After a three year hiatus, the Grand Prix Final is back to where it was held the last time in 2019 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy featuring the top junior and senior skaters so far this season.

When is it on?

The Grand Prix Final begins Thursday, 8 December with the junior en’s short programme and concludes Sunday, 11 December with the exhibition gala.

Who is skating?

Japan has four of the six entries in the men’s event headed by World champion Shoma Uno (JPN). However, the leading qualifier is Ilia Malinin (USA) who will be seeking to extend America’s winning streak to four titles in a row. Daniel Grassl (ITA) will provide the local interest.

Ordinarily World champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) would be the favourite in the women’s event, but her performances on the Grand Prix circuit this season have not been convincing. Training mate Mai Mihara (JPN) is the leading qualifier and the only female skater to win both of her Grand Prix assignments. Loena Hendrickx (BEL) is the sole European representative and should be in contention for a place on the podium.

The pairs competition promises to be a rematch of the 2022 World Championships with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier (USA) and Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) battling it out for gold. The surprise package of the Grand Prix Series has been the rise of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps who won gold at Grand Prix de France and silver at Skate America.

In ice dance, the momentum appears to be with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (CAN) who racked up massive scores at their Grand Prix Espoo in Finland at the end of last month. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) will not lack support and the Italians have a good shot of outperforming the bronze medal they achieved at the 2018 Grand Prix Final. Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA) have three Grand Prix Final silver medals and will be hoping that they can improve on their Grand Prix outings this season.

Medals will also be decided in the Junior Grand Prix Final events and an opportunity presented to catch a glimpse of rising stars like Mao Shimada (JPN).

Everything you need to know (and some things you did not) about the skaters, the competition schedule and results can be viewed here.

When is the skating on?

Morning to afternoon in North America, afternoon to evening in Europe and all through the night in Asia. The times listed for the Grand Prix Final are local and if you want to know what the time difference is between where you are and Turin then this link is your friend.

Where can I watch the pretty skaters?

This season’s Grand Prix series can be viewed on the ISU Skating YouTube channel. Geographic restrictions apply.

What are the hashtags?

#GPFigure #GPFinal22 #FigureSkating