The 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating was a series of senior international figure skating competitions in the 2011–12 season. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing at six invitational competitions in the fall of 2011. Skaters earned points based on their placement at each event and the skaters who finished in the top six in each discipline qualified to compete at the Grand Prix Final, held in Quebec City, Canada.
The Grand Prix series set the stage for the 2012 European, Four Continents, and World Championships, as well as each country's national championships. The Grand Prix series began on 21 October 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011.
The Grand Prix was organized by the International Skating Union. Skaters competed for prize money and for a chance to compete in the Grand Prix Final. The corresponding series for junior-level skaters was the 2011–12 ISU Junior Grand Prix.
Schedule Date Event Location Details 21–23 October 2011 Skate America Ontario, United States 28–30 October 2011 Skate Canada International Mississauga, Canada 4–6 November 2011 Cup of China Shanghai, China 11–13 November 2011 NHK Trophy Sapporo, Japan 18–20 November 2011 Trophée Éric Bompard Paris, France 25–27 November 2011 Cup of Russia Moscow, Russia 8–11 December 2011–12 Grand Prix Final Quebec City, Canada
Changes The maximum number of entries at each event was reduced from twelve to ten in singles and from ten to eight in ice dancing. This reduced by twelve the number of available spots in each discipline. The number of spots for pairs had already been reduced to eight and remained at that level.
The number of possible events was increased to three for the top six in each discipline at the 2011 World Championships. This had been allowed in the early years of the Grand Prix series but reduced to two later. If all of the skaters accepted, it would reduce by six the number of available spots for other skaters, which combined with the reduction of entries, would result in 18 fewer spots available to other skaters in each discipline, compared to the previous season. The top six were offered a US$10,000 bonus to compete at three events but face a fine if they later withdraw, even for valid medical reasons. About 29% of the 24 skaters/teams opted for three events.
A minimum score requirement was introduced to the Grand Prix series for the first time.
General requirements Skaters who reach the age of 14 by 1 July 2011 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.
Minimum score requirements were added to the Grand Prix series and were set at three-fifths of the top scores at the 2011 World Championships. Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to earn the following scores:
Discipline Minimum Men 168.60 Ladies 117.48 Pairs 130.71 Ice dance 111.15 Skaters who had not earned the minimums in the previous season could attempt to do so at: 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy 2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2011 Finlandia Trophy 2011 Coupe de Nice 2011 Ice Challenge 2011 NRW Ice Dance Trophy.
The International Skating Union decided that the minimums do not apply to "host picks", i.e. Canadians Adriana DeSanctis and Elladj Balde were allowed to compete at their home country's event, 2011 Skate Canada International, despite failing to reach the minimums at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy.
Assignments The top six skaters/teams from the 2011 World Championships were seeded and assigned to two events. They also had the option of competing at a third event, receiving a US$10,000 bonus if they chose to do so, with their best two results counting toward qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. There were no substitutions of the seeded positions.
Skaters who placed 7–12 at 2011 Worlds were guaranteed two assignments. The remaining spots could be given to skaters who placed in the top 24 on the season's best score or world ranking lists. However, these skaters were not guaranteed any events, even if they had a higher Season's Best score than skaters in the top 12 at Worlds but did not compete at the event due to the three-per-country restriction.
The host country was allowed to assign three skaters/teams of their choosing from their country in each discipline.
Skaters who missed one or more seasons but had placed in the top six at any previous World Championships had the option of getting assignments to the Grand Prix under the "Come-back skaters" clause. They were obliged to commit to two events and could take advantage of this clause only once.
The following skaters have received assignments for one or more Grand Prix events:
Men Skater Assignment(s) Jeremy Abbott Cup of China, Cup of Russia Florent Amodio Skate America, Trophée Éric Bompard Elladj Balde Skate Canada International Michal Březina Skate America, Trophée Éric Bompard, Cup of Russia Patrick Chan Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Samuel Contesti Skate America, NHK Trophy Richard Dornbush Skate America, Cup of China Javier Fernandez Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Artur Gachinski Cup of China, Cup of Russia Yuzuru Hanyu Cup of China, Cup of Russia Brian Joubert Trophée Éric Bompard Takahiko Kozuka Skate America, NHK Trophy Tatsuki Machida NHK Trophy Armin Mahbanoozadeh Skate America, NHK Trophy Alexander Majorov Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Konstantin Menshov NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Ross Miner Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Brandon Mroz NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Daisuke Murakami Skate America Nobunari Oda Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Alban Preaubert Skate Canada International Douglas Razzano Skate America Kevin Reynolds Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Adam Rippon Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Andrei Rogozine Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Song Nan Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Daisuke Takahashi Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Denis Ten Skate America, Skate Canada International Kevin van der Perren Skate America Tomáš Verner NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Sergei Voronov Cup of Russia Jialiang Wu Cup of China
Ladies Skater Assignment(s) Mao Asada NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Sofia Biryukova Cup of Russia Alissa Czisny Skate America, Trophée Éric Bompard Adriana DeSanctis Skate Canada International Rachael Flatt Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Joelle Forte Skate America Christina Gao Cup of China, Cup of Russia Elene Gedevanishvili Skate America, NHK Trophy Bingwa Geng Cup of China Sarah Hecken Skate Canada International Joshi Helgesson Skate America Viktoria Helgesson Trophée Éric Bompard Haruka Imai Skate America, Cup of Russia Shoko Ishikawa NHK Trophy Kiira Korpi NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Carolina Kostner Skate America, Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Amelie Lacoste Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Sonia Lafuente Trophée Éric Bompard Alena Leonova Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Ksenia Makarova Skate America, Cup of China Valentina Marchei Skate America, Cup of China Léna Marrocco Trophée Éric Bompard Maé-Bérénice Méité NHK Trophy, Trophée Éric Bompard Kanako Murakami Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Mirai Nagasu Skate Canada International, Cup of China Cynthia Phaneuf Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Yretha Silete Trophée Éric Bompard Adelina Sotnikova Cup of China, Cup of Russia Akiko Suzuki Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Ashley Wagner Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Agnes Zawadzki NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Caroline Zhang Skate America Zhang Kexin Cup of China Zhu Qiuying Cup of China
Pairs Pair Assignment(s) Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov Skate America, Trophée Éric Bompard Stefania Berton / Ondrej Hotarek NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Ashley Cain / Joshua Reagan Cup of Russia Adeline Canac / Yannick Bonheur Trophée Éric Bompard Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir NHK Trophy Caydee Denney / John Coughlin Skate America, NHK Trophy Huibo Dong / Yiming Wu Trophée Éric Bompard Jessica Dubé / Sébastien Wolfe Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Amanda Evora / Mark Ladwig Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Katarina Gerboldt / Alexander Enbert Cup of Russia Maylin Hausch / Daniel Wende Skate America, Cup of Russia Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Vanessa James / Morgan Cipres Trophée Éric Bompard Brittany Jones / Kurtis Gaskell Cup of Russia Klara Kadlecova / Petr Bidar Cup of China Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov Cup of China, NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers Skate Canada International Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker Skate America Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch Skate America, Cup of China Natasha Purich / Raymond Schultz NHK Trophy Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy Skate America, NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Taylor Steele / Robert Schultz Cup of China Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov Trophée Éric Bompard, Cup of Russia Wenjing Sui / Cong Han Skate Canada International, Cup of China Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy Tiffany Vise / Don Baldwin Skate America Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Xiaoyu Yu / Yang Jin Skate Canada International, Cup of China Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang Skate America, Cup of China
Ice dance Team Assignment(s) Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi NHK Trophy Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev Cup of China, Cup of Russia Isabella Cannuscio / Ian Lorello Skate America Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Pernelle Carron / Lloyd Jones Cup of China, Cup of Russia Madison Chock / Evan Bates Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland Cup of China Meryl Davis / Charlie White Skate America, Cup of Russia Kristina Gorshkova / Vitali Butikov Trophée Éric Bompard Tarrah Harvey / Keith Gagnon Skate Canada International Xintong Huang / Xun Zheng Cup of China, Trophée Éric Bompard Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue Skate America Sara Hurtado / Adria Diaz Trophée Éric Bompard Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov NHK Trophy, Trophée Éric Bompard Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt NHK Trophy Charlotte Lichtman / Dean Copely Cup of China Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam Skate America, NHK Trophy Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat Skate America, Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Ekaterina Pushkash / Jonathan Guerreiro Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill Skate America Cathy Reed / Chris Reed NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko Skate Canada International, Cup of Russia Emily Samuelson / Todd Gilles Cup of China Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani Cup of China, NHK Trophy Isabella Tobias / Deividas Stagniunas Skate America, Cup of Russia Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir Skate Canada International, Trophée Éric Bompard Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy, Cup of Russia Xiaoyang Yu / Chen Wang Cup of China Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi Skate America, NHK Trophy
Replacements A list of alternates was used to call up replacements, in the following order: Come-back skaters Skaters from split teams which had placed in the top 12 at a previous World Championships Skaters from the top 24 on the season's best (SB) list Skaters from the top 24 SB who have only one event All other skaters in the top 75 SB Winners of selected international competitions (Nebelhorn, Ondrej Nepela, Finlandia, Coupe de Nice, Ice Challenge, NRW Ice Dance Trophy)
Skaters from split teams which placed in the top 12 at the 2010 or 2011 World Championships and earned the minimum score in that period were not required to earn a new minimum with the new partner.
Medal summary