The 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating was a series of senior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union that were held from October 2020 through December 2020. Medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Before modifications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, skaters would have earned points based on their placement at each event and the top six in each discipline would have qualified to compete at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China. Because of the pandemic, only four of the six events were held, while the Grand Prix Final also ultimately cancelled. The corresponding series for junior-level skaters would have been the 2020–21 ISU Junior Grand Prix, but the ISU announced its cancellation in July 2020.
Reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic On May 1, 2020, the International Skating Union established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-president for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its responsibilities included determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the season, and the financial impact of any potential cancellations. The ISU announced that a host federation must make a decision regarding potential cancellation of their event at least twelve weeks prior to the event.
On July 9, the General Administration of Sport of China announced that no international sporting events would be held in China in 2020 except for 2022 Winter Olympics test events. The Chinese Skating Association was scheduled to host several events during the season, including the Cup of China, the Grand Prix Final, and the World Junior Championships. While the Grand Prix Final, scheduled to be hosted in Beijing, was exempt from the Chinese government's ruling due to its status as the test event for the Olympic Games, the ISU had not yet discussed a contingency plan regarding Grand Prix event cancellations at the time of the Chinese government's announcement. The ISU announced on July 13 that the Cup of China would remain as scheduled in Chongqing due to its connection to the Beijing test event: the Grand Prix Final.
On August 4, the ISU confirmed that the Grand Prix series would proceed as scheduled during the fall, with a decision to be made regarding the Grand Prix Final at a later date. The competitions were expected to feature skaters from the home country, skaters already training in the host nation, and skaters assigned to that event for geographic reasons; all officials would also be from the national organizing committee.
On September 25, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Skate America would be held without an audience in line with Nevada Gaming Control Board guidelines regarding the pandemic.
On September 30, the ISU announced that the Grand Prix Final would not be held as scheduled in Beijing on December 10–13, and that they were searching for an alternate host outside China for the event. On October 14, Skate Canada announced the cancellation of the 2020 Skate Canada International due to the worsening situation in Ontario. The French Federation of Ice Sports informed the ISU of the cancellation of the 2020 Internationaux de France on October 19.
On November 13, a joint adapted sports testing program developed by the Beijing 2022 planning committee, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and various winter sports federations, including the ISU, replaced all test events scheduled in Beijing. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the ISU announced that it would evaluate the possibility of finding alternative locations outside China and dates to replace the Grand Prix Final.
On December 10, the ISU announced the definitive cancellation of the Grand Prix Final alongside the cancellation of the 2021 European Championships.
The domestic nature of the competitions meant that no ISU World Standing/Ranking points would be awarded to skaters and that scores received would not count for minimum TES requirements for ISU Championship competitions.
Schedule On October 14, Skate Canada announced the cancellation of the 2020 Skate Canada International, while the French Federation of Ice Sports announced the cancellation of the 2020 Internationaux de France on October 19.
The series included the following events: Date Event Location Notes October 23–24 2020 Skate America Las Vegas, Nevada, United States October 30–31 2020 Skate Canada International Cancelled November 6–8 2020 Cup of China Chongqing, China November 13–15 2020 Internationaux de France Cancelled November 20–22 2020 Rostelecom Cup Moscow, Russia November 27–29 2020 NHK Trophy Osaka, Japan No pairs December 10–13 2020–21 Grand Prix Final Cancelled
Requirements Skaters were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit if they had reached the age of 15 before July 1, 2020. Due to the modified format, skaters were not required to have earned a minimum total score from certain international events.
Assignments As part of the ISU's efforts to mitigate the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, skaters were limited to one assignment each. Assignments were released on October 1, 2020.
Men's singles Nation Skater Assignment Vladimir Litvintsev Rostelecom Cup Alexander Lebedev Keegan Messing Skate America Chen Yudong Cup of China Jin Boyang Peng Zhiming Xu Juwen Yan Han Zhang He Morisi Kvitelashvili Rostelecom Cup Alexei Bychenko Skate America Daniel Samohin Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda NHK Trophy Yuma Kagiyama Yuto Kishina Kao Miura Sena Miyake Shun Sato Mitsuki Sumoto Keiji Tanaka Kazuki Tomono Sōta Yamamoto Nozomu Yoshioka Dmitri Aliev Rostelecom Cup Petr Gumennik Makar Ignatov Mikhail Kolyada Artem Kovalev Andrei Mozalev Roman Savosin Evgeni Semenenko Ilya Yablokov Nathan Chen Skate America Tomoki Hiwatashi Joseph Kang Alexei Krasnozhon Jimmy Ma Ilia Malinin Maxim Naumov Camden Pulkinen Vincent Zhou
Ladies' singles Nation Skater Assignment Anastasia Galustyan Rostelecom Cup Ekaterina Ryabova Viktoriia Safonova Chen Hongyi Cup of China Jin Minzhi Angel Li Lin Shan Skate America Zhang Siyang Cup of China Zheng Lu Eva-Lotta Kiibus Rostelecom Cup Alina Urushadze Nana Araki NHK Trophy Wakaba Higuchi Marin Honda Tomoe Kawabata Mana Kawabe Rino Matsuike Mai Mihara Kaori Sakamoto Chisato Uramatsu Mako Yamashita Yuhana Yokoi Anastasiia Guliakova Rostelecom Cup Alena Kostornaia Elizaveta Nugumanova Sofia Samodurova Alexandra Trusova Elizaveta Tuktamysheva You Young NHK Trophy Starr Andrews Skate America Mariah Bell Karen Chen Amber Glenn Gracie Gold Finley Hawk Pooja Kalyan Paige Rydberg Audrey Shin Bradie Tennell Sierra Venetta
Pairs Nation Team Assignment Peng Cheng / Jin Yang Cup of China Wang Yuchen / Huang Yihang Zhu Daizifei / Liu Yuhang Ioulia Chtchetinina / Márk Magyar Rostelecom Cup Anna Vernikov / Evgeni Krasnopolski Skate America Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov Rostelecom Cup Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii Yasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov Apollinariia Panfilova / Dmitry Rylov Ashley Cain-Gribble / Timothy LeDuc Skate America Jessica Calalang / Brian Johnson Emily Chan / Spencer Howe Tarah Kayne / Danny O'Shea Audrey Lu / Misha Mitrofanov Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Brandon Frazier Olivia Serafini / Mervin Tran
Ice dance Nation Team Assignment Viktoria Semenjuk / Ilya Yukhimuk Rostelecom Cup Chen Hong / Sun Zhuoming Cup of China Guo Yuzhu / Zhao Pengkun Lin Yufei / Gao Zijian Ning Wanqi / Wang Chao Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu Emily Monaghan / Ilias Fourati Skate America Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács Rostelecom Cup Rikako Fukase / Eichu Cho NHK Trophy Misato Komatsubara / Tim Koleto Kana Muramoto / Daisuke Takahashi Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius Rostelecom Cup Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva / Egor Bazin Ekaterina Mironova / Evgenii Ustenko Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin Anastasia Skoptsova / Kirill Aleshin Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro Oleksandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko Skate America Molly Cesanek / Yehor Yehorov Caroline Green / Michael Parsons Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue Lorraine McNamara / Anton Spiridonov Eva Pate / Logan Bye
Changes to preliminary assignments Skate America Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s) Pairs colspan=2 October 5 Emily Chan / Spencer Howe MenOctober 7 Stephen GogolevOctober 7 Daniel Samohin Injury Ladies Gabriella Izzo Paige Rydberg Pairs October 8 Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov October 13 Anna Vernikov / Evgeni Krasnopolski Event conflict Men October 9 Michal Březina October 9 Joseph Kang Injury Ice dance Madison Chock / Evan Bates colspan="2" Lack of preparation time Livvy Shilling / Alexander Petrov colspan="2" colspan="2" October 9 Emily Monaghan / Ilias Fourati Ladies October 12 Isabelle Inthisone October 12 Finley Hawk Kate Wang Sierra Venetta
Cup of China Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s) Men colspan="2" rowspan="7" October 16 Peng Zhiming Xu Juwen Ladies Jin Minzhi Angel Li Zhang Siyang Zheng Lu Ice dance Lin Yufei / Gao Zijian Pairs October 29 Sui Wenjing / Han Cong October 29 Zhu Daizifei / Liu Yuhang Recovery from surgery (Han) Tang Feiyao / Yang Yongchao colspan="2"
Rostelecom Cup Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s) Men rowspan=3 colspan=2 October 9 Alexander Lebedev Ladies Anastasia Galustyan Pairs Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev October 9 Anna Vernikov / Evgeni Krasnopolski Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov Men October 16 Irakli Maysuradze November 12 Artem Kovalev Ice dance Maria Kazakova / Georgy Reviya October 28 Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius Ladies colspan=2 Eva-Lotta Kiibus Ice dance November 4 Ksenia Konkina / Pavel Drozd November 7 Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács Men November 12 Artur Danielian November 12 Evgeni Semenenko Recovery from surgery Pairs Daria Pavliuchenko / Denis Khodykin November 13 Yasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko Respiratory infection (Khodykin) Ladies November 16 Evgenia Medvedeva November 16 Elizaveta Nugumanova Recovery from injury Ice dance Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko Ekaterina Mironova / Evgenii Ustenko COVID-19 Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin Viktoria Semenjuk / Ilya Yukhimuk Men November 17 Alexander Samarin November 17 Ilya Yablokov Recovery from injury Pairs November 18 Alina Pepeleva / Roman Pleshkov colspan=2 COVID-19 (coach)
NHK Trophy Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s) Ladies colspan=2 October 19 You Young
Medal summary Event Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Skate America Men Nathan Chen Vincent Zhou Keegan Messing Ladies Mariah Bell Bradie Tennell Audrey Shin Pairs Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Brandon Frazier Jessica Calalang / Brian Johnson Audrey Lu / Misha Mitrofanov Ice dance Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko Event Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Cup of China Men Jin Boyang Yan Han Chen Yudong Ladies Chen Hongyi Angel Li Jin Minzhi Pairs Peng Cheng / Jin Yang Wang Yuchen / Huang Yihang Zhu Daizifei / Liu Yuhang Ice dance Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu Chen Hong / Sun Zhuoming Ning Wanqi / Wang Chao Event Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Rostelecom Cup Men Mikhail Kolyada Morisi Kvitelashvili Petr Gumennik Ladies Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Alena Kostornaia Anastasiia Guliakova Pairs Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov Apollinariia Panfilova / Dmitry Rylov Ice dance Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro Anastasia Skoptsova / Kirill Aleshin