ISU Challenger Series
The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Each event consists of at least three disciplines out of four (men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing), and is required to take place between August 1 and December 15.
The ISU Challenger Series Synchronized Skating is a separate competition series in the discipline of synchronized skating.
History
The ISU Council decided to create the series at its February 2014 meeting. Eleven competitions were selected in June 2014. The Triglav Trophy dropped out by October 10, 2014, resulting in a series composed of ten events. The Nebelhorn Trophy, Finlandia Trophy, Ondrej Nepela Memorial, and Golden Spin of Zagreb are the "core group". The event criteria were published in April 2014, and revised in August 2014.
The notice on the ISU Challenger Series Synchronized Skating was announced on May 10, 2019, which is for the discipline of synchronized skating and is held separately from the other ISU Challenger Series.
Asian Open Classic was planned to be included in the 2019–20 season, but ISU transferred the event holding right back to Asian Open Trophy later.
In the 2020–21 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to hold the Challenger competitions as individual events, rather than as a series. Entry limits per country were also removed.
Events
| Title | Country | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Open Classic | Chinese Taipei | Replaced | |||||||||
| Asian Open Trophy |
Thailand (2018) China (2019–21) |
Yes | Added | Cancelled | Lost status | ||||||
| Autumn Classic | Canada | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | Yes | Yes | ||
| Budapest Trophy | Hungary | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||||
| Cup of Tyrol | Austria |
Cancelled |
|||||||||
| Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | Kazakhstan | Cancelled | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Denkova-Staviski Cup | Bulgaria | Yes | |||||||||
| Finlandia Trophy | Finland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | Croatia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ice Challenge | Austria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | |||||
| Ice Star | Belarus | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Inge Solar Trophy | Austria | Yes | Replaced | ||||||||
| Lombardia Trophy | Italy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Mordovian Ornament | Russia | Yes | |||||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | Germany | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nepela Memorial | Slovakia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | Cancelled | Yes | Yes |
| Tallinn Trophy | Estonia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Triglav Trophy | Slovenia | Dropped | |||||||||
| Ukrainian Open | Ukraine | Cancelled | |||||||||
| U.S. Classic | United States | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Volvo Open Cup | Latvia | Yes | |||||||||
| Warsaw Cup | Poland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cancelled | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- Held as individual events rather than as a series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Hosted by the Hong Kong Skating Union in 2019.
- Not enough international participants.
- Officially named as "the Cup of Austria by IceChallenge".
Top three finishers per season
Each skater or team is permitted to compete in up to three ISU Challenger Series events. Their two highest scores determine the final ranking.
Men
Women
Pairs
Ice dance
Top finishers standings
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | 14 | 8 | 10 | 32 |
| 2 | United States | 6 | 8 | 7 | 21 |
| 3 | Italy | 6 | 6 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | Canada | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | South Korea | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Czech Republic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| France | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 | Poland | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | Georgia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 14 | Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (17 entries) | 32 | 32 | 32 | 96 | |
Top scores per season
Men
| Season | Name | 1st event | Points | 2nd event | Points | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Michal Březina | 2014 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 228.48 | 2014 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 239.62 | 468.10 |
| 2015–16 | Jason Brown | 2015 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy | 239.37 | 2015 CS Ice Challenge | 240.65 | 480.02 |
| 2016–17 | Jason Brown | 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy | 256.49 | 2016 CS U.S. International Classic | 254.04 | 510.53 |
| 2017–18 | Mikhail Kolyada | 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy | 247.81 | 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy | 248.50 | 496.31 |
| 2018–19 | Mikhail Kolyada | 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy | 274.37 | 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 253.14 | 527.51 |
| 2019–20 | Dmitri Aliev | 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy | 249.62 | 2019 CS Nepela Memorial | 255.32 | 504.94 |
| 2020–21 | Held as individual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021–22 | Petr Gumennik | 2021 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge | 263.14 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup | 242.91 | 506.05 |
| 2022–23 | Kévin Aymoz | 2022 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic | 236.17 | 2022 CS Warsaw Cup | 258.02 | 494.19 |
Women
| Season | Name | 1st event | Points | 2nd event | Points | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva | 2014 CS Finlandia Trophy | 193.31 | 2014 CS Warsaw Cup | 196.66 | 389.97 |
| 2015–16 | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva | 2015 CS Warsaw Cup | 192.93 | 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 201.33 | 394.26 |
| 2016–17 | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva | 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 185.93 | 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 192.03 | 377.96 |
| 2017–18 | Carolina Kostner | 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy | 198.36 | 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy | 193.76 | 392.12 |
| 2018–19 | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva | 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy | 206.07 | 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy | 202.85 | 408.92 |
| 2019–20 | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva | 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy | 214.38 | 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 221.15 | 435.53 |
| 2020–21 | Held as individual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021–22 | Alysa Liu | 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy | 219.24 | 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 207.40 | 426.64 |
| 2022–23 | Kim Ye-lim | 2022 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic | 190.64 | 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy | 213.97 | 404.61 |
Pairs
Ice dance
Prize money
At the end of the series, prize money is awarded to skaters who finished in the top three in each discipline in the final ranking. In pairs and ice dancing, the partners split the prize money.
From the 2014–15 season through to the 2023–2024 season:
| Final rank | Men's and ladies' singles | Pairs and ice dance |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | CHF 4,000 | CHF 5,000 (2,500 per partner) |
| 2nd | CHF 3,000 | CHF 4,000 (2,000 per partner) |
| 3rd | CHF 2,000 | CHF 3,000 (1,500 per partner) |