Rostelecom Cup

"Cup of Russia" redirects here. For other uses, see Russian Cup (disambiguation).

The Rostelecom Cup (Russian: Кубок Ростелекома) – originally known as the Cup of Russia (Russian: Кубок России) – was an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. The first iteration was held in 1996 in Saint Petersburg as part of the Champions Series (later renamed the Grand Prix Series). It had been a Grand Prix event every year until the ISU barred Russia from hosting international skating competitions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were invited to then compete at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

Rostelecom Cup
Status	Inactive
Genre	Grand Prix competition
Country	Russia
Years active	1996–2021
Organized by	Figure Skating Federation of Russia

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the men's event at the 2012 Rostelecom Cup: Patrick Chan of Canada (center), Takahiko Kozuka of Japan (left), and Michal Březina of the Czech Republic (right)

The gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the women's event at the 2012 Rostelecom Cup: Kiira Korpi of Finland (center), Gracie Gold of the United States (left), and Agnes Zawadzki of the United States (right)

Evgeni Plushenko of Russia holds the record for winning the most Rostelecom Cup titles in men's singles (with eight), while Irina Slutskaya, also of Russia, holds the record in women's singles (with seven). Three teams are tied for winning the most titles in pair skating (with three each): Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China, and Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, although Savchenko won an additional title with a different partner. Five teams are also tied for winning the most titles in ice dance (with three each): Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia, Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio of Italy, Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov of Russia, Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia, and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia.

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 same skaters whom they would later encounter at the World Championships. This series also provided the viewing public with additional televised skating, which was in high demand. Skaters earned points based on their results in their respective competitions and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were then invited to compete at the Champions Series Final.^[1]

The first edition – the 1996 Cup of Russia – was held in Saint Petersburg. Alexei Urmanov and Irina Slutskaya, both of Russia, won the inaugural men's and women's events, respectively. Mandy Wötzel and Ingo Steuer of Germany won the pairs event, while Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov of Russia won the ice dance event.^[2] The Cup of Russia adopted its current name in 2009 in recognition of its sponsor, the telecommunications company Rostelecom.^[3][4]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a number of modifications were made to the structure of the 2020 Rostelecom Cup. The competitors consisted only of skaters from Russia, skaters already training in Russia, or skaters assigned there for geographic reasons.^[5] However, the event became controversial after an apparent COVID-19 spread among attendees.^[6] Despite some precautionary measures being taken, the organizers of the Rostelecom Cup, as with many other Russian domestic competitions during the season, came under criticism for allowing a large audience and an insufficient enforcement of mandates regarding social distancing and proper mask usage.^[7] A focal point of criticism was the decision to hold the traditional post-competition banquet where many skaters were documented not socially distancing at all, as well as sharing food from a communal buffet.^[6] Several Russian skaters who competed at the event reported contracting the virus in the weeks afterward, including Dmitri Aliev, Alena Kostornaia, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Victoria Sinitsina, and Nikita Katsalapov.^[8][9] Estonian skater Eva-Lotta Kiibus also reported contracting COVID-19 at the event and was still suffering effects two months later.^[10]

Irina Rodnina, three-time Olympic champion for Russia in pair skating and member of the State Duma, strongly criticized the handling of the Rostelecom Cup and cited it as an example of the government needing to more aggressively fine people for non-compliance.^[6] After the event, when questioned by a journalist as to whether the Figure Skating Federation of Russia would be sanctioned over their disregard for safety protocols, Jan Dijkema, then-president of the ISU, acknowledged "the regrettable news about the situation involving positive test results for COVID-19," but denied that the ISU would take responsibility, citing the semi-domestic nature of the 2020–21 Grand Prix series.^[7]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating in international figure skating competitions.^[11][12] The ISU also ordered that no international competitions be held in Russia or Belarus. Therefore, the Rostelecom Cup, which was scheduled for that November, was cancelled.^[13] The Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland was held as a replacement.^[14]

Medalists

From left to right: The 2021 Rostelecom Cup champions: Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia (men's singles); Kamila Valieva of Russia (women's singles); Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galiamov of Russia (pair skating); and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia (ice dance)

Men's singles

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1996	Saint Petersburg	Alexei Urmanov	Alexei Yagudin	Michael Weiss	[2]
1997		Alexei Yagudin	Evgeni Plushenko	Viacheslav Zagorodniuk	[15]
1998	Moscow	Alexei Urmanov		Alexander Abt	[16]
1999	Saint Petersburg	Evgeni Plushenko	Alexander Abt	Guo Zhengxin	[17]
2000			Ilia Klimkin	Matthew Savoie	[18]
2001			Roman Serov	Ivan Dinev	[19]
2002	Moscow		Li Chengjiang	Alexander Abt	[20]
2003				Frédéric Dambier	[21]
2004			Johnny Weir	Zhang Min	[22]
2005	Saint Petersburg		Stéphane Lambiel	Johnny Weir	[23]
2006	Moscow	Brian Joubert	Johnny Weir	Ilia Klimkin	[24]
2007		Johnny Weir	Stéphane Lambiel	Andrei Griazev	[25]
2008		Brian Joubert	Tomáš Verner	Alban Préaubert	[26]
2009		Evgeni Plushenko	Takahiko Kozuka	Artem Borodulin	[3]
2010		Tomáš Verner	Patrick Chan	Jeremy Abbott	[27]
2011		Yuzuru Hanyu	Javier Fernández		[28]
2012		Patrick Chan	Takahiko Kozuka	Michal Březina	[29]
2013		Tatsuki Machida	Maxim Kovtun	Javier Fernández	[30]
2014		Javier Fernández	Sergei Voronov	Michal Březina	[31]
2015			Adian Pitkeev	Ross Miner	[32]
2016			Shoma Uno	Alexei Bychenko	[33]
2017		Nathan Chen	Yuzuru Hanyu	Mikhail Kolyada	[34]
2018		Yuzuru Hanyu	Morisi Kvitelashvili	Kazuki Tomono	[35]
2019		Alexander Samarin	Dmitri Aliev	Makar Ignatov	[36]
2020		Mikhail Kolyada	Morisi Kvitelashvili	Petr Gumennik	[37]
2021	Sochi	Morisi Kvitelashvili	Mikhail Kolyada	Kazuki Tomono	[38]

Women's singles

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1996	Saint Petersburg	Irina Slutskaya	Julia Lautowa	Olga Markova	[2]
1997			Elena Sokolova		[15]
1998	Moscow	Elena Sokolova	Julia Soldatova	Irina Slutskaya	[16]
1999	Saint Petersburg	Irina Slutskaya		Elena Sokolova	[17]
2000			Elena Sokolova	Sarah Hughes	[18]
2001			Viktoria Volchkova	Angela Nikodinov	[19]
2002	Moscow	Viktoria Volchkova	Sasha Cohen	Irina Slutskaya	[20]
2003		Elena Liashenko	Carolina Kostner	Galina Maniachenko	[21]
2004		Irina Slutskaya	Shizuka Arakawa	Júlia Sebestyén	[22]
2005	Saint Petersburg		Miki Ando	Yoshie Onda	[23]
2006	Moscow	Sarah Meier	Júlia Sebestyén		[24]
2007		Yuna Kim	Yukari Nakano	Joannie Rochette	[25]
2008		Carolina Kostner	Rachael Flatt	Fumie Suguri	[26]
2009		Miki Ando	Ashley Wagner	Alena Leonova	[3]
2010			Akiko Suzuki	Ashley Wagner	[27]
2011		Mao Asada	Alena Leonova	Adelina Sotnikova	[28]
2012		Kiira Korpi	Gracie Gold	Agnes Zawadzki	[29]
2013		Yulia Lipnitskaya	Carolina Kostner	Mirai Nagasu	[30]
2014		Rika Hongo	Anna Pogorilaya	Alaine Chartrand	[31]
2015		Elena Radionova	Evgenia Medvedeva	Adelina Sotnikova	[32]
2016		Anna Pogorilaya	Elena Radionova	Courtney Hicks	[33]
2017		Evgenia Medvedeva	Carolina Kostner	Wakaba Higuchi	[34]
2018		Alina Zagitova	Sofia Samodurova	Lim Eun-soo	[35]
2019		Alexandra Trusova	Evgenia Medvedeva	Mariah Bell	[36]
2020		Elizaveta Tuktamysheva	Alena Kostornaia	Anastasiia Guliakova	[37]
2021	Sochi	Kamila Valieva	Elizaveta Tuktamysheva	Maya Khromykh	[38]

Pairs

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1996	Saint Petersburg	Mandy Wötzel Ingo Steuer	Marina Eltsova Andrei Bushkov	Oksana Kazakova Artur Dmitriev	[2]
1997		Marina Eltsova Andrei Bushkov	Evgenia Shishkova Vadim Naumov	Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon Luc Bradet	[15]
1998	Moscow	Elena Berezhnaya Anton Sikharulidze	Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo	Kyoko Ina John Zimmerman	[16]
1999	Saint Petersburg	Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov		Tatiana Totmianina Maxim Marinin	[17]
2000		Elena Berezhnaya Anton Sikharulidze		Dorota Zagórska Mariusz Siudek	[18]
2001			Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov	Sarah Abitbol Stéphane Bernadis	[19]
2002	Moscow	Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo		Julia Obertas Sergei Slavnov	[20]
2003		Tatiana Totmianina Maxim Marinin	Pang Qing Tong Jian	Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	[21]
2004		Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Julia Obertas Sergei Slavnov	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	[22]
2005	Saint Petersburg	Tatiana Totmianina Maxim Marinin		Dorota Zagórska Mariusz Siudek	[23]
2006	Moscow	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov	Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	[24]
2007		Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy		[25]
2008			Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Tatiana Volosozhar Stanislav Morozov	[26]
2009		Pang Qing Tong Jian		Keauna McLaughlin Rockne Brubaker	[3]
2010		Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Narumi Takahashi Mervin Tran	Amanda Evora Mark Ladwig	[27]
2011		Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Stefania Berton Ondřej Hotárek	[28]
2012		Tatiana Volosozhar Maxim Trankov	Vera Bazarova Yuri Larionov	Caydee Denney John Coughlin	[29]
2013		Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy		Kirsten Moore-Towers Dylan Moscovitch	[30]
2014		Ksenia Stolbova Fedor Klimov	Evgenia Tarasova Vladimir Morozov	Kristina Astakhova Alexei Rogonov	[31]
2015			Yuko Kavaguti Alexander Smirnov	Peng Cheng Zhang Hao	[32]
2016		Aljona Savchenko Bruno Massot	Natalya Zabiyako Alexander Enbert	Kristina Astakhova Alexei Rogonov	[33]
2017		Evgenia Tarasova Vladimir Morozov	Ksenia Stolbova Fedor Klimov		[34]
2018			Nicole Della Monica Matteo Guarise	Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin	[35]
2019		Aleksandra Boikova Dmitrii Kozlovskii	Evgenia Tarasova Vladimir Morozov	Minerva Fabienne Hase Nolan Seegert	[36]
2020			Anastasia Mishina Aleksandr Galliamov	Apollinariia Panfilova Dmitry Rylov	[37]
2021	Sochi	Anastasia Mishina Aleksandr Galliamov	Daria Pavliuchenko Denis Khodykin	Yasmina Kadyrova Ivan Balchenko	[38]

Ice dance

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1996	Saint Petersburg	Anjelika Krylova Oleg Ovsyannikov	Irina Lobacheva Ilia Averbukh	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	[2]
1997				Tatiana Navka Nikolai Morozov	[15]
1998	Moscow			Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov	[16]
1999	Saint Petersburg	Barbara Fusar-Poli Maurizio Margaglio	Shae-Lynn Bourne Viktor Kraatz	Sylwia Nowak Sebastien Kolasinski	[17]
2000			Irina Lobacheva Ilia Averbukh	Galit Chait Sergei Sakhnovski	[18]
2001			Galit Chait Sergei Sakhnovski	Elena Grushina Ruslan Goncharov	[19]
2002	Moscow	Irina Lobacheva Ilia Averbukh	Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov	Albena Denkova Maxim Staviski	[20]
2003		Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Galit Chait Sergei Sakhnovski	[21]
2004			Elena Grushina Ruslan Goncharov	Federica Faiella Massimo Scali	[22]
2005	Saint Petersburg		Galit Chait Sergei Sakhnovski	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	[23]
2006	Moscow	Tanith Belbin Benjamin Agosto	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Isabelle Delobel Olivier Schoenfelder	[24]
2007		Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Nathalie Péchalat Fabian Bourzat	Anna Zadorozhniuk Sergei Verbillo	[25]
2008		Jana Khokhlova Sergei Novitski	Oksana Domnina Maxim Shabalin	Meryl Davis Charlie White	[26]
2009		Meryl Davis Charlie White	Anna Cappellini Luca Lanotte	Ekaterina Rubleva Ivan Shefer	[3]
2010		Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Nóra Hoffmann Maxim Zavozin	Elena Ilinykh Nikita Katsalapov	[27]
2011		Meryl Davis Charlie White	Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	[28]
2012		Tessa Virtue Scott Moir	Elena Ilinykh Nikita Katsalapov	Victoria Sinitsina Ruslan Zhiganshin	[29]
2013		Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	Madison Chock Evan Bates	[30]
2014		Madison Chock Evan Bates	Elena Ilinykh Ruslan Zhiganshin	Penny Coomes Nicholas Buckland	[31]
2015		Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	Anna Cappellini Luca Lanotte	Victoria Sinitsina Nikita Katsalapov	[32]
2016		Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Madison Chock Evan Bates	Kaitlyn Weaver Andrew Poje	[33]
2017		Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin	[34]
2018		Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin	Sara Hurtado Kirill Khaliavin	Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko	[35]
2019		Victoria Sinitsina Nikita Katsalapov	Piper Gilles Paul Poirier	Sara Hurtado Kirill Khaliavin	[36]
2020			Tiffany Zahorski Jonathan Guerreiro	Anastasia Skoptsova Kirill Aleshin	[37]
2021	Sochi		Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Nikolaj Sørensen	[38]

Records

From left to right: Evgeni Plushenko of Russia has won eight Rostelecom Cup titles in men's singles; Irina Slutskaya of Russia has won seven Rostelecom Cup titles in women's singles; Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, and Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China, have won three Rostelecom Cup titles each in pair skating.

From left to right: Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, all of Russia, have won three Rostelecom Cup titles each in ice dance.

Records

Discipline	Most titles
	Skater(s)	No.	Years	Ref.
Men's singles	Evgeni Plushenko	8	1999–2005; 2009	[39]
Women's singles	Irina Slutskaya	7	1996–97; 1999–2001; 2004–05	[40]
Pairs	Elena Berezhnaya Anton Sikharulidze	3	1998; 2000–01	[41]
	Aljona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy	3	2006; 2011; 2013	[42][43]
	Aljona Savchenko [a]	4	2006; 2011; 2013; 2016
	Zhang Dan Zhang Hao	3	2004; 2007–08	[44]
Ice dance	Ekaterina Bobrova Dmitri Soloviev	3	2010; 2013; 2016	[45]
	Barbara Fusar-Poli Maurizio Margaglio	3	1999–2001	[17][18][19]
	Anjelika Krylova Oleg Ovsyannikov	3	1996–98	[46]
	Tatiana Navka Roman Kostomarov	3	2003–05	[47]
	Victoria Sinitsina Nikita Katsalapov	3	2019–21	[48]

1. Aljona Savchenko won three titles while partnered with Robin Szolkowy (2006, 2011, 2013) and one with Bruno Massot (2016).

Cumulative medal count

Men's singles

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

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	13	11	9	33
2	Japan	3	4	2	9
3	Spain	3	1	1	5
4	United States	2	2	6	10
5	France	2	0	2	4
6	Georgia	1	2	0	3
7	Czech Republic	1	1	2	4
8	Canada	1	1	0	2
9	China	0	2	2	4
10	Switzerland	0	2	0	2
11	Israel	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)		26	26	26	78

Women's singles

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

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	17	13	10	40
2	Japan	4	4	4	12
3	Italy	1	3	0	4
4	South Korea	1	0	1	2
	Ukraine	1	0	1	2
6	Finland	1	0	0	1
	Switzerland	1	0	0	1
8	United States	0	4	7	11
9	Hungary	0	1	1	2
10	Austria	0	1	0	1
11	Canada	0	0	2	2
Totals (11 entries)		26	26	26	78

Pairs

Total number of Rostelecom Cup medals in pairs by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	16	19	11	46
2	China	5	4	2	11
3	Germany	5	1	2	8
4	Italy	0	1	1	2
5	Japan	0	1	0	1
6	United States	0	0	4	4
7	Canada	0	0	2	2
	Poland	0	0	2	2
9	France	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (10 entries)		26	26	26	78

Ice dance

Total number of Rostelecom Cup medals in ice dance by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	16	11	9	36
2	United States	5	2	4	11
3	Italy	3	3	1	7
4	Canada	2	4	2	8
5	Israel	0	2	2	4
6	Ukraine	0	1	2	3
7	France	0	1	1	2
	Spain	0	1	1	2
9	Hungary	0	1	0	1
10	Belarus	0	0	1	1
	Bulgaria	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
	Poland	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		26	26	26	78

Total medals

Total number of Rostelecom Cup medals by nation

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	62	54	39	155
2	Japan	7	9	6	22
3	United States	7	8	21	36
4	China	5	6	4	15
5	Germany	5	1	2	8
6	Italy	4	7	2	13
7	Canada	3	5	6	14
8	Spain	3	2	2	7
9	France	2	1	4	7
10	Georgia	1	2	0	3
	Switzerland	1	2	0	3
12	Ukraine	1	1	5	7
13	Czech Republic	1	1	2	4
14	South Korea	1	0	1	2
15	Finland	1	0	0	1
16	Israel	0	2	3	5
17	Hungary	0	2	1	3
18	Austria	0	1	0	1
19	Poland	0	0	3	3
20	Belarus	0	0	1	1
	Bulgaria	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		104	104	104	312