The 2025 Nepela Memorial was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Slovak Figure Skating Federation, and the sixth event of the 2025–26 ISU Challenger Series. It was held at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia, from 26 to 27 September 2025. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance, and skaters earned ISU World Standing points based on their results. Kévin Aymoz of France won the men's event, Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy won the women's event, and Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck of Spain won the ice dance event.

Background The Nepela Memorial is named in honor of Ondrej Nepela, a Slovak figure skater who competed internationally for Czechoslovakia. He was the 1972 Olympic gold medalist, three-time World champion (1971–73), five-time European champion (1969–73), eight-time Czechoslovak national champion (1965–69, 1971–73), and the Slovak athlete of the 20th century.

The ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and organized by ISU member nations. The objective was 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. The 2025–26 Challenger Series consisted of eleven events, of which the Nepela Memorial was the sixth.

Changes in preliminary assignments The International Skating Union published the preliminary list of entrants on 2 September 2025. Discipline Withdrew Date Country Skater(s) Ice dance 15 September Men 16 September Ice dance 18 September 24 September Men

Required performance elements Single skating Men and women competing in single skating first performed their short programs on Friday, 26 September. Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds, the short program had to include the following elements:

For men: one double or triple Axel; one triple or quadruple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, two triple jumps, or a quadruple jump and a double jump or triple jump; one flying spin; one camel spin or sit spin with a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and a step sequence using the full ice surface.

For women: one double or triple Axel; one triple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, or two triple jumps; one flying spin; one layback spin, sideways leaning spin, camel spin, or sit spin without a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and one step sequence using the full ice surface.

Men and women performed their free skates on Saturday, 27 September. The free skate performance for both men and women could last no more than 4 minutes, and had to include the following: seven jump elements, of which one had to be an Axel-type jump; three spins, of which one had to be a spin combination, one had to be a flying spin, and one had to be a spin with only one position; a step sequence; and a choreographic sequence.

Ice dance

Couples competing in ice dance performed their rhythm dances on Friday, 26 September. Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds, the theme of the rhythm dance this season was "music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s". Examples of applicable dance styles and music included, but were not limited to: pop, Latin, house, techno, hip-hop, and grunge. The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, one choreographic rhythm sequence, one dance lift, one set of sequential twizzles, and one step sequence.

Couples then performed their free dances on Saturday, September2 7. The free dance could last no longer than 4 minutes, and had to include the following: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one set of synchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one step sequence while on one skate and not touching, and three choreographic elements.

Judging

Skaters were judged according to the required technical elements of their program (such as jumps and spins), as well as the overall presentation of their program, based on three program components (skating skills, presentation, and composition). Each technical element in a figure skating performance was assigned a predetermined base point value and scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from −5 to +5 based on the quality of its execution. Each Grade of Execution (GOE) from –5 to +5 was assigned a value as indicated on the Scale of Values. For example, a triple Axel was worth a base value of 8.00 points, and a GOE of +3 was worth 2.40 points, so a triple Axel with a GOE of +3 earned 10.40 points. The judging panel's GOE for each element was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (the average after discarding the highest and lowest scores). The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a Total Elements Score. At the same time, the judges evaluated each performance based on the five aforementioned program components and assigned each a score from 0.25 to 10 in 0.25-point increments. The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the chart below; the results were added together to generate a total Program Component Score.

+Program component factoring Discipline Short program Rhythm dance Free skate Free dance Men 1.67 3.33 Women 1.33 2.67 Ice dance 1.33 2.00 Deductions were applied for certain violations, such as time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls. The Total Elements Score and Program Component Score were then added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.

Medal summary

+Medalists Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Men Kévin Aymoz Matteo Rizzo Daniel Grassl Women Lara Naki Gutmann Anna Pezzetta Sarina Joos Ice dance

Results Men's singles +Men's results Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS Kévin Aymoz261.90193.491168.41 Matteo Rizzo249.46482.522166.94 Daniel Grassl241.81285.893155.92 4Mihhail Selevko229.20677.754151.45 5Adam Hagara223.16971.775151.39 6Jacob Sanchez223.14383.979139.17 7Vladimir Samoilov221.87776.226145.65 8Nikolaj Memola220.05579.638140.42 9Cha Young-hyun212.821171.737141.09 10Aleksa Rakic210.911071.7610139.15 11Jari Kessler210.81874.4812136.33 12Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté208.691271.6511137.04 13Samy Hammi199.311368.0414131.27 14Nikita Starostin194.571861.7413132.83 15Lukáš Václavík180.791957.1415123.65 16Tobia Oellerer178.241565.3518112.8917Xavier Vauclin177.151467.4419109.7118Jakub Lofek176.891763.1417113.7519Vadym Novikov160.642146.8016113.8420Casper Johansson158.522056.2920102.2321Hugo Bostedt157.701663.202294.5022Euken Alberdi141.552344.352197.2023Jozef Curma122.732245.092377.64

Women's singles +Women's results Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS Lara Naki Gutmann 202.51 1 67.25 1 135.26 Anna Pezzetta 192.97 2 66.78 2 126.19 Sarina Joos 180.36 5 59.85 4 120.51 4 Mariia Seniuk 178.92 7 58.33 3 120.59 5 Sara-Maude Dupuis 178.77 3 64.16 6 114.61 6 Lorine Schild 175.48 6 59.01 5 116.47 7 Starr Andrews 167.24 4 60.67 8 106.57 8 Niina Petrõkina 162.32 16 49.10 7 113.22 9 Nataly Langerbaur 156.22 12 53.11 9 103.11 10 Vanesa Šelmeková 155.16 9 56.34 11 98.82 11 Elyce Lin-Gracey 154.03 13 52.34 10 101.69 12 Kim Chae-yeon 148.96 8 56.88 14 92.08 13 Aleksandra Dolinskė 144.24 18 48.43 12 95.81 14 Elizabet Gervits 141.94 11 54.96 16 86.98 15 Julia Van Dijk 140.49 14 51.14 15 89.35 16 Ava Marie Ziegler 140.27 10 55.80 18 84.47 17Barbora Vranková138.321944.911393.41 18Clemence Mayindu135.621550.801784.82 19 Nina Povey 130.93 17 48.48 19 82.45 20 Sadie Weng 114.44 20 40.89 20 73.55 21 Ana Sofia Beschea 103.42 22 36.65 21 66.77 22 Julia Fennell 94.22 23 32.22 22 62.00 WD Jade Hovine Withdrew 21 38.19 Withdrew from competition

Ice dance +Ice dance results Rank Team Nation Total points RD FD 192.67 2 74.44 1 118.23 186.60 1 76.55 5 110.05 184.18 7 71.77 2 112.41 4 183.40 4 72.09 3 111.31 5 183.05 3 72.72 4 110.33 6 173.90 6 71.78 6 102.12 7 172.44 5 72.08 7 100.36 8 163.60 8 65.18 8 98.42 9 144.00 9 57.32 9 86.68 10 140.28 10 54.07 10 86.21 11 129.54 12 48.18 11 81.36 12 125.66 11 50.37 12 75.29

References

Works cited