Six Senior Men Set To Define Torino 2019
The Senior Men’s competition at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Turin brought together six skaters with very different competitive identities. Some arrived as established champions, while others were making a breakthrough on the biggest stage of the Grand Prix season. Their shared qualification reflected consistency, technical difficulty, and the ability to perform under intense pressure.
Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu stood at the center of the conversation, carrying major titles and a history of memorable duels. Around them, Kevin Aymoz, Dmitri Aliev, Alexander Samarin, and Boyang Jin represented the depth of the international field. Each had a distinct route to the Palavela arena and a different balance of jumping power, skating quality, musical interpretation, and competitive experience.
The Turin final, held from December 5–8, 2019, was therefore more than a meeting of six medal contenders. It was a snapshot of men’s figure skating during a period when quad jumps were transforming scoring, while presentation and program identity remained essential to winning over judges and spectators.
The Shape Of The Final
The six qualifiers represented the United States, Japan, France, and Russia, as well as China. That international spread gave the event a broad competitive character. Chen and Hanyu had already won Olympic and world-level honors, but the other four skaters were capable of challenging the established order through ambitious layouts and growing confidence.
Qualification depended on results across the Grand Prix series, where a single mistake could alter the standings. A skater needed to manage two separate assignments, adapt to different venues, and produce enough points to secure a place in Turin. The final consequently rewarded athletes who could combine high technical content with reliable short programs and strong free skates.
| Skater | Country | Defining strengths | Torino 2019 result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Chen | United States | Quad variety, speed, musical control | Gold |
| Yuzuru Hanyu | Japan | Edge quality, interpretation, difficult combinations | Silver |
| Kevin Aymoz | France | Performance quality, movement, competitive rise | Bronze |
| Dmitri Aliev | Russia | Elegant skating, quad combinations, composition | Fourth |
| Alexander Samarin | Russia | Powerful quad jumps and attacking layouts | Fifth |
| Boyang Jin | China | Quad lutz, flight, speed across the ice | Sixth |
The result gave Chen another major victory, while Hanyu finished second after a demanding battle. Aymoz claimed the bronze medal in a defining performance, and the remaining skaters showed how narrow the margins were among the world’s leading men.
Nathan Chen’s Technical Command
Nathan Chen entered the final as the reigning Grand Prix Final champion and one of the most complete technical skaters in the field. Born in Salt Lake City in 1999, he had already become a world champion and an Olympic medalist while still in his teens. His skating was built around an exceptional quad repertoire, including the quad lutz, quad flip, quad salchow, and quad toe loop.
His advantage was not simply the number of difficult jumps he could attempt. Chen also had the speed to enter those elements with flow and the control to connect them to a demanding program. His skating had developed significantly since his early senior seasons, when his extraordinary jumping ability sometimes overshadowed his choreography and transitions. By 2019, he was presenting a more polished and mature competitive package.
In Turin, Chen’s programs reflected that balance. His short program to music from La Bohème required precision and restraint, while the free skate, built around music from Rocketman, allowed him to combine attack with theatrical energy. He won with a total of 335.30 points, establishing a substantial lead through clean execution and a high-value technical layout.
Chen’s profile was that of a modern champion: fearless in the air, efficient across the ice, and increasingly convincing in interpretation. His qualification and victory confirmed that technical ambition could be paired with a strong artistic identity rather than treated as a substitute for it.
Yuzuru Hanyu’s Enduring Influence
Yuzuru Hanyu brought a different kind of authority to the Palavela. The Japanese skater, born in Sendai in 1994, was the 2014 and 2018 Olympic champion and a two-time world champion. He had also dominated earlier editions of the Grand Prix Final, making him one of the most successful skaters in the history of the competition.
Hanyu’s skating was defined by extraordinary edge control, musical timing, and an ability to make difficult elements appear emotionally connected to the program. His triple axel remained a particular strength, and his best combinations carried both high base value and impressive quality. He approached jumps as part of a larger choreographic sentence, using changes of direction, knee bend, and upper-body movement to preserve momentum.
His 2019–20 programs revisited material associated with earlier stages of his career. “Otonal” served as the short program, while “Origin” formed the free skate. Both programs reflected his preference for dramatic musical structures and intricate skating patterns. The return to familiar work added emotional significance, but it also placed pressure on him to match memories of earlier performances.
Hanyu’s second-place finish did not diminish his status. Instead, it illustrated the fine balance at the top of the sport: he delivered a demanding performance and remained Chen’s closest rival, while continuing to influence how elite skaters combine difficult jumps with detailed interpretation.
Kevin Aymoz’s Breakthrough Season
Kevin Aymoz was the most visible breakthrough story among the six qualifiers. Born in France in 1997, he had spent several seasons building toward the level required to challenge the leading names. His skating stood out for its fluid movement, expressive posture, and willingness to make the entire program feel physically connected to the music.
Aymoz did not rely on the same extensive quad arsenal as Chen or the most aggressive jumpers in the field. His competitive value came from the way he linked elements together and used the full ice surface. His programs contained speed changes, unusual transitions, and choreography that felt natural rather than decorative. Those qualities helped him earn strong component scores and made him a distinctive presence in a field dominated by technical discussion.
The 2019 Grand Prix season marked a major step forward. Aymoz earned the results needed to qualify for Turin and then delivered the performance of his career at the final. His bronze-medal finish, with 275.02 points, made him the first French man to win a Grand Prix Final medal since the event’s earlier generations of champions.
His success also broadened the picture of what a podium contender could look like. Aymoz’s skating showed that competitive momentum could be built through performance quality, individuality, and carefully selected technical difficulty. The medal became a foundation for his later rise as one of France’s leading men.
Dmitri Aliev And Alexander Samarin
Dmitri Aliev represented a more lyrical side of Russian men’s skating. Born in Ukhta in 1999, he had won a European silver medal in 2018 and developed a reputation for elegant lines, soft skating skills, and a composed presence. His programs were often structured around the contrast between refined movement and high-risk jumping content.
Aliev’s technical base included quad toe loops and quad lutzes, while his skating quality allowed him to remain competitive when the jumps were not perfect. He had the ability to create a strong visual shape in his programs, using long edges and controlled transitions rather than rushing from one element to the next. His fourth-place finish in Turin reflected both his potential and the difficulty of keeping pace with the very highest totals.
Alexander Samarin, also from Russia, offered a sharper contrast. Born in Moscow in 1998, he was known for powerful jumping, an attacking style, and the quad lutz as one of his signature weapons. He had earned European silver in 2019 and arrived in Turin as a skater capable of producing enormous technical scores when his elements were fully controlled.
Samarin’s skating carried a sense of urgency. His programs were designed to capitalize on difficult jumps early and maintain pressure through the remainder of the performance. That approach could produce spectacular results, but it also left less room for errors. His fifth-place finish highlighted the narrow difference between a medal challenge and a performance affected by small losses in execution.
Boyang Jin’s High-Flying Identity
Boyang Jin brought one of the most recognizable technical profiles in the final. Born in Qiqihar, China, in 1997, he became internationally known for his quad lutz and quad toe loop. He was a world bronze medalist and had finished fourth at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, establishing himself as one of the era’s most accomplished jumpers.
Jin’s skating was built around speed and lift. His best quad lutzes rose high above the ice and gave his programs immediate impact. He could generate significant technical value without appearing to labor through the takeoff, and his ability to attack difficult elements made him a constant threat in a close competition.
By 2019, Jin was also working to strengthen the other parts of his presentation. His programs demanded more transitions and greater musical awareness than the layouts of his early senior career. That development mattered because the scoring system rewarded both technical execution and program components. A strong free skate required him to maintain his jumping identity while creating a more complete performance.
His sixth-place finish in Turin did not erase his importance to the field. Jin remained an influential figure in the evolution of Chinese men’s skating and a reminder that a single technical element, performed with exceptional quality, can shape a skater’s entire competitive identity.
What To Watch In The Competition
The six profiles reveal several useful ways to understand the Senior Men’s event. Spectators following the sessions can pay attention to the following features:
- Compare how each skater builds speed into quad jumps and triple axels rather than judging the takeoff alone.
- Watch the transitions between elements, especially the steps and turns that connect jumps to the musical structure.
- Notice the contrast between Chen’s broad technical range, Hanyu’s interpretive detail, and Aymoz’s movement-led choreography.
- Track how Aliev, Samarin, and Jin manage risk when a difficult opening element does not receive ideal execution.
- Use the official event schedule to follow practice sessions, competition times, and the exhibition gala.
The short program is especially important because the field is so closely matched. A clean performance can create a valuable advantage before the free skate, while a small error may force a skater to increase risk later. For athletes with similar quad content, grades of execution and program components often determine the order.
The free skate reveals more about endurance and strategy. Chen’s ability to stack difficult jumps, Hanyu’s control of musical pacing, and Aymoz’s command of movement each demand a different kind of concentration. The other three qualifiers must balance the desire for a spectacular technical score with the need to protect their overall performance.
The Turin final remains compelling because the skaters did not represent six versions of the same style. Chen embodied technical completeness, Hanyu combined mastery with emotional depth, and Aymoz announced a new level of artistic confidence. Aliev, Samarin, and Jin added three distinct approaches to the quad era, from elegance to power and explosive flight.
Explore the competitor information, results, venue details, and event highlights connected with Torino 2019 to see how this remarkable field shaped one of the season’s most important figure-skating competitions.