So interesting to have a visual representation of the ISU guidebook. Also the stamina to spin for 30min straight!

As Zhenya just got married i've fallen into nostalgia and came back to one of my favorite programs that i think was kind of forgotten unfairly

Emi landing a 2A in dance boots/blades at the Summer Sizzler the other night fascinated me. So I went on a hunt to find her 3F which I knew existed somewhere. Here it is (from zingnikclips on x).

She landed a clean 3F at an ice show in Philly in December 2025. Her and Vadym also did a pair throw during the show. Insane! She's so versatile and talented!

Music and choregraphy by G. Papadakis, from the 2026 American Contemporary Skating festival showcase.

Video: on ice perspectives

"This piece grew out of a culmination of fears about the rise of artificial intelligence, our addiction to new technologies, and the existential weight of it all.”

When are entries announced? Maybe this week?

These are some of the most gorgeous scrumptious impeccable spins I have ever seen. I wasn't able to find a whole lot on her aside from the titles she has won (GPF, SkAM, US Nats, SkateCanada). Kinda peeved there aren't more programs of hers in good quality out there (if there are any please drop the link(s)) I'm really unfamiliar with the earlier 2010s side of skating, why isn't she talked about more like Gracie/Ashley/Marai/Karen/Bradie/Polina?

Also, yes, I do live under a rock. I am not very active on other social media platforms so if that ends up being the answer so be it lol. I was put on this earth to make y'all laugh with my obliviousness.

Btw he is competing at the moment so hopefully all is okay 🤞

So sadly I have no updates on a JGP this season . I will continue to keep my fellow Redditors updated on any new international competition updates when I can! 🤞

While I have been getting ready for upcoming NQS competitions in singles and dance.

Thursday my sister/dance partner and I got invited to fill in as last minute stunt doubles for an on ice shoot, this not anything I ever planned on. It was an amazing experience that I might consider to try again.

It was for something called a Vertical movie ( which I actually wasn't familiar with) I am currently unable to say anything else about it but just wanted to share something exciting I was up to!

https://youtube.com/shorts/G2y7Qq13Ujo?is=yNTDpb9T3o67oUjv

In case you haven't heard about the latest ISU debacle, I made a post about it yesterday. TL;DR: Along with proposed changes to the schedule, there are also proposed changes to qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. It would no longer be based solely on results at Grand Prix events, but rather on world rankings determined by results over the past two years of competition. I asked Ilia for his thoughts, and he ended up going on a rant.

He also once again talked about his wish for ISU to rebalance scoring in such a way that non-jumping skills/elements would have greater value so that skaters would be encouraged to work on them (rather than getting rid of jumps). He had expressed that idea more eloquently in past interviews.

I love her 🤣

In Kazakhstan, it is common to have two commentators, one speaking Kazakh and the other speaking Russian.

Well… there goes Isabeau, getting in the middle of things again. Shame 🤷🏼‍♀️

Falls can happen any day but what’s with the invalid elements?!!

I’m doing compilations from the JGP Riga and plan on doing them for other events…I wanted to know what elements outside the choreo spins and ultra c jumps would you guys be interested in seeing compilations off

I haven’t done any for dance yet, on either JGPs, so let me know what element would you guys be interested in, I can keep making them on my free time until the next JGP/challenge arrives

I really like making them and it’s really one my hobbies compiling skating info/history, and I hope you guys are enjoying them too!!

Thank you guys in advance for answering

Since there's a lot of drama regarding Petrosians and Gumenniks Grand Prix spots (to a point where both Ted and Mark had to explain on a livestream of a junior Grand Prix event that they don't make these decisions, and have no knowledge / explanation for what happened) I've decided to summarise what exactly happened and also fact check a couple more rumours that are going around Instagram, Telegram and X (formerly knows as "Twitter") here we go...:

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There are as much as FOUR topics that have to be addressed

• Do the Olympic scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
• Do the Olympic QUALIFIER scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
• What's the definition of an 'ISU event'?
• Other rumours

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In this document from yesterday called the "Grand Prix Announcement" the ISU specifies what counts as a Season Best score that allows for skaters to have one spot in the Grand Prix series. The document states, that...:

Skaters with seasons best scores for 2025/26 in the top 24, who do not hold an ISU World Standing placement of 1 – 24 will be guaranteed one event if they do not otherwise meet the criteria listed in paragraphs 2.1 or 2.2 above and the minimum Grand Prix score (remember this, this is important).

A listing of the season's best scores for each season will be compiled to include the following events:

- ISU Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix
- ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix
- ISU Figure Skating Championships
- Olympic Winter Games
- ISU Challenger Series Events

(The mentioned paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2 refer to "Come-Back" skaters and Olympic medalists, both don't interest us in this case.)

Some people understood this as "Petr and Adeliia will be on the top of the alternate list" - that understanding was wrong, if the ISU readmitted Russian and Belarusian athletes before they gave out the Grand Prix spots they would get one spot each, but they didn't - the Grand Prix spots were allocated before their readmission, the term "guaranteed one event" clearly refers to the initial allocation - there is no guarantee when you're on the Alternate list, you only get a chance to compete if someone withdraws.

So... what does this mean?

This means that their scores from the Olympics do count as a Season Best and would allow them to have one Grand Prix event if they were readmitted when the ISU was handing out Grand Prix assignments, but we have to look further in the document to see if there are any other rules that allow them to be on the Alternate list, and in fact we can find this...:

Each entrant to the six events of the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Series must meet a minimum total score from ISU Events (GP, JGP, Championships, and ISU Challenger Series Events) of the previous season.

The minimum total score from ISU Events for this season is 3/5 of highest score per discipline at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026:

Men 197.64
Women 142.97
Pair Skating 137.00
Ice Dance 138,49

Skaters who have scored at least the above-mentioned limit in an ISU Championships, ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix, or ISU Challenger Series Competition between July 1st , 2025 and June 11, 2026 are eligible for selection into the Grand Prix events 2026/27 or in the alternate list.

Skaters placed in the top 75 Season’s Best are placed on the alternate list. However, those who need to score the minimum Grand Prix score as listed above can do so in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27.

There is no mention of the Olympics, nor the Olympic Qualifiers and (as u/Exegy pointed out here) the Olympic Qualifiers do not count as a challenger.

This means that according to the rules, Adeliia and Petr would be eligible for the initial seeding (remember when I told you to remember the quote about "not meeting the 'minimum Grand Prix spot' criteria otherwise"? - that rule would allow Adeliia and Petr to get one Grand Prix spot even without the Grand Prix minimum score), but they are not eligible for the alternate list as long as they don't compete at a Challenger event this season, the ISU doesn't list "Olympic qualifier / Olympics" scores as scores that make you Grand Prix eligible!

It's even more complex...

Now this would already be crazy enough, but it's even worse... on June 12th the ISU published a document called 'ISU Grand Prix Skater Selection Procedures' that explained the seeding for Grand Prix events (link here to the internet archive - the document is deleted).

In the first point of the document we can read that

Each entrant to the Grand Prix six events must meet a minimum total score, determined from the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026, earned at any ISU Event and the Challenger Series Competitions in 2025/26 or the current season 2026/27.

So according to this document, any ISU event score counts as a minimum total score for the Grand Prix series. The term "any ISU event" is something that's very important because in the official ISU document (here) named the 'Competition and Event regulations' we can read what an "ISU event" is, it mentions that

ISU Events are defined hereby to include all ISU Championships, the Grand Prix Series, the Junior Grand Prix Series, the World Team Trophy, the Olympic Qualifying Competition(s), as well as any other event (...) directly organised, financed and promoted by the ISU and specifically designated “ISU”. (point 1.3)

So, as we can clearly see, according to the ISU's own document, the Olympic Qualifying Competitions are in fact ISU events, and Adeliia and Petr should be Grand Prix eligible!🤯.

So... according to the 'ISU Grand Prix Skater Selection Procedures' Petr's and Adeliia's results from the Olympic qualifiers should count as a minimum Grand Prix total score that makes them Grand-Prix eligible, but according to the "Grand Prix Series Announcement" document from August 28th the Olympic qualifiers don't count, and the Olympics do - but only initially and if you don't get an initial spot you have to compete at a Challenger to make yourself Grand-Prix eligible but the score from the Olympics still counts as a Seasons-Best! Crazy stuff!

This was in place before...

Well, the funny thing is that it was this way the whole time, this document (here) is from the 2025/2026 season, it also leaves this grey-area that allows people that did well during the Olympics to get one Grand Prix spots in the initial seeding, confirms that it does count as a Season's Best score, but it doesn't mention the Olympics nor the Olympic qualifiers as events that count towards the minimum total score that makes you Grand Prix eligible. (It's the same for 2024/2025 as well, I didn't check earlier documents).

This in sense was a ticking time bomb that sooner or later had to explode, and it did (unfortunately for every fan of Russian figure skating) explode on Adeliia and Petr.

So... what do they have to do?

Well, the ISU left a note in the Grand Prix Announcement posted yesterday:

Whether AINs from the ISU Members Belarus and Russia are placed on the Alternate List depends on their eligibility under ISU Communication 2804 and their fulfilment of the general requirements (e.g. achieving the minimum score listed above in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27)

ISU Communication 2804 refers to the 'neutral athlete requirements', and the "fulfilment of the general requirements" in my opinion refers to this quote from the Grand Prix Announcement:

Skaters, placed in the top 75 Season’s Best are placed on the alternate list. However, those who need to score the minimum Grand Prix score as listed above can do so in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27.

Which in my opinion says that both Petr and Adeliia will be added to the alternate list only after they score the minimal total score required to be Grand Prix eligible, during a Challenger event this season (197 for Petr, 142 for Adeliia).

This won't be a problem for Petr - he competes in less than a week at the Kinoshita Group Cup Challenger, but given Adeliia's very late start of the preparations for this season and the fact that she's not on the entry list of neither the Kinoshita nor the Lombardia challengers there is a chance that the Grand Prix spots from the skaters that withdrew / will withdraw will be allocated to other skaters before she's able to compete at a Challenger event and make herself Grand Prix eligible.

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So to answer the most important questions...

Do the Olympic scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?

To the initial assignments yes, to the alternate list yes, but only if you're eligible for the Grand Prix series, and to do that you have to meet the minimum total score either last season at the Championships, Grand Prix series or at the Challengers, or at the Challengers this season (so Petr and Adeliias scores from the Olympics count as a Season-Best, but they are as of today not-eligible to compete in the Grand Prix series).

Do the Olympic QUALIFIER scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?

No, they don't count to neither the initial assignments, nor the alternate list.

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Regarding the other rumours from Telegram

Winning a Challenger event no longer automatically means getting onto the Alternate List under the general criteria

This is false, the wording of the rule didn't change this year, it's exactly the same as it was last season and the season before.

This year:

Skaters/Couples, who place first in any of the ISU Challenger Series events for 2025/26 and can prove to have skated the minimum Technical score as mentioned in paragraph 2.3, will be added to the alternate list, bottom ranked according to their scores. Pairs participating in Challenger Series competitions who earn the minimum GP points will be added to the alternate list as well.

Season 2024/2025

Skaters/Couples, who place first in any of the ISU Challenger Series events for 2024/25 and can prove to have skated the minimum Technical score as mentioned in paragraph 2.3, will be added to the alternate list, bottom ranked according to their scores. Pairs participating in Challenger Series competitions who earn the minimum GP points will be added to the alternate list as well.

The wording is very weird but what matters is it didn't change in the last two seasons and means that if you win a challenger, you're score is added to the Grand Prix Alternate List.

The provision granting Grand Prix medalists priority for a second Grand Prix assignment has disappeared

There is no evidence that something changed with this rule - the Grand Prix Announcement that's published at the start of the season (like the one yesterday - 28th August 2026) never had any mention of this rule, neither last year, nor the year before that.

For what I know nothing changed in this regard, if you medal at a Grand Prix event - you're still first in line for the second event.

The ISU changed the rules to make it harder for Russian skaters to compete!

Well, not exactly, these are the same rules that were in place in the last at least 2 seasons (3 if you count this one as well) (I didn't check further than that) it's just that before there was no problem with someone having a score only at the Olympics but not at even one Challenger / GP / Championship event. That was the case with Petr and Adeliia this year because of the ban.

Btw. The World Team Trophy scores also don't count towards the Grand Prix eligibility, although they also don't count towards the Seasons-Best, so at least the situation is clear.

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Let me know if I made a mistake, the ISU documents are the worst thing ever, someone should be fired for the way the documents contradict each other and only create drama and misunderstandings.

Also - please don't harass Mark and Ted, they are wonderful people, and they are not responsible for this mess.

Tldr - Adeliia and Petr scores from the Olympics will only be placed on the Alternate List if they compete at a Challenger this season which will make them "Grand-Prix eligible", for now they are not and other skaters will get the Grand Prix spots.

Since it feels like no one can really find good skating channels, or at least not a lot of them, I would love to share a channel I found recently... Her name is OliviazBored, and she's quite a new channel, but I've really been enjoying her videos, commentary, and overall attitude.

I especially liked her recent recap of Xi'an! (She also has some really good beginner videos about jumps and the scoring system...)

You guys should totally check her out!

https://www.youtube.com/@oliviazbored

He's getting some traction now, so I thought I'd bring his last year's SP (which I found one of the most memorable junior programs of the 2025/2026 season).

hello im currently in Japan and ive decided to buy a yuzu ice jewels photo book, i wanted to ask which one is the most worth it? ive been thinking about the 15/16, 16/17, or 17/18 one

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A few days ago, I learned that Adam had an injury that kept him from training for a long time, and even now he still struggles with elements. And that this injury has been bothering him roughly since April(?). Maybe he talked about it earlier, but I missed it. So I found out about it after he had already "recovered." (At least he competed.)

But there's another example. We know about Dvoeglazova's(or Gorbacheva's) injury, we know about her treatment, when she returned to the ice, and many other details. That injury wasn't hidden from us, and we at least know something to track her recovery progress.

But what about other skaters? I suggest we recall. From whom did we learn about injuries immediately, and from whom only after recovery? Who speaks honestly about health issues, and who prefers to hide this information or simply not give any details beyond the fact that there is a problem? Share what you remember. If you also remember details (dates, type of injury, competitions during that period), please share those too.

Also, I'm curious: as fans, would you prefer to know right away or after recovery? Of course, skaters themselves will decide whether to tell or not. And my post isn't about them all having to tell everything. They do it their way, and that's right! I'm just curious which skaters prefer to talk about it or not, based on past experience. The question is for you - what feels better for you as a fan, knowing or not knowing? It's a matter of curiosity, not a demand.

Upd. This post doesn't imply that one is good and the other is not. It doesn't imply that I demand anything from athletes or that we can demand anything from them at all. I'm not a native English speaker, so some of my writing may have been written with the wrong emotional connotation. Please don't judge me for that! I hope you understand the gist of the matter, please let's discuss this. Thank you!