The Grand Prix Final returned to the figure skating calendar this year for the first time since 2019. Torino, Italy, was once again the host for this prestigious event, as it had been three years earlier.
The 2022 campaign promised to be an exciting one with skaters from seven nations qualifying and with no single country dominating the line ups and no clear-cut winners in any discipline, who would emerge the victor in every event was an unknown.
The reigning World champions in men, women and pairs competed in Torino but only one would take home gold.
Four new champions were crowned, and many skaters added new chapters to the annals of figure skating history with their personal accomplishments at this competition.
Japan qualified the most singles skaters for the senior Final with three men and four women making the cut, along with one pairs team. That nation would ultimately capture three of the four titles.
For the first time this season, the top ice dance teams in the world went head-to-head at the Final in Torino.
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, and Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were the only teams to win both their Grand Prix events, with the Canadian team finishing first in the standings by a 13.50-point margin.
But Gilles and Poirier were under no delusion that they would need to be nothing less than their very best if they hoped to check off another item on their bucket list this season — as in winning the Grand Prix Final title.
Always innovative and creative, the Canadians brought their magic to the Palavela arena in the rhythm dance, delivering a sharp and in-character performance.
However, the technical panel rated it an “up and down performance,” awarding Level 4s for the twizzles and rotational lift but grading the pattern dance step and the midline step sequences at Level 2. Gilles and Poirier earned 85.93 points for their efforts, which would ultimately give them the slimmest of leads heading into the free dance.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. also rose to the occasion, laying down an energetic and technically demanding performance.
They earned Level 4s for the twizzles and curve lift, Level 3 for the step sequence and were rewarded with a season high score of 85.49, which had the Americans in second place, just 0.44 of a point out of top spot.
Guignard and Fabbri delivered an upbeat performance to a trio of pieces for the Samba, Rhumba and Salsa sections of their program, but it was also a mixed bag for the technical panel, which awarded varying levels for the elements. The Italian team closed out the segment
