Figure skating: ISU Grand Prix Series to go ahead, events targeted at domestic skaters

[August 05, 2020]    (Reuters) - Figure skating's Grand Prix Series will take place as scheduled in October and November, but will be run as events targeted at domestic skaters to limit travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced on Tuesday.

Japan's Wakaba Higuchi in action REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The Grand Prix Series, held every year since 1995, is a six-fixture event that qualifies the top six skaters and teams in each discipline for the Grand Prix Final in December.

The ISU said that events in the United States, Canada, France, Russia, China, and Japan will be limited to skaters of the host country, those that train in the host country and those from geographical areas not subject to travel restrictions by the host country.

"The (ISU) Council considered a proposal received from the six organising ISU Members of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series," the sport's governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The Council agreed in principle to the proposal that each individual ... event of the season 2020/21 becomes a domestic run event.

The governing body also said it would discuss with its Chinese counterparts whether and when the Grand Prix Final, scheduled to take place in Beijing as one of the designated test events for the 2022 Winter Olympics in the city, can go ahead.

(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

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