Famous Grand Prix Final winners remembered in Turin
Turin hosted the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final at the Palavela arena from December 5–8, 2019. The competition brought together the strongest Senior and Junior skaters from the Grand Prix series, turning the Italian city into the centre of international figure skating for one remarkable weekend.
The event produced several champions whose names were already familiar to followers of the sport, alongside young winners who would become important figures in the seasons ahead. The Senior competitions featured Nathan Chen, Alena Kostornaia, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. The Junior podiums also introduced audiences to a new generation, including Kamila Valieva and Yuma Kagiyama.
The official Torino 2019 archive preserves the event’s schedules, results, venue information and competitor details. Those records help place each victory in context, because the Final was more than a collection of medal ceremonies: it was a meeting point between established champions and future stars.
Turin’s place in Grand Prix Final history
The 2019 edition was the first ISU Grand Prix Final staged in Turin. Italy had already hosted major skating events, including the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but the Grand Prix Final gave the city a different kind of international spotlight. Rather than being a four-year showcase, it brought together athletes who had earned their places through results across the autumn Grand Prix circuit.
Qualification was demanding. Skaters accumulated points at two Grand Prix assignments, and only the highest-ranked competitors advanced to the Final. The format therefore created unusually strong fields, with world champions, Olympic medallists, rising teenagers and experienced challengers competing in the same arena.
Palavela added to the sense of occasion. The arena had a long association with ice sport, and its compact setting allowed spectators to follow every element closely. For many fans, Turin 2019 remains memorable because the event combined a historic venue, a passionate audience and a group of champions at very different stages of their careers.
Nathan Chen’s commanding men’s victory
Nathan Chen arrived in Turin as the reigning world champion and one of the leading names in men’s skating. His victory was built on technical difficulty, particularly his ability to perform multiple quadruple jumps while maintaining speed and control through the rest of his programs. In the free skate, he delivered a performance that gave him a decisive winning margin.
Chen finished with 335.30 points, far ahead of Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, who earned 291.43 for second place. Kevin Aymoz of France took bronze with 275.63 points. The result marked Chen’s third consecutive Grand Prix Final title, confirming his dominance during the period between the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
What made the Turin performance especially significant was its balance of power and polish. Chen was widely recognised for his jumping content, yet his success also reflected improved skating skills, musical interpretation and program construction. His victory in Italy showed how a technically ambitious style could be shaped into a complete championship performance.
Hanyu’s silver medal added historical depth to the men’s event. As a two-time Olympic champion and former Grand Prix Final winner, he gave the competition one of its most compelling narratives. His presence turned Chen’s achievement into part of a wider rivalry between an established legend and the skater who was becoming his successor.
Alena Kostornaia and the rise of the triple Axel
The ladies’ competition belonged to Alena Kostornaia, then a 16-year-old Russian skater competing in her first Senior season. She won both the short program and free skate, finishing with 247.59 points. Her victory was particularly impressive because she combined a difficult triple Axel with elegant skating, fast spins and a confident musical style.
Anna Shcherbakova placed second with 227.63 points, while Alexandra Trusova finished third with 226.61. The all-Russian podium reflected the extraordinary depth of the country’s women’s skating program at the time. All three athletes were teenagers, but each already had a distinctive competitive identity.
Kostornaia’s triple Axel became the signature element of her Turin campaign. The jump demands exceptional rotational speed and precise control on landing, and its inclusion increased the difficulty of her programs without overwhelming their artistic character. Her skating looked fluid between the major elements, allowing the technical content to support the performance rather than interrupt it.
The result made Kostornaia one of the most famous recent winners of the Grand Prix Final. It also captured a brief but important moment in the evolution of women’s skating, when powerful jumps, intricate transitions and refined presentation were being pushed forward by a remarkably young group of competitors.
Sui and Han complete their Grand Prix Final collection
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won the pairs event in Turin with 211.69 points. Their victory was the second Grand Prix Final title of their career, following their success in 2017. The pair had already established themselves as Olympic and world medallists, and their return to the top in Italy reinforced their reputation for difficult, expressive and highly synchronised skating.
Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Gallyamov took silver, while Peng Cheng and Yang Jin won bronze. Sui and Han’s performance stood out for its combination of athletic ambition and emotional clarity. Their side-by-side jumps, lifts and throws required exact timing, and the pair presented those elements within programs that were carefully shaped around music and character.
Their Turin triumph also carried a sense of completion. By winning the Final again, Sui and Han joined the short list of pairs able to succeed repeatedly in one of the sport’s most competitive championships. They would go on to win the 2022 Olympic title, making their 2019 victory an important chapter in a career that reached the highest level.
Pairs skating demands trust built over years. A mistake by one partner can immediately affect the other, while successful lifts and throws depend on shared rhythm and spatial awareness. Sui and Han’s victory demonstrated why experienced partnerships are so valuable when the pressure of a major final is at its highest.
| Discipline | Turin 2019 winner | Winning points | Notable distinction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior men | Nathan Chen | 335.30 | Third consecutive Grand Prix Final title |
| Senior ladies | Alena Kostornaia | 247.59 | First Senior-season Final victory |
| Senior pairs | Wenjing Sui / Cong Han | 211.69 | Second Final title |
| Senior ice dance | Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron | 219.85 | Fifth consecutive Final title |
| Junior men | Yuma Kagiyama | — | Breakthrough international championship |
| Junior ladies | Kamila Valieva | — | Early major title before Senior success |
| Junior pairs | Apollinaria Panfilova / Dmitry Rylov | — | Junior Final champions |
| Junior ice dance | Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha | — | Canadian Junior champions |
Papadakis and Cizeron’s record-setting ice dance run
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the Senior ice dance title with 219.85 points. The French duo finished ahead of Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia, while Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States took third. Their Turin result extended an extraordinary sequence: it was their fifth straight Grand Prix Final victory.
Papadakis and Cizeron had already won multiple world championships, and their skating was often praised for its seamless quality. They emphasised edge control, musical phrasing, posture and connection, creating programs that appeared effortless even when they required exceptional physical precision.
Their success was important because ice dance rewards qualities that are difficult to measure through isolated elements. Speed must be maintained without breaking the partnership’s visual unity. Turns and steps must be technically accurate while still expressing the rhythm. Papadakis and Cizeron’s programs made those demands appear natural, which helped establish them among the most influential ice dance teams of their generation.
The Turin audience also saw the strength of the wider field. Sinitsina and Katsalapov later became Olympic champions, while Hubbell and Donohue were among the leading American teams of their era. Their presence made the ice dance competition more than a procession for the favourites; it was a high-level contest between several partnerships with lasting careers.
Junior champions who pointed to the future
The Junior Grand Prix Final ran alongside the Senior event and offered an early look at skaters who would soon move into the spotlight. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama won the Junior men’s title, beginning a rise that would lead to Olympic and world-level success in the Senior ranks. His skating already showed a strong combination of jump quality, posture and competitive composure.
Kamila Valieva won the Junior ladies’ title in Turin. Her performance attracted attention for its flexibility, musical detail and technical potential. She later became a major Senior competitor, making her 2019 Junior victory an important early entry in a career followed closely by skating audiences around the world.
In Junior pairs, Apollinaria Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov claimed the title, while Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha won Junior ice dance for Canada. These results illustrated the purpose of the Final’s two-level structure. The Senior event celebrated established excellence, while the Junior competitions revealed athletes still developing the skills and style that could define the next era.
The Junior winners also add a deeper dimension to the event’s legacy. A championship is remembered for its immediate result, but its influence often becomes clearer later. When a young winner progresses to Olympic, world or Senior Grand Prix success, an earlier triumph such as Turin 2019 becomes part of a larger sporting story.
What makes the Turin winners memorable
The champions in Turin represented several different routes to the top. Chen won through exceptional jumping power and sustained competitive consistency. Kostornaia combined a difficult triple Axel with artistry and speed. Sui and Han relied on years of partnership and trust, while Papadakis and Cizeron turned precision and interpretation into a record-breaking ice dance tradition.
Their achievements can be appreciated through several features of the event:
- Technical difficulty that remained reliable under Final pressure
- Distinctive programs with clear musical and emotional identities
- Experience gained from previous Grand Prix, world and Olympic competition
- Young champions whose later careers expanded the importance of their Turin results
- Strong fields that made every title meaningful rather than routine
Turin also demonstrated why the Grand Prix Final occupies a special place in the skating calendar. It is smaller than the World Championships and the Olympics, but qualification creates a concentrated field with little room for an average performance. Every skater has already proved strong during the season, and the Final asks them to deliver again when expectations are highest.
The event’s atmosphere added to the memory. Fans could watch practice sessions, follow the Senior and Junior schedules, explore the Palavela seating arrangements and attend the exhibition gala. Those surrounding experiences helped transform the championships from a results sheet into a complete celebration of figure skating.
The names crowned in Turin now belong to different parts of the sport’s history. Some became Olympic champions, some continued to redefine their disciplines, and others remain associated with a single breakthrough season. Together, they make the 2019 Grand Prix Final one of the most memorable competitions held in the city.
Explore the event records, competitor profiles and championship details to revisit the performances that made Turin 2019 special and follow the lasting legacy of its celebrated winners.