Sui and Han are Back; Official Grand Prix Assignments are Out
It may be skating’s off-season, but there was a lot to be excited about this past week as the 2025 Grand Prix assignments were announced — and two legends of the sport quietly confirmed their long-rumored return.
The biggest story to come out of the assignments was unquestionably the return of reigning Olympic pair’s gold medalists, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong from China. While there had been rumors of their return for months, their appearance on the competitors list for each Cup of China and NHK Trophy still rocked skating fandom and left us conflicted in our feelings. Unlike other returns this season, this one “feels” different — and we can’t help but be a little excited to see them skate again.
The Grand Prix series will kickoff in France this year, which switches things up right out of the gate since Skate America has been the series launch for decades. In France, we’ll see Ilia Malinin vs. Adam Siao Him Fa light up the men’s competition while Kaori Sakamoto, Chaeyeon Kim, and Isabeau Levito battle it out in the women’s. However, the most buzzed about will be Ice Dance here as we see the first Grand Prix competition with Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. The drama level will be HIGH at this one!
Cup of China is next, which is where Sui and Han will make their debut on the series very appropriately. Here we will also see a rather stacked Women’s field with the unexpected match-up of reigning Grand Prix Final champion, Amber Glenn, vs. reigning World Champion, Alysa Liu. We also get the senior GP debuts of Jia Shin from Korea, who could mix things up this season, as well as Jacob Sanchez for the US.
Skate Canda has a few key match-ups to watch including an early pairs showdown between Deanna Stellato-Dukek and Maxime Deschamps and Minerva Fabienne-Hase and Nikita Volodin. We’ll also get our first glimpse at Piper Gilles and Paul Porrier one week after their biggest rivals, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, debut in China.
As if that drama wasn’t enough, ice dance keeps the hits coming at NHK Trophy as we see the debut of Maia and Alex Shibutani as well as the face-off between Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri and the team that took their World podium spot away from them, Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, for the SECOND time in this Grand Prix series. We’ll also see Sui and Han again here in pairs, Yuma Kagiyama’s first appearance in men’s, and the Grand Prix return of Loena Hendrickx vs. her Belgian rival, Nina Pinzarrone.
Skate America gives Jason Brown top billing in the men’s, where he has a legitimate chance to medal against Kevin Aymoz and reigning World silver medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov. Pairs also gives us the potential for a fairly heated battle between reigning World Champions, Riku Miura and Ryuchi Kihara and the surging Georgian team of Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.
Rounding out the GP series will be Finlandia Trophy, which will likely be a bloodbath of people trying to make the Grand Prix Final. Lots of big match-ups. Lots of exhausted skaters. Who will win? We’ll have to wait and see…
Chapters
0:00 — Intro
1:08 — Sui and Han Return
6:20 — Grand Prix Assignment Announcements
7:22 — Skate France: Men Assignments
10:36 — Skate France: Women Assignments
12:27 — Skate France: Pairs Assignments
14:24 — Skate France: Ice Dance Assignments
17:55 — Cup of China: Men Assignments
21:33 — Cup of China: Women Assignments
25:14 — Cup of China: Pairs Assignments
27:03 — Cup of China: Ice Dance
29:50 — Skate Canada: Men Assignments
32:28 — Skate Canada: Women Assignments
35:43 — Skate Canada: Pairs Assignments
37:12 — Skate Canada: Ice Dance Assignments
39:49 — NHK Trophy: Men Assignments
42:24 — NHK Trophy: Women Assignments
45:01 — NHK Trophy: Pairs Assignments
46:28 — NHK Trophy: Ice Dance Assignments
48:33 — Skate America: Men Assignments
50:23 — Skate America: Women Assignments
51:29 — Skate America: Pairs Assignments
53:32 — Skate America: Ice Dance Assignments
55:28 — Finlandia Trophy: Men Assignments
57:49 — Finlandia Trophy: Women Assignments
59:30 — Finlandia Trophy: Pairs Assignments
1:01:38 — Finlandia Trophy: Ice Dance Assignments
1:04:21 — Closing Thoughts on the Grand Prix
1:07:32 — Wrap-Up
