Cup of China 2024 Recap

The Grand Prix qualifiers wrapped up at Cup of China with easily the most exciting Women’s event of the series, including a second GP gold for Amber Glenn. Plus standout performances from Mikhail Shaidorov, Smart & Diek, and Conti & Macii.

The Grand Prix series qualifiers for 2024 came to a close in the incredible city of Chongqing, China, and the women’s event stole the show. That said, there were other highlights — including a breakout competition from Mikhail Shaidorov, a stunning dance from Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck, and a powerful comeback statement from Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii.

Women’s Competition

Amber Glenn proved the point that she can be consistent here — and consistently great! She came in as one of the favorites in this stacked competition, and likely the only non-Japanese skater with a chance to make the Grand Prix Final. After a slightly marred short that had her in second, Amber skated a gorgeous and clean free program that took the gold. 

In second, though with a score that would have won many other competitions this year, was Japan’s Mone Chiba. The rising star only seems to get better, showing not only her skating skills and consistent jumps, but an ever-increasing flair that will take her far.

In for the bronze, another powerful competition from South Korea’s Chaeyeon Kim showed that while she may not have made the GP Final, she will absolutely be a threat in any competition she enters this season.

Ice Dance Competition

The Italian team of Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri shook off the disaster they had in France and came here with new costumes (!!), new choreography, and lot of grit to take the top spot on the podium. Their robot-themed free dance is still a topic of debate, but the win here gives them positive momentum leading into the rest of the season.

They and the second place team of Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha from Canada both qualified for the Grand Prix Final here — and in particular, Lajoie and Lagha got some much needed mileage on their programs leading into it. They looked solid in the rhythm dance, but its their Sound of Silence free dance that is the stand-out and could take them farther up podiums.

In the bronze spot was the US’s Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko. While they skated well, they were actually upset in the free dance by Spain’s Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck. While Smart & Dieck didn’t quite make the podium here, they’ve made huge strides this season and absolutely have THE Dune program of the season!

Men’s Competition

While not as electric as the women’s competition, the men did have some highlights including a win for Japan’s Shun Sato — who locked in his spot at the Grand Prix Final with it. However, while Sato has some of the best jumps in the sport, he still lacks the emotionality that could take him even farther.

In second, and perhaps the bigger star of the event, was Mikhail Shaidorov from Kazakhstan. He again showed off his incredible triple axel-quad toe combination that has the sport in a tizzy, and also showed off his developing skill as a performer. 

Coming in for the bronze was France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who is still recovering from injury and has not yet looked like the same ferocious competitor we saw last season. Still, this third place finish earned him a ticket to the GP Final — which hopefully he can take since he shared that he injured his ankle during the free skate here. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Adam has since withdrawn because of injury, which means Mikhail takes his spot at GPF.) Sending Adam all of the good vibes!

Pair’s Competition

Italy’s Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii came here with momentum and capitalized on an underpowered Hase & Volodin to take their first Grand Prix title. They looked calm, confident, and better than ever in their win — which bodes well for them going into the GP Final.

Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin from Germany won the free skate, but after a messy short program could not recover enough to move beyond silver. However, they are in the GP Final and hopefully will have enough time for Minerva to recover from the food poisoning she was fighting in China.

The third spot on the podium belonged to Canada’s Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud, who had a solid short program and an improved free skate here that will ideally give them a good boost leading into Canadian Nationals.