The 2009–10 figure skating season began on 1 July 2009, and ended on 30 June 2010. During this season, elite skaters competed at the Olympic level at the 2010 Winter Olympics, on the ISU Championship level at the 2010 European, Four Continents, World Junior, and World Championships. They also competed in elite competitions such as the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Season notes It was the final season in which the compulsory dance and the original dance were contested in ice dance. Following this season, the International Skating Union instituted the short dance.
Isabelle Delobel competed at the Olympics with partner Olivier Schoenfelder just four-and-a-half months after giving birth. On 28 June 2010, the International Skating Union announced that Evgeni Plushenko had lost his eligibility due to participating in March and April shows without his federation's permission.
Age eligibility Skaters competing on the junior level were required to be at least 13 but not 19 – or 21 for male pair skaters and ice dancers – before 1 July 2009. Those who had turned 14 were eligible for the senior Grand Prix series and senior B internationals. Those who turned 15 before 1 July 2009 were also eligible for the senior World, European, and Four Continents Championships.
Date of birth Eligibility Born before 1 July 1996 Eligible for Junior Grand Prix Born before 1 July 1995 Eligible for senior Grand Prix series, senior B internationals Born before 1 July 1994 Eligible for senior Worlds, Europeans, Four Continents Born before 1 July 1990 Not eligible for junior events (except male pair skaters and ice dancers) Born before 1 July 1988 Male pair skaters and ice dancers not eligible for junior events
Partnership changes Partnership splits and/or formation of new teams included: Discipline Announced Type Skaters Other notes Pairs March 2010 Split Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov Morozov retired. Pairs 29 March 2010 New team Katarina Gerboldt / Alexander Enbert Pairs 30 March 2010 Split Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov Ice dance 4 May 2010 Split Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski Ice dance May 2010 New team Jana Khokhlova / Fedor Andreev Ice dance Spring 2010 Split Katherine Copely / Deividas Stagniūnas Ice dance Spring 2010 New team Isabella Tobias / Deividas Stagniūnas Pairs May 2010 New team Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov Pairs 12 May 2010 New team Maria Mukhortova / Jérôme Blanchard Pairs 21 May 2010 Split Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay Langlois retired. Pairs 22 June 2010 Split Keauna McLaughlin / Rockne Brubaker McLaughlin retired.
Coaching changes Discipline Announced Skater(s) From To Men 8 January 2010 Patrick Chan Don Laws Christy Krall, Lori Nichol Ladies February/May 2010 Alissa Czisny Julianne Berlin Yuka Sato, Jason Dungjen Ladies March/June 2010 Mao Asada Tatiana Tarasova Hiroshi Nagakubo
Retirements A number of elite skaters announced their retirement from competition: Discipline Announced Skater(s) Pairs 17 February 2010 Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo Ice dance 23 February 2010 Isabelle Delobel / Olivier Schoenfelder Men 9 March 2010 Stephane Lambiel Ladies De facto Joannie Rochette Ladies De facto Júlia Sebestyén Ladies De facto Susanna Pöykiö Ice dance 11 May 2010 Kimberly Navarro / Brent Bommentre Ice dance 10 June 2010 Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto Ice dance 20 June 2010 Alexandra Zaretsky / Roman Zaretsky Ice dance De facto Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin Ice dance 6 August 2010 Ekaterina Rubleva / Ivan Shefer
Competitions Key ISU Champ.Grand PrixOther int.National
Date Event Type Level Disc. Location 2009 27 Aug. – 29 Sept. JGP Budapest Grand Prix Junior M/L/D Budapest, Hungary Details 28–30 August New Zealand Winter Games Other int. Sen.–Nov. M/L Dunedin, New Zealand 3–5 September Chinese Championships Nats. Senior All Beijing, China 3–5 September JGP Lake Placid Grand Prix Junior All Lake Placid, NY, U.S. Details 10–12 September JGP Torun Cup Grand Prix Junior All Toruń, Poland Details 10–12 September Master's de Patinage Other nat. Sen.–Jun. All Orléans, France Details 24–26 September Nebelhorn Trophy Other int. Senior All Oberstdorf, Germany Details 24–26 September JGP Minsk Ice Grand Prix Junior All Minsk, Belarus Details 1–3 October JGP Blauen Schwerter Grand Prix Junior All Dresden, Germany Details 8–10 October JGP Croatia Cup Grand Prix Junior M/L/D Zagreb, Croatia Details 9–11 October Finlandia Trophy Other int. Senior M/L/D Vantaa, Finland Details 15–17 October JGP Bosphorus Grand Prix Junior M/L/D Istanbul, Turkey Details 16–17 October Trophée Eric Bompard Grand Prix Senior All Paris, France Details 23–24 October Cup of Russia Grand Prix Senior All Moscow, Russia Details 30–31 October Cup of China Grand Prix Senior All Beijing, China Details 4–8 November Coupe de Nice Other int. Sen.–Jun. All Nice, France Details 5–7 November Ondrej Nepela Memorial Other int. Senior All Piešťany, Slovakia 6–8 November NHK Trophy Grand Prix Senior All Nagano, Japan Details 6–8 November NRW Trophy Other int. Sen.–PN. D Dortmund, Germany Details 7–8 November Skate Celje Other int. Jun.–Nov. M/L Celje, Slovenia Details 12–15 November Merano Cup Other int. Sen.–Nov. M/L Merano, Italy 13–15 November Skate America Grand Prix Senior All Lake Placid, NY Details 19–22 November Warsaw Cup Other int. Jun.–Nov. M/L/P Warsaw, Poland Details 20–22 November Pavel Roman Memorial Other int. Senior D Olomouc, Czech Republic 20–22 November Skate Canada Grand Prix Senior All Kitchener, ON, Canada Details 21–23 November Japan Junior Champ. Nats. Junior M/L/D Yokohama, Japan Details 27–29 November Crystal Skate of Romania Other int. Senior M/L Galați, Romania 3–6 December NRW Trophy Other int. Sen.–Nov. M/L/P Dortmund, Germany Details 3–6 December Grand Prix Final Grand Prix Sen.–Jun. All Tokyo, Japan Details 10–12 December Golden Spin of Zagreb Other int. Senior All Zagreb, Croatia Details 17–20 December Three Nationals Championships (Czech, Slovak, Polish) Nats. Sen.–PN. All Cieszyn, Poland Details 17–20 December German Championships Nats. Sen.–Nov. All Mannheim, Germany Details 18–19 December French Championships Nats. Senior All Marseille, France Details 24–26 December Russian Championships Nats. Senior All Saint Petersburg, Russia Details 25–27 December Japan Championships Nats. Senior All Osaka, Japan Details 2010 11–17 January Canadian Championships Nats. Sen.–Nov. All London, ON, Canada Details 14–24 January U.S. Championships Nats. Sen.–Nov. All Spokane, U.S. 18–24 January European Championships ISU Champ. Senior All Tallinn, Estonia Details 27–30 January Four Continents Championships ISU Champ. Senior All Jeonju, South Korea Details 4–6 February Russian Junior Championships Nats. Junior All Saransk, Russia Details 4–7 February Nordic Championships Other int. Sen.–Nov. M/L Asker, Norway Details 14–27 February Winter Olympics Olympics Senior All Vancouver, BC, Canada Details 8–14 March World Junior Championships ISU Champ. Junior All The Hague, Netherlands Details 22–28 March World Championships ISU Champ. Senior All Turin, Italy Details 1–4 April Triglav Trophy Other int. Sen.–Nov. M/L Jesenice, Slovenia Type: ISU Champ. = ISU Championships; Other int. = International events except ISU Championships and Grand Prix; Nats. = National championships; Other nat. = Other national events Levels: Sen. = Senior; Jun. = Junior; Nov. = Novice; PN. = Pre-Novice Disciplines: M = Men's singles; L = Ladies' singles; P = Pair skating; D = Ice dance; All = All four disciplines
Records During the season, the following world records were set:
Discipline Segment Skater Score Event Date Men Short Program Evgeni Plushenko 91.30 2010 European Championships 20 January 2010 Ladies Free Skating Kim Yuna 133.95 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard 17 October 2009 Ladies Combined Total Kim Yuna 210.03 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard 17 October 2009 Ladies Short Program Kim Yuna 76.28 2009 Skate America 14 November 2009Progression Of Highest Scores Ladies Short Program Kim Yuna 78.50 2010 Winter Olympics 23 February 2010 Ladies Free Skating Kim Yuna 150.06 2010 Winter Olympics 25 February 2010 Ladies Combined Total Kim Yuna 228.56 2010 Winter Olympics 25 February 2010 Pairs Short Program Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo 75.36 2009–2010 Grand Prix Final 3 December 2009 Pairs Combined Total Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo 214.25 2009–10 Grand Prix Final 5 December 2009 Pairs Free Skating Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov 139.23 2010 European Championships 20 January 2010 Pairs Short Program Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo 76.66 2010 Winter Olympics 14 February 2010 Pairs Free Skating Pang Qing / Tong Jian 141.81 2010 Winter Olympics 15 February 2010 Pairs Combined Total Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo 216.57 2010 Winter Olympics 15 February 2010 Ice Dance Original Dance Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir 70.27 2010 World Championships 25 March 2010
ISU & Olympic Champions During the season, the following skaters won ISU Championships and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Discipline Winter Olympics World Championships European Championships Four Continents Championships World Junior Championship Men Evan Lysacek Daisuke Takahashi Evgeni Plushenko Adam Rippon Yuzuru Hanyu Ladies Kim Yuna Mao Asada Carolina Kostner Mao Asada Kanako Murakami Pair skating Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo Pang Qing / Tong Jian Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao Sui Wenjing / Han Cong Ice Dance Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov
Season's best scores The following are all the season's best scores set over the season.
Men Men's season's best scores on 25 March 2010.
Rank Name Country Points Event 1 Daisuke Takahashi 257.70 World Championships 2010 2 Evan Lysacek 257.67 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 3 Evgeni Plushenko 256.36 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 4 Patrick Chan 247.22 World Championships 2010 5 Stéphane Lambiel 246.72 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 6 Nobunari Oda 243.36 ISU GP Final 2009/2010 7 Brian Joubert 241.74 World Championships 2010 8 Johnny Weir 238.87 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 9 Michal Březina 236.06 World Championships 2010 10 Jeremy Abbott 235.38 ISU GP Final 2009/2010
Ladies Ladies season's best scores on 27 March 2010. Rank Name Country Points Event 1 Kim Yuna 228.56 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 2 Mao Asada 205.50 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 3 Joannie Rochette 202.64 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 4 Mirai Nagasu 190.15 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 5 Miki Ando 188.86 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 6 Laura Lepistö 187.97 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 7 Rachael Flatt 182.49 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 8 Akiko Suzuki 181.44 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 9 Cynthia Phaneuf 177.54 World Championships 2010 10 Carolina Kostner 177.31 World Championships 2010
Pairs Pairs season's best scores on 24 March 2010. Rank Name Country Points Event 1 Xue Shen / Hongbo Zhao 216.57 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 2 Qing Pang / Jian Tong 213.31 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 3 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov 213.15 European Championships 2010 4 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy 211.72 European Championships 2010 5 Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov 202.03 European Championships 2010 6 Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang 195.78 World Championships 2010 7 Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov 187.83 European Championships 2010 8 Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison 187.11 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 9 Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay 179.97 XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 10 Caydee Denney / Jeremy Barrett 172.47 World Championships 2010
Ice dance Ice dance season's best scores on 26 March 2010.