2021 CS Finlandia Trophy: Top things to know

The 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy is set to get underway on Thursday, 7 October in Espoo, Finland.

The tournament, which is part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series, features skaters and teams competing across four figure skating disciplines over the course of four days.

Here is everything you need to know about the competition.

What is the Finlandia Trophy?

The Finlandia Trophy, as the name alludes to, is an international figure skating competition that's held annually in the Greater Helsinki region of Finland.

The 2021 edition is the third in a series of nine events of the 2021-22 International Skating Union (ISU) Challenger Series - a series of international figure skating competitions first launched in 2014 that allows skaters to gain world standing points.

When and where is the Finlandia Trophy taking place?

The 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy will be held on 7-10 October at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland.

The event was originally scheduled to take place from 8-10 October but was extended by one day after the cancellation of the Nepela Memorial (the previous Challenger Series event) led to an unprecedented number of athletes registering for the event.

What events are contested?

The 2021 Finlandia Trophy will feature four disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. In addition, for the second time in the competition's history, Special Olympics skaters with developmental disability or learning disorder will also participate.

Who are the big names to keep an eye on?

The field for this year's event is full of elite talent in every discipline.

In the women's competition, the Russian trio of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (2015 world and European champion), 2020 World Junior champion Kamila Valieva and 2020 European champion Alena Kostornaia (who won the women's title at the 2019 Finlandia Trophy) are among the heavy favourites for the gold medal. They will likely be challenged by the U.S. pair of Karen Chen and Amber Glenn and Canadian Madeline Schizas.

The men's competition appears to be equally tough, with Sochi bronze medallist Jason Brown (USA), PyeongChang silver medallist Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) and 2020 European champion Dmitri Aliev (RUS) headlining the field.

Not to be outdone, the pairs discipline is also jammed-pack with exceptional skaters; four of the 15 teams slated to compete in Finland ranked in the top 10 at the 2021 World Championships, including reigning world champions Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galliamov (RUS).

Finally, the U.S. pair of Madison Chock and Evan Bates (who competed at the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Games and won silver and bronze at the 2015 and 2016 World Championships respectively) are the gold-medal favourites for the ice dance competition.

2021 Finlandia Trophy competition schedule

Schedule courtesy of FinlandiaTrophy.com

Thursday 7.10. starting at 13.00

13.00 Special Olympics skaters
14.45 Pair skating, short program
17.25-21.25 Men, short program

*_Friday 8.10. starting at 13.00
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13.00 Pair skating, free skating
16-20.55 Men, free skating

*_Saturday 9.10. starting at 13.00
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13.00 Ice dance, rhythm dance
16.05 Women, short program
20.20-21.20 Synchronized skating, short program

*_Sunday 10.10. starting at 13.00
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13:00 Ice dance, free dance
16.30-21.25 Women, free skating

Subject to change.