Fall Internationals
Fall international events have existed for decades. In 1995, the International Skating Union brought five of the most popular senior events together into a series offering prize money in response to the then-success of professional skating. The events were Skate America, Skate Canada International, Trophée de France, Nations Cup (later known as Sparkassen Cup and Bofrost Cup), and the NHK Trophy. They comprised the Champions Series, since renamed the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, and took up the fall. They concluded with a Final held in the spring before the World Championships in which the top six skaters in each discipline compete against each other. In 2001, the Final was moved to December. This leads to the confusion of having had two Finals within one calendar year. In 1996, a sixth event was added: the Cup of Russia. The event in Germany was replaced in 2003 with the Cup of China.
Other internationals traditionally held in the fall, such as the Nebelhorn Trophy, exist independently of the Grand Prix circuit.
In 1997, the ISU instituted the ISU Junior Series, since renamed the ISU Junior Grand Prix, which contains more competitions than its senior counterpart and allows more skaters to compete in the Final. The Final was originally held in March, but was moved to December in 1999. The Junior Grand Prix currently holds its first competition in August and so kicks off the ISU calendar of competitions for the season.
Read more about this topic: Figure Skating Season
Famous quotes containing the word fall:
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—Agnes Repplier (1858–1950)