The Grand Prix Final 2023 is now complete, and we knew it would be a wild one — we just didn’t know HOW wild! From historic jumps to messy twizzles, the competitors in Beijing, China, kept us guessing until the very end, and we love them for it.

Men’s Competition

One of the most stacked men’s final’s in recent memory! While Ilia Malinin had been focused on progressing his composition scores earlier this season, he threw down the gauntlet here by landing the first quad axel in a short program ever.

That gave his the thinnest lead over World Champion Shoma Uno going into the long. Both men had extraordinary free skates, with Shoma showing off his ever-increasing artistic brilliance — and bringing a lot of heat on the jumps as well! But Ilia had just too much technical fire power to beat — winning with his personal best score.

With Shoma firmly in silver, the bronze went to Japan’s comeback kid, Yuma Kagiama. A brilliant short program and a flawed but emotive free skate punctuated by his remarkable skating skills gave him the well-deserved medal.

1. Ilia Malinin, USA, 314.66 points
2. Shoma Uno, JPN, 297.34
3. Yuma Kagiyama, JPN, 288.65
4. Adam Siao Him Fa, FRA, 278.28
5. Kao Miura, JPN, 261.53
6. Kevin Aymoz, FRA, 219.91

Ice Dance Competition

Typically we have an inkling of what to expect in the dance event going into a final. This season, with the unexpected win of Fear & Gibson at NHK Trophy, as well as some very “all over the place” scoring, it felt a little more up in the air.

However, in the end, the three teams on the podium were exactly who we would have expected when the season began.

World Champions Madison Chock & Evan Bates reminded everyone why they won Worlds 2023 and skated two clean, inventive, gorgeous programs to take the gold.

In silver position, the Italian team of Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri shook off the vibes from their NHK defeat and came in on fire. 

In bronze position, the dramatic and lovely team of Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier of Canada seemed to be skating only for the joy of it and for each other. Programs we have not been super fond of this season showed massive improvement and displayed their true artistry.

1. Madison Chock / Evan Bates, USA, 221.61
2. Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri, ITA, 215.51
3. Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier, CAN, 213.58
4. Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson, GBR, 202.27
5. Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen, CAN, 195.57
6. Majorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha, CAN, 193.63

Women’s Competition

As was destined, reigning figure skating queen Kaori Sakamoto dominated this competition with two nearly flawless skates. A gold for the competition and a forever gold in our hearts.

In second, Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx had a strong short program and a mostly good free program that, while looking a little sluggish, still showed why she is consistently on podiums. 

In third, a somewhat unexpected showing from Japan’s rising star, Hana Yoshida, made people take notice. Her triple axel in the long may have been slightly under-rotated, but she absolutely shined in the free skate following an iffy short to take the medal.

1. Kaori Sakamoto, JPN, 225.70 points
2. Loena Hendrickx, BEL, 203.36
3. Hana Yoshida, JPN, 203.16
4. Nina Pinzarrone, BEL, 194.91
5. Isabeau Levito, USA, 191.86
6. Rion Sumiyoshi, JPN, 180.39

Pairs Competition

Fresh from back-to-back GP wins, Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin kept the streak alive with another win — this one over the reigning World bronze medalists and the unequivocal favorites for the championship coming in. 

In second, Italy’s Sara Conti &  Niccolo Macii finally seem to have shaken off the issues that plagued them so far this season and skated two lovely programs that almost won them the competition. 

In third, the favorites coming in from Canada, Deanna Stellato Dudek & Maxime Dechamps, had errors in both their short and long programs that held them back from capturing the top spot.  

1. Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nikita Volodin, GER, 206.43 points
2. Sara Conti / Niccolò Macii, ITA, 205.88
3. Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps, CAN, 204.30
4. Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko, HUN, 192.02
5. Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini, ITA, 188.85
6. Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud, CAN, 185.16

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