The two top German pairs Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin and Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (photo) are about to start the Grand Prix series – the highest international competition series in figure skating. Hocke/Kunkel are skating their first Grand Prix at Skate Canada this weekend, Hase/Volodin are on the ice at the Grand Prix de France next week.
The 2024 Grand Prix series kicked off last weekend with world-class performances at Skate America in Allen (USA). At the second Skate Canada stop in Halifax on Friday and Saturday (October 25th/26th), the German colors will also be represented by Berliners Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel. The 2023 European Championship third-place finishers will meet, among others, the Canadian world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps. After Hocke/Kunkel qualified for the Grand Prix final last year but had to cancel due to injury, the pair is making a new attempt this season. The fifth-place finishers at the World Cup in Montreal 2024 should only have fond memories of Canada.
“We are very well prepared for the Grand Prix competitions and have used the time since the Lombardia Trophy to train intensively and go through all possible competition scenarios,” reports Annika Hocke, who is looking forward to the appearance in front of the enthusiastic Canadian crowd Audience happy. “We are happy that we got the two Grand Prix in Canada and Japan and of course we are giving it our all. Our goal is to show two error-free programs – and what we have been working hard on over the last few months.” Her second Grand Prix start is the NHK Trophy in Tokyo (November 8th to 10th) in figure skating-loving Japan, in which the three-time German ice dance champions Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan are also taking part.
Hase/Volodin start with Grand Prix de France
Next week Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin will be competing at the Grand Prix de France in Angers (November 1st to 3rd). The two 25-year-olds achieved maximum success in the Grand Prix series last year in their first season together: two Grand Prix victories and gold in the Grand Prix final. The World Cup third placers, who started the season very strongly a month ago at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf with 218.44 points, want to build on this.
“We have done everything we can to be as prepared as possible for the Grand Prix series,” says Minerva Hase. “Our goal is definitely to qualify for the final again. Hopefully with two good performances we can do that.” In France, their strongest competitors include the Italian 2023 European champions Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii. The Berliners’ second Grand Prix participation is at the Cup of China in Chongqing (November 22nd to 24th), the conclusion of the 2024 Grand Prix series. The six best couples in the world in the series qualify for the Grand Prix final in Grenoble (France; December 5th to 8th).
The 2023 Grand Prix Final winners in pair skating Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (Photo: ISU)
The Oberstdorf ice dancers Darya Grimm/Michail Savitskiy have already qualified for the Junior Grand Prix final in Grenoble. The third-place finishers at the 2024 Junior World Championships won the Junior Grand Prix in Ankara (Turkey) and took bronze at the Junior Grand Prix in Riga (Latvia). Grimm/Savitskiy will make their debut in the senior class this weekend at the Challenger competition in Bratislava (Slovakia; October 25/26).
Die Grand Prix 2024 im TV & Stream
The ISU Grand Prix competitions will be broadcast in full length in Germany on Discovery+ and large parts on Eurosport 1/2. All information about the ISU Grand Prix series can be found here Website of the International Skating Union (ISU).
Text: Pamela Lechner
Photo: International Skating Union (ISU)
