The 2021–22

Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – originally known as the Champions Series Final – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). It is the culminating event of the Grand Prix Series. Meda ...

and

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final (titled the ISU Junior Series Final in the 1997–98 season) is the final event of a series of junior-level competitions – the ISU Junior Grand Prix – organized by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medal ...

were scheduled to be held from December 9–12, 2021 at the Towa Pharmaceutical Ractab Dome in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The combined event was to be the culmination of two international series — the

Grand Prix of Figure Skating The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (known as ISU Champions Series from 1995 to 1997) is a series of senior international figure skating competitions organized by the International Skating Union. The invitational series was inaugurated in 1995, in ...

and the Junior Grand Prix. Medals would have been awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

on the senior and junior levels. On December 2, 2021, the event was cancelled due to Japanese travel restrictions imposed in response to the

Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a Variants of SARS-CoV-2, variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has ...

(as part of 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 ...

), with the possibility of postponement to the end of the season. On December 17, the event was definitively cancelled. It was the second consecutive season that the Grand Prix Final was cancelled.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation

Due to varying travel and quarantine restrictions during the pandemic, several countries had logistical issues gaining access to certain competitions on both the Junior Grand Prix and Grand Prix series. For example,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n skaters were unable to enter France for the first two stages of the JGP series and struggled to obtain visas for

Skate America Skate America is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The first Skate America was in held in 1979 in Lake Placid, New York, as a test event fo ...

, the first stop on the Grand Prix series. For the JGP series, the ISU implemented a re-allocation process for countries who lost quota spots due to being unable to enter certain countries and compete. In addition, the ISU decided not to implement a JGP ranking for the season and to instead prioritize holding the JGP series safely "with the best possible participation" in light of the pandemic. The ISU announced an alternate qualification criteria for the Junior Grand Prix Final on October 4. On September 1, the

Japan Skating Federation The Japan Skating Federation () is the sports governing body of Japan for figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in 1929. The current president (since 2019) is Akihisa Nagashima, a member of the House of Rep ...

announced that it had chosen to forego the JGP series entirely, despite originally planning to skip just the initial three events, due to pandemic-related travel restrictions and the mandatory quarantine period for skaters upon returning to Japan. As a result, the host nation was to have no representatives in the Junior Grand Prix Final, before being awarded a wild card berth in men's and women's singles. On November 29, in response to the discovery of the

, the Japanese government announced travel restrictions preventing all foreigners from entering the country beginning November 30. The JSF later announced that it would adjust by implementing a bubble environment as the federation " roceededwith preparations while taking infection control measures in line with the government's policy." On December 2, the ISU announced that the event had been cancelled for the month of December due to the "complicated epidemic situation". The ISU left open the possibility for postponement until the end of the season, but did not announce a post-season date or location for any rescheduled event. After being unable to find a replacement host, the event was definitively cancelled on December 17.

Qualifiers

Senior

;Alternates

Junior

;Alternates

References

External links

Grand Prix Final
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:2021-22 Grand Prix Of Figure Skating Final Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final ISU Junior Grand Prix Grand Prix Final 2021 in Japanese sport December 2021 sports events in Japan International figure skating competitions hosted by Japan