2025-26 Grand Prix assignments released | Page 13 | Golden Skate

2025-26 Grand Prix assignments released

Nina Pinzarrone has withdrawn from both of her GPs, Skate Canada and NHK.
More info on Nina's withdrawals:

She was dealing with a foot fracture. Later on, she had to have another surgery because an open wound caused an infection that went up to her knee.
 
44 Hiwatashi no spots ...
55 Gogolev no spots
Sigh... Both Tomoki Hiwatashi and Stephen Gogolev now have their two GP spots. Aleksandr Selevko is currently at the top of the alternates list and will be next in line for a second spot should someone else pull out in enough time for a substitution to take place. I wish Levandi and Shmuratko could have received at least one spot. But it is what it is. Swamp the ISU with complaints if you care enough and have better ideas to suggest they employ.
 
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Complain to the ISU, then. And let them know your better ideas for the GP selection process. Bottom line: Pulkinen has previously had top level competitive results and he's popularly regarded for his talent. He was invited by Finland federation to participate at Finlandia Trophy, as he usually has been. His father has Finnish heritage.

And again, it should not be difficult to understand the fact that Maxim Naumov was initially a Skate America host selection by U.S. fed. Some fans may not want to believe it, but IMO, there's no doubt that all three U.S. guys, and likely many other invited athletes competing at GP France were initially set to compete at Skate America (aside from the French skaters). When the rescheduling switch took place between France and the U.S., many of the assigned skaters did not switch, especially the three U.S. men: Malinin, Naumov, and Torgashev. And the three Italian men now competing at Skate America: Circelli, Rizzo, and Grassl.

Once again, Pulkinen is no longer competing on the GP. He's injured. So you might as well stop beating the drum about him. Also, for goodness sake, please cease complaining about Maxim Naumov receiving one GP (initially a host selection). Find some other skaters who got GPs over those who didn't to complain about. There are plenty of skaters, besides talented Maxim Naumov (who grievously lost his parents), to pull from the GP assignment list and complain about. Quite clearly, the World standings rankings are NOT a major nor important factor in determining the GP selection process.

Of course, you can continue your complaining if you wish. It will be to no avail. The process is not going to change next year. The sport of figure skating is not and has never been fair. I'm sure plenty of skaters can bear witness to this harsh reality.
Ok, calm down :ROFLMAO:

Imo, I don't buy that America and France switched. If you look at the women it doesn't make any sense. And as I said, the schedule and locations were announced the same time as the assignments in early June.

And...Pulkinen (with his typical Finnish name) was not invited to Finland, it was China.

And of course I know the tragedy about Naumov's parents. It was just horrible!

But to argue that Pulkinen is popular so that's why he was invited!??!! That is just not how sports work. Sport is competition, and the skaters are ranked based on their results.

I know in the past the GP has been very fishy with their invitations here and there. But the ISU are tightening the rules, which is good. The Alternate List is an example of that, where now you have to replace a skater with the top name on the list. That wasn't the case before.

And the trouble for arranging the competitions are already taken care of in the rules. The host gets to pick 3 entries whatever their ranking is. And yes, the US has three skaters outside of the top ranks that got assigned. Naumov, Pulkinen and Kapeikis. But only Kapeikis is competing at Skate America, as Naumov was assigned to France and Pulkinen to China. So that's why I said that the US fed gained two spots. It was just a statement. It is what it is. But if people are trying to defend it and saying it is fair, I will complain, because there is no fairness in that at all.
 
It's not important for you to buy anything @Jontor. Gripe to your heart's content. The figure skating world will continue to turn, as it will. Beat up on some other countries for taking up spots for their athletes on the GP. There's no equity in this sport, but there's a ton of politics. Maybe you should write a thesis on the GP selection process favoring U.S. men in 2025. And then go back and check how many years U.S. men received the most spots. And oh boy, what about the other disciplines. 🫣🙄

At least, we know you will be Jontor-on-the-spot policing this brazen inequity. The gall of U.S. fed! 😱
 
But to argue that Pulkinen is popular so that's why he was invited!??!!
Ask Finland federation why they have consistently invited Pulkinen. Ask Chinese federation why they invited Pulkinen this season. I have not argued anything. I merely stated facts, which I will reiterate: Pulkinen is a talented skater who has previously had top level results. He's injured and thus he has pulled out of his GP assignment. Gogolev and Hiwatashi received second spots as a result of Broussard and Pulkinen having to withdraw from their GPs. You no longer need to beat the drum about Pulkinen receiving a GP spot. But I guess you are having fun doing so.
 
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Ask Finland federation why they have consistently invited Pulkinen. I have not argued anything. I merely stated facts, which I will reiterate: Pulkinen is a talented skater who has previously had top level results. He's injured and thus he has pulled out of Finlandia Trophy. Gogolev has received a second spot as a result. You no longer need to beat the drum about Pulkinen receiving a GP spot. But I guess you are having fun doing so.
Yes I know, but previous years Pulkinen had the ranks, he didn't have it this year. And again, he WASN'T invited to Finland, it was China. Gogolev got Finland because of Broussard's withdrawal.

Your facts are old. Pulkinen is indeed a talented skater and has previously been top ranked. He wasn't this year. And that is because he had a bad season last year. So the "previous" we are talking about is two+ years old results.

There are A LOT of skaters that had great results two seasons ago. Do you want to give them GP spots as well?
 
And again, it should not be difficult to understand the fact that Maxim Naumov was initially a Skate America host selection by U.S. fed. Some fans may not want to believe it, but IMO, there's no doubt that all three U.S. guys, and likely many other invited athletes competing at GP France were initially set to compete at Skate America (aside from the French skaters).
Juat a darn minute.

We knew April 9 that Skate America was moved to November. There was a whole thread about "Why was Skate America moved to November" that was started April 9. Probably the ISU and USFS knew well before it was announced, so well before April 9.

Assignments were announced June 6.

Are you telling me that the USA made their host picks prior to Skate America being moved (ie prior to April 9)? Did they make all their picks before April 9? Did all the hosts make all their picks prior to April 9 (since the US isn't picking in a vacuum)? And then the US and France just swapped choices? What about pairs? Did the US choose Shin/Nagy and MacBeath/Parkmann for Skate America and they just got swapped out to GPFrance?

I think the change of dates probably did have some effect on the assignments, but only for the seeded skaters who were in a position to make their preferences known. For example, Mallinin might have wanted Skate America AND first event, and when that was impossible, chose by date instead of location.

But I highly doubt that USFSA actually chose skaters (as in officially) prior to April 9. And then strong-armed the French federation into inviting them to GP France.
 
The World Team Trophy - which counted as the SB score for some skaters - was on 17th April. That is AFTER Skate America was moved. It is impossible that all the allocations were done before the dates for the GP de France and Skate America changed, because they did not know either the SB top 24 or the WS top 24 at the point the change was made.
 
Assuming that Sofia Samodelkina declined a second spot, I think both of those go the Seoyoung Kim. She is next on the replacement list and does not currently have any spots (unless I am not seeing an allocation).
Given I am going to Skate Canada, I am keeping my fingers crossed Samo can take an assignment... but chances are, she has not yet recovered.
 
Given I am going to Skate Canada, I am keeping my fingers crossed Samo can take an assignment... but chances are, she has not yet recovered.
I am wondering if she is still on top of the alternate list, I guess she had to prove she wasn't avalaible for China somehow. If not, that spot in Canada will surely go to Kim...or Yun.

Worst case scenario in my mind is that Samo will withdraw from NHK....and if that's the case - no GP for Samo this year.
 
The World Team Trophy - which counted as the SB score for some skaters - was on 17th April. That is AFTER Skate America was moved. It is impossible that all the allocations were done before the dates for the GP de France and Skate America changed, because they did not know either the SB top 24 or the WS top 24 at the point the change was made.
And also, the season went on until the end of May (smaller contests still counts), so the WS list couldn't have been finalized until after that.
Conclusion, the assignments were made between 28th of May and 6th of June, and that is nearly two months after the Skate America and France GPs had switched.
 
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I am wondering if she is still on top of the alternate list, I guess she had to prove she wasn't avalaible for China somehow. If not, that spot in Canada will surely go to Kim...or Yun.

Worst case scenario in my mind is that Samo will withdraw from NHK....and if that's the case - no GP for Samo this year.
I am sure she can prove that. She spoke publicly about her injury when she WD from Ten. It is possible she might withdraw from Japan as well. I mean, the schedule is very tight so she doesn't have much room. And this year is probably not about GP for her, since it is her first Olympics!
 
Ot. Camden has roots everywhere. His grandfather is from Finland, grandmother, who married the Finn, from France and mother from Thailand. I suppose Finland gave, if they could choose, the open spot(s) to neighbour(s) to attract some audience from there also. I do not know is Selevko's spot host one or would he have got it in any case.
 
I've just assumed there were some deals made as incentive for Skate America to swap dates. A little, "Sure, we'll swap, but what's in it for us?"
I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it was USFS that wanted Skate America later. In 2017 (in the run-up to the Olympics 2 Olympics ago) it was in Lake Placid November 24-26 (the last GP event). That may just be coincidence.

Lake Placid may be one of those "fallback" locations for USFS-organized events, like Colorado Springs (allegedly). Similarly, Skate Canada seems to have Vancouver as a "fallback" location.
 
I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it was USFS that wanted Skate America later. In 2017 (in the run-up to the Olympics 2 Olympics ago) it was in Lake Placid November 24-26 (the last GP event). That may just be coincidence.

Lake Placid may be one of those "fallback" locations for USFS-organized events, like Colorado Springs (allegedly). Similarly, Skate Canada seems to have Vancouver as a "fallback" location.
They used to move SA later to have a SA/Nationals/Olympics package for TV.
 
They used to move SA later to have a SA/Nationals/Olympics package for TV.
That's what I remembered people saying in 2017!

I just checked the dates since 1995 (when the Grand Prix series became a series). It has been the first event every year except 2009 (Lake Placid, Olympic season), 2017 (Lake Placid, Olympic season), 2025 (Lake Placid, Olympic season) and 2010 (Portland, the "odd man out").
 
I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it was USFS that wanted Skate America later. In 2017 (in the run-up to the Olympics 2 Olympics ago) it was in Lake Placid November 24-26 (the last GP event). That may just be coincidence.

Lake Placid may be one of those "fallback" locations for USFS-organized events, like Colorado Springs (allegedly). Similarly, Skate Canada seems to have Vancouver as a "fallback" location.
I think my "source" was from reading posts when the change was first announced. Like this one...
I heard at Worlds by a follow journalist that Angers wasn‘t able to host the event at the originally planed weekend as they wouldn’t be able to get the venue for that weekend.

So they were still willing to host but had to find someone to swap with.

Looks like they found that partner in Skate America.
 
I think my "source" was from reading posts when the change was first announced. Like this one...
That makes sense as well. NBC probably doesn't have the clout over USFS that it used to have. And Lake Plaid may be a coincidence due to it being one of the locations (along with Colorado Springs) that USFS can get on short notice. Maybe USFS was willing to change because they have experience with Lade Placid in November.
 
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