2025 Grand Prix de France

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating is a series of seven events sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and held during the autumn: six qualifying events and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. This allows skaters to perfect their programs earlier in the season, as well as compete against the same skaters whom they would later encounter at the World Championships. Skaters earn points based on their results at their respective competitions and after the six qualifying events, the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to compete at the Grand Prix Final.^[1] The Grand Prix de France debuted in 1987,^[2] and when the ISU launched the Grand Prix series in 1995, the Grand Prix de France was one of the original qualifying events.^[3] It has been a Grand Prix event every year since, except for 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

The 2025 Grand Prix de France was the first event of the 2025–26 Grand Prix of Figure Skating series,^[5] and was held from 17 to 19 October at the Angers IceParc in Angers.^[6]

The International Skating Union published the initial list of entrants on 6 June 2025.^[7]

Men competing in single skating performed their short programs on Saturday, 18 October, while women performed theirs on Friday, 17 October.^[6] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,^[14] the short program had to include the following elements:

For men: one double or triple Axel; one triple or quadruple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, two triple jumps, or a quadruple jump and a double jump or triple jump; one flying spin; one camel spin or sit spin with a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and a step sequence using the full ice surface.^[15]

For women: one double or triple Axel; one triple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, or two triple jumps; one flying spin; one layback spin, sideways leaning spin, camel spin, or sit spin without a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and one step sequence using the full ice surface.^[15]

Women performed their free skates on Saturday, 18 October, while men performed theirs on Sunday, 19 October.^[6] The free skate for both men and women could last no more than 4 minutes,^[14] and had to include the following: seven jump elements, of which one had to be an Axel-type jump; three spins, of which one had to be a spin combination, one a flying spin, and one a spin with only one position; a step sequence; and a choreographic sequence.^[16]

Couples competing in pair skating performed their short programs on Friday, 17 October.^[6] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,^[14] the short program had to include the following elements: one pair lift, one double or triple twist lift, one double or triple throw jump, one double or triple solo jump, one solo spin combination with a change of foot, one death spiral, and a step sequence using the full ice surface.^[17]

Couples performed their free skates on Saturday, 18 October.^[6] The free skate could last no more than 4 minutes,^[14] and had to include the following: three pair lifts, of which one has to be a twist lift; two different throw jumps; one solo jump; one jump combination or sequence; one pair spin combination; one death spiral; and a choreographic sequence.^[18]

Couples competing in ice dance performed their rhythm dances on Saturday, 18 October.^[6] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds,^[14] the theme of the rhythm dance this season was "music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s".^[19] Examples of applicable dance styles and music included, but were not limited to: pop, Latin, house, techno, hip-hop, and grunge. The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, one choreographic rhythm sequence, one dance lift, one set of sequential twizzles, and one step sequence.^[19]

Couples then performed their free dances on Sunday, 19 October.^[6] The free dance could last no longer than 4 minutes,^[14] and had to include the following: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one set of synchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one step sequence while on one skate and not touching, and three choreographic elements.^[19]

All of the technical elements in any figure skating performance – such as jumps and spins – were assigned a predetermined base value and then scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from –5 to 5 based on their quality of execution.^[20] Every Grade of Execution (GOE) from –5 to 5 is assigned a value (a percentage of the element's base value) as shown on the Scale of Values.^[21] For example, a triple Axel was worth a base value of 8.00 points, and a GOE of 3 was worth 2.40 points, so a triple Axel with a GOE of 3 earned 10.40 points.^[22] The judging panel's GOE for each element was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (the average after discarding the highest and lowest scores). The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a total elements score.^[21] At the same time, the judges evaluated each performance based on three program components – skating skills, presentation, and composition – and assigned a score from 0.25 to 10 in 0.25-point increments.^[23] The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the following chart; the results were added together to generate a total program component score.^[24]

Deductions were applied for certain violations like time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls.^[26] The total element score and total program component score were added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.^[27]

Ilia Malinin of the United States won the men's event overwhelmingly, defeating second-place finisher Adam Siao Him Fa of France by a margin of over forty points. The last time that Malinin had been defeated in competition was by Siao Him Fa at the 2023 Grand Prix de France; he had not lost a competition since.^[29] Malinin took a commanding lead after his short program, which included a quadruple Lutz-triple toe loop jump combination and his signature backflip.^[30] Malinin's free skate featured a quadruple flip, triple Axel, and quadruple Lutz, among other elements.^[29] Nika Egadze of Georgia won the bronze medal; it was Egadze's first Grand Prix medal.^[29] Maxim Naumov placed ninth in what was his first Grand Prix competition since his parents died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342.^[30]

Men's results^[31]

Rank	Skater	Nation	Total points	SP		FS
	Ilia Malinin	United States	321.00	1	105.22	1	215.78
	Adam Siao Him Fa	France	280.95	5	84.87	2	196.08
	Nika Egadze	Georgia	259.41	2	95.67	4	163.74
4	Lukas Britschgi	Switzerland	249.04	7	78.68	3	170.36
5	François Pitot	France	233.98	8	78.50	6	155.48
6	Andrew Torgashev	United States	233.36	12	71.52	5	161.84
7	Tatsuya Tsuboi	Japan	232.78	4	87.04	9	145.74
8	Mihhail Selevko	Estonia	232.17	6	80.17	7	152.00
9	Maxim Naumov	United States	226.74	9	75.27	8	151.47
10	Kao Miura	Japan	209.57	3	87.25	12	122.32
11	Luc Economides	France	208.86	10	75.20	10	133.66
12	Gabriele Frangipani	Italy	197.99	11	71.81	11	126.18

It was a Japanese sweep of the women's podium at the Grand Prix de France. Ami Nakai, in her first season on the senior skating circuit, won the women's event, defeating her teammate and skating idol, Kaori Sakamoto. "I came here aiming for a podium, so when I saw the score and realized I was first, my brain froze and stopped working and then the tears came flowing," Nakai said afterward.^[32] Sakamoto finished in second place; it was her first defeat at a Grand Prix event in two seasons. "I am not going to leave it at this, and I plan to get better and better throughout the season," Sakamoto stated afterward.^[32] Rion Sumiyoshi won the bronze medal.^[32]

Women's results^[33]

Rank	Skater	Nation	Total points	SP		FS
	Ami Nakai	Japan	227.08	1	78.00	1	149.08
	Kaori Sakamoto	Japan	224.23	2	76.20	2	148.03
	Rion Sumiyoshi	Japan	216.06	4	71.03	3	145.03
4	Isabeau Levito	United States	212.71	3	73.37	4	139.34
5	Lorine Schild	France	189.31	5	62.45	5	126.86
6	Kim Chae-yeon	South Korea	187.59	6	62.24	6	125.35
7	Shin Ji-a	South Korea	182.33	8	59.23	7	123.10
8	Elyce Lin-Gracey	United States	172.07	7	59.30	9	112.77
9	You Young	South Korea	171.82	10	54.40	8	117.42
10	Léa Serna	France	164.79	9	57.06	10	107.73
11	Clémence Mayindu	France	136.91	11	48.05	12	88.86
12	Livia Kaiser	Switzerland	134.83	12	42.30	11	92.53

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the pairs event by a margin of over twenty points. "In the last competition [the 2025 Kinoshita Group Cup], in the second half of the program, we had two mistakes, so we tried coming into this event to completely erase those mistakes. Today, we were able to land those two elements cleanly, so we are very happy about that," Miura said afterward.^[34] Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada finished in second place, while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary finished third.^[35]

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps performed an assisted backflip during their short program.^[36] Stellato-Dudek performed the actual backflip with an assist from Deschamps, who pulled up one of her skates. Stellato-Dudek, who cited Surya Bonaly of France as an inspiration, became the first woman to perform the backflip since it became a legal element in figure skating in 2024.^[37] Bonaly had performed a backflip at the 1998 Winter Olympics when it was an illegal maneuver, for which she received a point deduction.^[38] An error on their opening twist lift in their free skate – Stellato-Dudek clipped Deschamps' boot with her toepick – disrupted their momentum, leading to a series of small errors on their next few elements. Deschamps stated afterward: "For every athlete, missing the first element ... it’s always hard. The first one usually is the element that gives you the mood for a program, gives you the rhythm and everything, and to not have it is more difficult."^[34]

Pairs' results^[39]

Rank	Team	Nation	Total points	SP		FS
	Riku Miura Ryuichi Kihara	Japan	219.15	1	79.44	1	139.71
	Deanna Stellato-Dudek Maxime Deschamps	Canada	197.66	2	74.26	2	123.40
	Maria Pavlova Alexei Sviatchenko	Hungary	192.76	3	70.15	3	122.61
4	Katie McBeath Daniil Parkman	United States	178.08	4	63.31	4	114.77
5	Audrey Shin Balázs Nagy	United States	173.30	5	61.79	5	111.51
6	Camille Kovalev Pavel Kovalev	France	160.62	6	59.00	6	101.62
7	Aurélie Faula Théo Belle	France	148.10	7	54.09	7	94.01
8	Megan Wessenberg Denys Strekalin	France	139.21	8	50.41	8	88.80

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France, who had been in third place after the rhythm dance, rallied back in the free dance to win the event. Their 133.02 score in the free dance was also the fourth highest score ever in the free dance. "We're really happy with the performance and the feeling that we had today," Cizeron stated afterward. "It's the kind of performance that we train and live for... It felt amazing remembering how much we love competing and doing this first competition together."^[40] Cizeron had competed for years with Gabriella Papadakis, winning five World Championship titles and the gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics before they ended their partnership in December 2024.^[41] Cizeron had also previously won six Grand Prix de France titles with Papadakis.^[40] Fournier Beaudry had competed for Canada with Nikolaj Sørensen before Sørensen received a six-year suspension from competitive skating in October 2024. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron announced their new partnership in March 2025 with a stated goal of competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.^[42]

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain had been in the lead after the rhythm dance, but finished in second place. "Having that added layer of a crowd that is so supportive and wants to be entertained," Fear said afterward. "It’s just such a joy and something that we love more than anything in the world, so we’re really holding on to that feeling and also definitely fired up for the next Grand Prix.”^[40] Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius of Lithuania finished in third place.^[40]

Ice dance results^[43]

Rank	Skater	Nation	Total points	RD		FD
	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Guillaume Cizeron	France	211.02	3	78.00	1	133.02
	Lilah Fear Lewis Gibson	Great Britain	210.24	1	84.38	2	125.86
	Allison Reed Saulius Ambrulevičius	Lithuania	201.05	2	80.98	3	120.07
4	Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri	Italy	195.98	5	77.25	4	118.73
5	Diana Davis Gleb Smolkin	Georgia	194.27	4	77.80	5	116.47
6	Marie-Jade Lauriault Romain Le Gac	Canada	186.49	6	73.75	6	112.74
7	Eva Pate Logan Bye	United States	178.68	7	71.32	8	107.36
8	Emily Bratti Ian Somerville	United States	172.80	9	65.09	7	107.71
9	Natacha Lagouge Arnaud Caffa	France	171.80	8	68.08	9	103.21
10	Célina Fradji Jean-Hans Fourneaux	France	148.92	10	56.92	10	92.00