Cup of China

The Cup of China is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Chinese Skating Association (simplified Chinese: 中国滑冰协会; traditional Chinese: 中國滑冰協會), and part of the ISU Grand Prix Series. The first competition was held in 2003 in Beijing as a replacement for Bofrost Cup on Ice. The Cup of China has been interrupted three times in its history: in 2018 when the Chinese Skating Association elected to forgo hosting any international skating events in order to prepare its venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and then in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cup of China
Status	Active
Genre	Grand Prix competition
Frequency	Annual
Country	China
Inaugurated	2003
Previous event	2024 Cup of China
Next event	2025 Cup of China
Organised by	Chinese Skating Association

Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earn points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to then compete at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Jeremy Abbott of the United States and Jin Boyang of China are tied for winning the most Cup of China titles in men's singles (with two each). Three skaters are tied for winning the most titles in women's singles (also with two each): Mao Asada of Japan, Irina Slutskaya of Russia, and Yuna Kim of South Korea. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo hold the record for winning the most titles in pair skating (with four); while Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat of France, and Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States, are tied for winning the most titles in ice dance (with three each).

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the men's event at the 2019 Cup of China: Jin Boyang of China (center), Yan Han of China (left), and Matteo Rizzo of Italy (right)

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the women's event at the 2012 Cup of China: Mao Asada of Japan (center), Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia (left), and Kiira Korpi of Finland (right)

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the pairs event at the 2011 Cup of China: Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia (center), Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China (right), and Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch of Canada (left)

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the ice dance event at the 2013 Cup of China: Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat of France (center), Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia (left), and Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States (right)

History

Beginning with the 1995–96 season, the International Skating Union (ISU) launched the Champions Series – later renamed the Grand Prix Series – which, at its inception, consisted of five qualifying competitions and the Champions Series Final. This allowed skaters to perfect their programs earlier in the season, as well as compete against the skaters with whom they would later compete at the World Championships.^[1] This series also provided the viewing public with additional televised skating, which was in high demand.^[1] Skaters earned points based on their results in their respective competitions and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were invited to compete at the Champions Series Final.^[1]

The first edition of the Cup of China was held in 2003 in Beijing. It replaced the Bofrost Cup on Ice, which had been one of the founding events of the Grand Prix Series, after the Chinese Skating Association reached a more lucrative television contract with the ISU.^[2] Timothy Goebel of the United States won this inaugural men's event, Elena Liashenko of Ukraine won the women's event, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the pairs event, and Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia won the ice dance event.^[3]

In 2018, the Chinese Skating Association declined to host any international skating events so as to prepare its venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics.^[4] Finland hosted a replacement event, the Grand Prix of Helsinki, instead.^[5]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a number of modifications were made to the structure of the 2020 Cup of China. Only skaters from China were permitted to compete.^[6] On 9 July 2020, the General Administration of Sport of China announced that no international sporting events would be held in China in 2020 except for test events for the 2022 Winter Olympics.^[7] The ISU announced on 13 July that the 2020 Cup of China would be held as scheduled due to its connection to the Beijing test event, the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.^[8] On 29 October 2020, the Chinese Skating Association announced that the Cup of China would be held with no audience presence.^[9]

The 2021 Cup of China, originally scheduled to be held in Chongqing, was cancelled due to travel and quarantine restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] The Gran Premio d'Italia in Turin served as its replacement.^[11] On 21 July 2022, it was confirmed that the 2022 Cup of China was cancelled due to China's ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions.^[12] The MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, England, in the United Kingdom, served as its replacement.^[13] The 2025 Cup of China is scheduled to be held 24–26 October in Chongqing.^[14]

Medalists

The reigning Cup of China champions: Shun Sato of Japan (men's singles); Amber Glenn of the United States (women's singles); Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii of Italy (pair skating); and Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy (ice dance)

Men's singles

Men's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
2003	Beijing	Timothy Goebel	Brian Joubert	Li Chengjiang	[3]
2004		Jeffrey Buttle	Li Chengjiang	Stefan Lindemann	[15]
2005		Emanuel Sandhu	Stéphane Lambiel	Andrei Griazev	[16]
2006	Nanjing	Evan Lysacek	Sergei Davydov	Emanuel Sandhu	[17]
2007	Harbin	Johnny Weir	Evan Lysacek	Stéphane Lambiel	[18]
2008	Beijing	Jeremy Abbott	Stephen Carriere	Tomáš Verner	[19]
2009		Nobunari Oda	Evan Lysacek	Sergei Voronov	[20]
2010		Takahiko Kozuka	Brandon Mroz	Tomáš Verner	[21]
2011	Shanghai	Jeremy Abbott	Nobunari Oda	Song Nan	[22]
2012		Tatsuki Machida	Daisuke Takahashi	Sergei Voronov	[23]
2013	Beijing	Yan Han	Maxim Kovtun	Takahiko Kozuka	[24]
2014	Shanghai	Maxim Kovtun	Yuzuru Hanyu	Richard Dornbush	[25]
2015	Beijing	Javier Fernández	Jin Boyang	Yan Han	[26]
2016		Patrick Chan		Sergei Voronov	[27]
2017		Mikhail Kolyada		Max Aaron	[28]
2018	No competition held				[4]
2019	Chongqing	Jin Boyang	Yan Han	Matteo Rizzo	[29]
2020				Chen Yudong	[30]
2021		Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[10]
2022					[12]
2023		Adam Siao Him Fa	Shoma Uno	Mikhail Shaidorov	[31]
2024		Shun Sato	Mikhail Shaidorov	Adam Siao Him Fa	[32]

Women's singles

Women's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
2003	Beijing	Elena Liashenko	Yoshie Onda	Fumie Suguri	[3]
2004		Irina Slutskaya	Viktoria Volchkova	Joannie Rochette	[15]
2005			Mao Asada	Shizuka Arakawa	[16]
2006	Nanjing	Júlia Sebestyén	Yukari Nakano	Emily Hughes	[17]
2007	Harbin	Yuna Kim	Caroline Zhang	Carolina Kostner	[18]
2008	Beijing		Miki Ando	Laura Lepistö	[19]
2009		Akiko Suzuki	Kiira Korpi	Joannie Rochette	[20]
2010		Miki Ando	Akiko Suzuki	Alena Leonova	[21]
2011	Shanghai	Carolina Kostner	Mirai Nagasu	Adelina Sotnikova	[22]
2012		Mao Asada	Yulia Lipnitskaya	Kiira Korpi	[23]
2013	Beijing	Anna Pogorilaya	Adelina Sotnikova	Carolina Kostner	[24]
2014	Shanghai	Elizaveta Tuktamysheva	Yulia Lipnitskaya	Kanako Murakami	[25]
2015	Beijing	Mao Asada	Rika Hongo	Elena Radionova	[26]
2016		Elena Radionova	Kaetlyn Osmond	Elizaveta Tuktamysheva	[27]
2017		Alina Zagitova	Wakaba Higuchi	Elena Radionova	[28]
2018	No competition held				[4]
2019	Chongqing	Anna Shcherbakova	Satoko Miyahara	Elizaveta Tuktamysheva	[29]
2020		Chen Hongyi	Angel Li	Jin Minzhi	[30]
2021		Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[10]
2022					[12]
2023		Hana Yoshida	Rinka Watanabe	Loena Hendrickx	[31]
2024		Amber Glenn	Mone Chiba	Kim Chae-yeon	[32]

Pairs

Pairs event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
2003	Beijing	Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov	[3]
2004			Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Valérie Marcoux Craig Buntin	[15]
2005		Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Dorota Zagórska Mariusz Siudek	[16]
2006	Nanjing	Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	[17]
2007	Harbin	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Keauna McLaughlin Rockne Brubaker	Jessica Miller Ian Moram	[18]
2008	Beijing	Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Tatiana Volosozhar Stanislav Morozov	Pang Qing Tong Jian	[19]
2009		Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo	Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Tatiana Volosozhar Stanislav Morozov	[20]
2010		Pang Qing Tong Jian	Sui Wenjing Han Cong	Caitlin Yankowskas John Coughlin	[21]
2011	Shanghai	Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Kirsten Moore-Towers Dylan Moscovitch	[22]
2012		Pang Qing Tong Jian	Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Ksenia Stolbova Fedor Klimov	[23]
2013	Beijing	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Peng Cheng Zhang Hao	[24]
2014	Shanghai	Peng Cheng Zhang Hao	Yu Xiaoyu Jin Yang	Wang Xuehan Wang Lei	[25]
2015	Beijing	Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Sui Wenjing Han Cong	Yu Xiaoyu Jin Yang	[26]
2016		Yu Xiaoyu Zhang Hao	Peng Cheng Jin Yang	Liubov Ilyushechkina Dylan Moscovitch	[27]
2017		Sui Wenjing Han Cong	Yu Xiaoyu Zhang Hao	Kirsten Moore-Towers Michael Marinaro	[28]
2018	No competition held				[4]
2019	Chongqing	Sui Wenjing Han Cong	Peng Cheng Jin Yang	Liubov Ilyushechkina Charlie Bilodeau	[29]
2020		Peng Cheng Jin Yang	Wang Yuchen Huang Yihang	Zhu Daizifei Liu Yuhang	[30]
2021		Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[10]
2022					[12]
2023		Deanna Stellato-Dudek Maxime Deschamps	Rebecca Ghilardi Filippo Ambrosini	Peng Cheng Wang Lei	[31]
2024		Sara Conti Niccolò Macii	Minerva Fabienne Hase Nikita Volodin	Lia Pereira Trennt Michaud	[32]

Ice dance

Ice dance event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
2003	Beijing	Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov	Elena Grushina Ruslan Goncharov	Isabelle Delobel Olivier Schoenfelder	[3]
2004		Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Galit Chait Sergei Sakhnovski	Marie-France Dubreuil Patrice Lauzon	[15]
2005		Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov		Megan Wing Aaron Lowe	[16]
2006	Nanjing	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Jana Khokhlova Sergei Novitski	[17]
2007	Harbin	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Federica Faiella Massimo Scali	[18]
2008	Beijing	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Jana Khokhlova Sergei Novitski	[19]
2009		Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Jana Khokhlova Sergei Novitski	Federica Faiella Massimo Scali	[20]
2010		Nathalie Péchalat Fabian Bourzat	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev		[21]
2011	Shanghai	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani	Pernelle Carron Lloyd Jones	[22]
2012		Nathalie Péchalat Fabian Bourzat	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	[23]
2013	Beijing			Madison Chock Evan Bates	[24]
2014	Shanghai	Gabriella Papadakis Guillaume Cizeron	Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani	Anna Cappellini Luca Lanotte	[25]
2015	Beijing	Anna Cappellini Luca Lanotte	Madison Chock Evan Bates	Elena Ilinykh Ruslan Zhiganshin	[26]
2016		Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani	Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin	[27]
2017		Gabriella Papadakis Guillaume Cizeron	Madison Chock Evan Bates	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	[28]
2018	No competition held				[4]
2019	Chongqing	Victoria Sinitsina Nikita Katsalapov	Madison Chock Evan Bates	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Nikolaj Sørensen	[29]
2020		Wang Shiyue Liu Xinyu	Chen Hong Sun Zhuoming	Ning Wanqi Wang Chao	[30]
2021		Competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic			[10]
2022					[12]
2023		Piper Gilles Paul Poirier	Marjorie Lajoie Zachary Lagha	Caroline Green Michael Parsons	[31]
2024		Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri		Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko	[32]

Records

From left to right: Jeremy Abbott of the United States and Jin Boyang of China have both won two Cup of China titles each in men's singles; while Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States, and Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat of France, have won three Cup of China titles in ice dance.

From left to right: Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China have won four Cup of China titles in pair skating; while Mao Asada of Japan, Irina Slutskaya of Russia, and Yuna Kim of South Korea have each won two Cup of China titles in women's singles.

Records

Discipline	Most titles
	Skater(s)	No.	Years	Ref.
Men's singles	Jeremy Abbott	2	2008; 2011	[33]
	Jin Boyang	2	2019–20	[34]
Women's singles	Mao Asada	2	2012; 2015	[35]
	Irina Slutskaya	2	2004–05	[36]
	Yuna Kim	2	2007–08	[37]
Pairs	Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo	4	2003–04; 2006; 2009	[38]
Ice dance	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	3	2004; 2007; 2009	[39]
	Nathalie Péchalat Fabian Bourzat	3	2010; 2012–13	[40]

Cumulative medal count

Men's singles

Total number of Cup of China medals in men's singles by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	5	4	2	11
2	Japan	4	4	1	9
3	China	3	6	4	13
4	Canada	3	0	1	4
5	Russia	2	1	4	7
6	France	1	1	1	3
7	Spain	1	0	0	1
8	Kazakhstan	0	1	1	2
	Switzerland	0	1	1	2
10	Belarus	0	1	0	1
11	Czech Republic	0	0	2	2
12	Germany	0	0	1	1
	Italy	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		19	19	19	57

Women's singles

Total number of Cup of China medals in women's singles by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	7	4	6	17
2	Japan	5	10	3	18
3	South Korea	2	0	1	3
4	United States	1	2	1	4
5	China	1	1	1	3
6	Italy	1	0	2	3
7	Hungary	1	0	0	1
	Ukraine	1	0	0	1
9	Canada	0	1	2	3
	Finland	0	1	2	3
11	Belgium	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		19	19	19	57

Pairs

Total number of Cup of China medals in pairs by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	13	14	6	33
2	Russia	3	1	2	6
3	Germany	1	1	1	3
4	Italy	1	1	0	2
5	Canada	1	0	6	7
6	United States	0	1	2	3
7	Ukraine	0	1	1	2
8	Poland	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		19	19	19	57

Ice dance

Total number of Cup of China medals in ice dance by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	6	5	5	16
2	France	5	0	2	7
3	United States	4	7	3	14
4	Italy	2	0	4	6
5	Canada	1	3	4	8
6	China	1	1	1	3
7	Israel	0	2	0	2
8	Ukraine	0	1	0	1
Totals (8 entries)		19	19	19	57

Total medals

Total number of Cup of China medals by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	18	22	12	52
2	Russia	18	11	17	46
3	United States	10	14	8	32
4	Japan	9	14	4	27
5	France	6	1	3	10
6	Canada	5	4	13	22
7	Italy	4	1	7	12
8	South Korea	2	0	1	3
9	Ukraine	1	2	1	4
10	Germany	1	1	2	4
11	Hungary	1	0	0	1
	Spain	1	0	0	1
13	Israel	0	2	0	2
14	Finland	0	1	2	3
15	Kazakhstan	0	1	1	2
	Switzerland	0	1	1	2
17	Belarus	0	1	0	1
18	Czech Republic	0	0	2	2
19	Belgium	0	0	1	1
	Poland	0	0	1	1
Totals (20 entries)		76	76	76	228