patricia Gleščič 2011 Adelina Sotnikova Haruna Suzuki Maria Artemieva 2012 Carolina Kostner Kristina Zaseeva Isadora Williams 2013 Yuna Kim Miki Ando Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Kiira Korpi Maria Artemieva Nicole Rajičová 2015 CS Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Elizabet Tursynbaeva Karen Chen 2016 CS Carolina Kostner Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Alena Leonova 2017 CS Stanislava Konstantinova Alisa Fedichkina Elizaveta Tuktamysheva 2018 CS Bradie Tennell Anastasiia Gubanova Mariah Bell 2019 CS Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Viktoriia Safonova Nicole Schott 2020 Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 CS Anastasiia Gubanova Amber Glenn Niina Petrõkina 2022 CS Lindsay Thorngren Bradie Tennell Madeline Schizas 2023 CS Sarina Joos Amber Glenn Starr Andrews 2024 CS Alysa Liu Nina Pinzarrone Bradie Tennell 2025 CS Bradie Tennell Iida Karhunen Sofia Samodelkina
Pairs +Pairs' event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 1967 No other competitors 1968 1969 1970 1971 No other competitors 1972 1973 1974 Pairs competition cancelled 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 No pairs competition 1981 No pairs competitions 1991 Competition cancelled due to the Croatian War of Independence 1992–93 No pairs competitions 1994 No other competitors 1995 No pairs competition 1996 No other competitors 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 No pairs competition 2005 2006–07 No pairs competitions 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 CS 2016 CS 2017 CS 2018 CS 2019 CS 2020 Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 CS 2022 CS 2023 CS 2024 CS 2025 CS
Ice dance +Ice dance event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Competition cancelled due to the Croatian War of Independence 1992 No ice dance competition 1993 1994 No other competitors 1995 No ice dance competition 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 CS 2016 CS 2017 CS 2018 CS 2019 CS 2020 Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 CS 2022 CS 2023 CS 2024 CS 2025 CS
Records
+ Discipline Most titles Skater(s) Years Men's singles 4 1971–721974–75 Women's singles 5 1977;1980–83 Pairs 2 1977–78 1979;1981 2010–11 3 2010–11;2014 Ice dance 4 2015–16;2019;2025