2020–21 ISU Challenger Series
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The 2020–21
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 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...
was scheduled to be held from September 9 to December 5, 2020. It was the seventh season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Originally meant to be a series of ten events, the 2020–21 Challenger Series ended up featuring only two individual events, when eight events were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The
International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...
announcement on April 22, 2020 for the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series issued the following caveat regarding the scheduling of the events: On May 1, 2020, the
International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...
established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-president for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Its responsibilities included determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the season, and the financial impact of any potential cancellations. The ISU announced that a host federation must make a decision regarding potential cancellation of their event at least twelve weeks prior to the event. On May 16, the Slovak Figure Skating Association informed the ISU that it had cancelled all upcoming events that it was scheduled to host due to the ongoing pandemic, including the 2020 Nepela Memorial in
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
. On July 13, the ISU announced that the 2020–21 Challenger Series events would be regarded as separate individual competitions, rather than as a series; as a result, no Challenger Series ranking would be determined and no prize money would be distributed at the end of the series. However, skaters competing would still earn Challenger Series-level points for their world rankings, as long as the competition met ISU guidelines to qualify as a Challenger event. The decision was later revised by the ISU council on August 3, announcing that world standing and ranking points would not be awarded for the sake of fairness due to the limited nature of the competitions. On July 13, the Japan Skating Federation announced that it would not assign any skaters to the Challenger Series, assuming the competitions proceeded as scheduled. On August 25, the German Ice Skating Union confirmed that 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy would be held as scheduled, but without spectators and would include extensive
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
guidelines and procedures for the athletes and coaches in attendance. On August 28, the ISU removed the maximum entry limit of skaters or teams per country.


Competitions

The series was intended to include the following events this season. However, all but two competitions were ultimately cancelled. On May 16, the ISU announced that the Slovak Figure Skating Association had cancelled the 2020 Nepela Memorial. As of May 26, the event schedule announced for the 2020 Asian Open Trophy had been withdrawn. On August 20, the Finnish Figure Skating Association cancelled the 2020 Finlandia Trophy. On September 1, the 2020 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge was cancelled. On November 3, Skate Austria cancelled the 2020 Cup of Tyrol. On November 6, the ice dance portion of the 2020 Warsaw Cup was cancelled, and on November 10, the Polish Figure Skating Association cancelled the Warsaw Cup entirely. On February 13, the 2020
Autumn Classic International The Autumn Classic International is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by Skate Canada. The competition debuted in 2014 in Barrie, Ontario, as one of the inaugural comp ...
, originally described as having been "postponed", was removed from the official Skate Canada calendar.


Medal summary


Men's singles


Ladies’ singles


Pairs


Ice dance


Medal standings


Challenger Series rankings

Out of fairness to skaters impacted by travel restrictions imposed by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the ISU Council decided there would be no Challenger Series ranking this season.


Top scores


Men's singles


Ladies' singles


Pairs


Ice dance


References


External links


ISU Challenger Series
at the
International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 ISU Challenger Series ISU Challenger Series Challenger Series
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 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...