The ISU Figure Skating Awards, former ISU Skating Awards is an annual awards ceremony organized by the International Skating Union (ISU) to recognize achievements in Figure Skating.
The awards are presented in a variety of categories: Most Entertaining Program, Skater(s) of the Year (former Most Valuable Skater), Special Achievement, Lifetime Achievement, Best Coach, Best Choreographer, Best Costume and Best Newcomer.
A long list of candidates is selected by a Selection Commission which is submitted to a public and media vote. The public vote counts for 2/3 while the media vote counts for 1/3.
In 2026, the following categories were open for voting:
Best Costume Most Entertaining Program Best Coach Best Choreographer
The following categories were not subject to voting:
Best Newcomer Skater(s) of the year
Following the public / media vote, three nominees in each category are announced and finally the Award winners are decided by an expert international jury in six categories.
History First announced in 2019, the ISU Figure Skating Awards were created to celebrate and recognize outstanding achievements in Figure Skating.
The inaugural event was originally set to take place during the 2020 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada. However, due to the global pandemic, the ceremony was moved online and hosted by Tanith White (1x Olympic silver and 2 x World silver medalist) and Charlie White, (Olympic and two time world Champion) ice dancers who brought their expertise and energy to the first-ever virtual event.
In 2023 and 2024, the ceremony was held in Zürich, Switzerland, alongside an on-ice live show in partnership with Art on Ice and was streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube channel.
In 2025, it was announced that the Awards ceremony would be a standalone event. The 2025 ceremony took place on 30 March in Boston, Massachusetts on the final day of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
The following categories have been presented throughout the years:
Most Valuable Skater Most Entertaining Program Best Newcomer Best Costume Best Coach Best Choreographer Lifetime Achievement Special Achievement (since 2023)
Past Winners The following lists detail ISU Skating Awards winners to date.
2020 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesMost Valuable Skater Yuzuru Hanyu Nathan Chen Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron Most Entertaining Program Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron Evgenia Medvedeva Kévin Aymoz Best Newcomer Alena Kostornaia Alexandra Trusova Young You Best Costume Madison Chock / Evan Bates Yuzuru Hanyu Anna Shcherbakova Best Coach Eteri Tutberidze Rafael Arutyunyan Brian Orser Best Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne Marie-France Dubreuil Lori NicholLifetime Achievement Kurt Browning
2021 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesLifetime Achievement Tamara Moskvina Alexei Mishin Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean
2022
Awards postponed
2023 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesMost Valuable Skater Nathan Chen Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron Anna Shcherbakova Most Entertaining Program Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron Donovan Carrillo Yuzuru Hanyu Best Newcomer Isabeau Levito Niina Petrõkina Rinka Watanabe Best Costume Madison Chock / Evan Bates Yuzuru Hanyu Loena Hendrickx Best Coach Patrice Lauzon Rafael Arutyunyan Stéphane Lambiel Best Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne Benoît Richaud Marie-France Dubreuil Special Achievement Ilia Malinin Lifetime Achievement Katarina Witt
2024 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesMost Valuable Skater Ilia Malinin Kaori Sakamoto Shoma Uno Most Entertaining Program Adam Siao Him Fa Kevin Aymoz Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson Best Newcomer Hana Yoshida Nina Pinzarrone Kimmy Repond Best Costume Loena Hendrickx Madison Chock / Evan Bates Lee Hae-in Best Coach Mie Hamada Stéphane Lambiel Sonoko Nakano Best Choreographer Benoît Richaud Shae-Lynn Bourne Stéphane Lambiel Special Achievement Deanna Stellato-Dudek Lifetime Achievement Brian Orser
2025 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesSkater(s) of the Year Ilia Malinin Madison Chock / Evan BatesMost Entertaining Program Ilia Malinin Cha Jun-hwan Olivia Smart / Tim Dieck Best Newcomer Ekaterina Geynish / Dmitrii Chigirev Sarah Everhardt Anna Pezzetta Best Costume Olivia Smart / Tim Dieck Cha Jun-hwan Ilia MalininBest Coach Tatiana Malinina / Roman Skorniakov Mie Hamada Michael Huth Best Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne Stéphane Lambiel Benoît Richaud Lifetime Achievement Scott Hamilton
2026 Award Winner(s) Other nomineesSkater(s) of the Year Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Guillaume CizeronMost Entertaining Program Yuma Kagiyama Amber Glenn Ilia MalininBest Newcomer Ami NakaiBest Costume Ilia Malinin Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier Amber GlennBest Coach Phillip DiGuglielmo Damon Allen Masakazu Kagiyama Best Choreographer Benoît Richaud Shae-Lynn Bourne Massimo Scali
Wins per country (2020–2026) Country Wins12765421111
Jurors The ISU Skating Awards jury is made up of six jurors each of whom is a former Figure Skating Champion. Year Jurors2020Eric Radford (CAN)
Lu Chen (CHN)
Surya Bonaly (FRA)
Miki Ando (JPN)
Tatyana Navka (RUS)
Todd Eldredge (USA)2021-2022-2023Eric Radford (CAN)
Kiira Korpi (FIN)
Surya Bonaly (FRA)
Miki Ando (JPN)
Christopher Dean (GBR)
Todd Eldredge (USA)2024Miki Ando (JPN) Brian Boitano (USA)
Surya Bonaly (FRA)
Lu Chen (CHN)
Laura Lepisto (FIN)
Andrew Poje (CAN)
Special Guests Each year the ISU Skating Awards features a special performance from a star guest.
2020: Aloe Blacc, singer/songwriter 2021: James Morrison, singer/songwriter/guitarist 2023: Melanie C, singer/songwriter/original member of The Spice Girls 2024: Dave Stewart, musician/songwriter/producer, original member of Eurythmics
References