News

The dates and cities chosen for the Challenger Series are known


Image

"Excited to resume competition" - Musketeers from Finland (Credits: Ville Vairinen - 2020)

Four stages in Europe, one in North America. The ISU has unveiled the five competitions selected for the Synchronized Skating Challenger Series events for the 2021-22 season.

The 2021-22 synchronized skating season is getting organized with new dates to add to the calendar.

After being cancelled last season due to the pandemic, the Challenger Series of synchronized skating will start in early January (Jan. 6-8, 2022) in Gdansk, Poland, the host city of the Hevelius Cup for a few years.

ADV picture
The second stage will take place in the Netherlands, in the city of Eindhoven. The dates remain to be confirmed, wrote the ISU. Eindhoven is well-known in the synchro world for the international competition Lumière Cup that takes place since 2017.

Then, the Challenger Series will take fans and athletes to Finland, to a city located 170 km from Helsinki. Turku will host the third stage from January 20 to 23, 2022.


Image
Team Nexxice Junior (CAN) at the first Challenger Series in California, USA. (Credits: Cynthia Slawter - 2019)

A week later, all eyes will be on Norwood, Massachusetts (USA), a town located in the Boston area. This fourth and unique event outside Europe of the Challenger Series will be held on January 28 and 29, 2022.

Finally, the city of Rouen in France was chosen for the fifth and final stage. Recognized for the French Cup organization for more than twenty-five years, Rouen will close this Challenger Series 2021-22 with a competition announced on February 4 and 5, 2022.

ADV picture
With the announcement of the dates and the selected cities, the ISU takes a step forward in planning the upcoming season. "The above calendar is subject to a timely normalization of the coronavirus situation allowing the safe organization of ice skating events," wrote the ISU.

While the Challenger Series events remain the property of the organizing members, the ISU assures that they will "closely monitoring the respective developments with the expectation and hope that the situation will be restored to normal as quickly as possible". Recommendations in terms of safety may be sent to the organizers on a case-by-case basis.

Stages, applications, Prize Money, etc.
Learn more about the Challenger Series!
Very tight schedule
From a sporting point of view, it should be noted the very tight schedule chosen by the ISU for the organization of the Challenger Series 2021-22. Indeed, all stages will take place in the space of less than a month, from the beginning of January to the beginning of February, with a one-week interval between the events. Also, despite ISU announces, no event is planned in Asia this year.

Athletes and competing teams will need to be in perfect shape from the start of the year to attack 2022 successfully. Beautiful moments of competition, therefore, await fans and skaters who, after more than a year, are certainly more than ready to rediscover the taste for competition!

ADV picture