The second International Skating Union Grand Prix qualifier is here. The Skate Canada International is taking place this weekend between Friday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Nov. 1, with all four figure skating categories making an appearance.
Each Grand Prix qualifying event features 12 women, 12 men, eight pairs and 10 ice dance couples while the Grand Prix Final, in December, features six women, men, pairs and ice dance couples.
This week is the Skate Canada International, which has been held since 1973, according to the Skate Canada website. The event was then added to the Grand Prix Series as a part of the original five Grand Prix qualifiers in 1995, and has been on the calendar every year since, aside from 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once again, the women’s singles category has a lot of firepower; the top women at the Skate Canada International are 2023 United States National Champion and 2024 World Silver Medalist Isabeau Levito, four-time Canadian National Champion Madeline Schizas, four-time Estonian National Champion and two-time reigning European Champion Niina Petrokina and three-time Korean National Champion Jia Shin.
Also competing at Skate Canada are 2025 Italian National Champion Anna Pezzetta, four-time World Junior Champion Mao Shimada, Sofia Samodelkina, Viktoriia Safonova, Sara-Maude Dupuis, Fee Ann Landry, Saki Miyake and Yujae Kim.
At the Skate Canada International, the top men’s skaters are seven-time French National Champion Kevin Aymoz, four-time Estonian National Champion Mihhail Selevko, three-time reigning Czechia National Champion Georgii Reshtenko and 2026 Canadian National Champion Steven Gogolev.
There is also 2024 Canadian National Champion Wesley Chiu, 2026 German National Champion Genrikh Gartung, 2024 Ukrainian National Champion Kyrylo Marsak, two-time World Junior Champion Rio Nakata, Liam Kapeikis, David Bondar, Kazuki Tomono and Hyun-gyeom Kim competing.
For the pairs category at the Skate Canada International, the top skaters are two-time reigning United States National Champions and 2026 Four Continents Champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, two-time Canadian National Champions Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, two-time Swiss National Champions Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart and two-time Ukrainian National Champions Sofiia Holichenko and Artem Darenskyi.
Also competing at Skate Canada are 2026 Canadian National Champions and World Bronze Medalists Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, 2026 Czechia National Champions Anna Valesi and Martin Bidar, Miyu Yunoki and Tristan Taylor and Irma Caldara and Riccardo Maglio.
Out of the 10 Ice Dance couples, the biggest names are eight-time British National Champions Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, three-time French National Champions Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, two-time Canadian National Champions Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys and two-time Italian National Champions Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara.
There are also 2022 Four Continents Champions Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, Oona and Gage Brown, Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski, Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, Alyssa Robinson and Jacob Portz and Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval competing as well.
The weekend starts on Friday, Oct. 30, with the Men’s Short Program at 9 p.m. EST and the Pairs Short Program at 11:15 p.m. EST.
Saturday, Oct. 31, has all four disciplines starting with the Women’s Short Program at 3:30 p.m. EST, followed by the Ice Dance’s Rhythm Dance at 5:20 p.m. EST. The penultimate event on Saturday is the Men’s Free Skate at 7:40 p.m. EST while the night will end with the Pairs Free Skate at 9:45 p.m. EST.
Finally, on Sunday, Nov. 1, the Women’s Free Skate will take place at 4 p.m. before the weekend ends with the Ice Dance Free Dance at 6:15 p.m.
In the United States, you can watch all the Skate Canada International events plus highlights afterwards on Peacock.