The Ice Challenge – held in 2021 as the Cup of Austria – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein (Skating Club of Graz) and Skate Austria at the Eisstadion Liebenau in Graz, Austria. The competition debuted as an international event in 2009; prior to that, it was a regional event called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen (Leo Scheu Memorial Skate), named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein. When the ISU launched the Challenger Series in 2014, the Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. The Ice Challenge has been a Challenger Series event four times during its history as of 2025. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior and junior levels; when the event is part of the Challenger Series, skaters earn ISU World Standing points based on their results.
History The Ice Challenge – originally called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen, named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein – began in 1971 as a regional competition, organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein in Graz, Austria. In 2006, the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen was expanded to allow competitors from all of Austria. In 2008, the competition allowed international competitors for the first time, and in 2009, it received official endorsement by the International Skating Union (ISU) and was placed on its international calendar.
The ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union and organized by ISU member nations. The 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. 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 Skate Austria may enter an unlimited number of entrants in their own event. The Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. Douglas Razzano and Hannah Miller of the United States won the men's and women's events, respectively; Lina Fedorova and Maxim Miroshkin of Russia won the pairs event, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the United States won the ice dance event.
The Ice Challenge has been held several times since 2014, but was a Challenger Series event only in 2015, 2021, and 2022. It was scheduled to be a Challenger Series event in 2023 before the Grazer Eislaufverein cancelled the competition.
Senior medalists
CS: Challenger Series event
Men's singles +Senior men's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 Tomáš Verner Anton Kovalevski Alban Préaubert 2010 Alexander Majorov Douglas Razzano Kristoffer Berntsson 2011 Stephen Carriere Misha Ge Viktor Pfeifer 2012 Peter Liebers Douglas Razzano Armin Mahbanoozadeh 2013 Denis Ten Viktor Pfeifer Gordei Gorshkov Douglas Razzano Alexander Samarin Martin Rappe 2015 CS Artur Dmitriev Jr. Jason Brown Mikhail Kolyada 2016 No competition held 2017 Daniel Grassl Javier Raya Adrien Tesson No competitions held 2021 CS Nika Egadze Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda Ilia Malinin 2022 CS Liam Kapeikis Andreas Nordebäck Nikita Starostin 2023 CS Competition cancelled 2024 David Sedej Anton Skoficz No other competitors 2025 Maxim Naumov Jacob Sanchez Grayson Long
Women's singles +Senior women's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 Kanako Murakami Valentina Marchei Amanda Dobbs 2010 Léna Marrocco Natalia Popova Sarah Hecken 2011 Caroline Zhang Linnea Mellgren 2012 Jenna McCorkell Isabelle Olsson Monika Simančíková 2013 Courtney Hicks Miki Ando Nicole Rajičová Hannah Miller Isabelle Olsson Ivett Tóth 2015 CS Mirai Nagasu Maria Artemieva Tyler Pierce 2016 No competition held 2017 Daša Grm Giada Russo Natalie Klotz No competitions held 2021 CS Wakaba Higuchi Park Yeon-jeong Niina Petrõkina 2022 CS Anna Pezzetta Kaiya Ruiter Kimmy Repond 2023 CS Competition cancelled 2024 Anna Pezzetta Julija Lovrencic Sarah Marie Pesch 2025 Gabrielle Daleman Kaiya Ruiter Olga Mikutina
Pairs +Senior pairs' event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 CS 2016 No competition held 2017 No other competitors No competitions held 2021 No other competitors 2022 2023 Competition cancelled 2024 2025
Ice dance +Senior ice dance event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 CS 2016 No competition held 2017 No competitions held 2021 CS 2022 CS 2023 CS Competition cancelled 2024 2025
Junior medalists Men's singles +Junior men's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 Franz Streubel Kamil Białas Timothy Leemann 2010 Stanislav Pertsov Martin Rappe Olexander Kucher 2011 Peter James Hallam Kamil Dymowski Nicola Todeschini 2012 Tomáš Kupka Alexander Bjelde Peter James Hallam 2013 Alexei Genya Tomáš Kupka Charles Tetar 2014 Dmitri Aliev Byun Se-jong Anton Kempf 2015 Petr Gumennik Daniel Grassl Catalin Dimitrescu 2016 No competition held 2017 Jonathan Hess Gabriele Frangipani Nik Folini No competitions held 2021 Naoki Rossi Aleksa Rakic Alp Eren Özkan 2022 Hugo Bostedt Tobia Oellerer Connor Bray 2023 Competition cancelled 2024 Maksym Petrychenko Hugo Willi Herrmann Daniel Ruis 2025 William Chan Maksym Petrychenko Robert Wildt
Women's singles +Junior women's event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 Gerli Liinamäe Barbora Švédová Anastasia Kistler 2010 Monika Simančíková Isabelle Olsson Lara Eisenbauer 2011 Kristina Zaseeva Elin Hallberg Gabriella Josefsson 2012 Sabrina Schulz Minami Hanashiro Nelma Hede 2013 Maria Herceg Anna Dušková Yasmine Kimiko Yamada 2014 Lea Johanna Dastich Byun Ji-hyun Anna Dušková 2015 Stanislava Konstantinova Maria Perederova Kristina Isaev 2016 No competition held 2017 Alessia Tornaghi Stefanie Pesendorfer Júlia Láng No competitions held 2021 Vivien Papp Amalia Zelenjak Varvara Kisel 2022 Sarina Joos Polina Dzsumanyijazova Marianne Must 2023 Competition cancelled 2024 Vasilisa Bogomolova Nela Snebergerova Flora Marie Schaller 2025 Maria Eliise Kaljuvere Sherry Zhang Quinn Startek
Pairs +Junior pairs event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 2010 No other competitors 2011 2012 No other competitors 2013 2014 2015 No junior pairs competition 2016 No competition held 2017 No other competitors No competitions held 2021 No other competitors 2022 2023 Competition cancelled 2024 2025
Ice dance +Junior ice dance event medalists Year Gold Silver Bronze 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 No junior ice dance competition 2016 No competition held 2017 No competitions held 2021 2022 2023 Competition cancelled 2024 2025
Cumulative medal count (senior medalists) Men's singles
Women's singles
Pairs
Ice dance
Total medals
References
External links Official website Ice Challenge at Skating Scores Ice Challenge at Golden Skate Icechallenge Magazin 2022