Kagiyama Yuma looks to double up at Finlandia Trophy 2024
The Olympic silver medallist is looking for a second win on the 2024/25 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in as many weeks to add to his NHK Trophy triumph last weekend.
Figure Skating
Fresh off the back of victory at the NHK Trophy, Kagiyama Yuma will look to double up on Grand Prix of Figure Skating wins this week as the 2024/25 series returns to Europe for its fifth stop of the season in Helsinki, Finland.
Olympic silver medallist Kagiyama will compete in the 2024 Finlandia Trophy, which runs from 15–17 November at the Helsinki Ice Hall in the Finnish capital, and is favoured to improve on his score from the NHK Trophy where he fell during his free skate.
Meanwhile, with the circuit nearing its conclusion for the season, time is running out for skaters to secure their spots in the Grand Prix Final, which takes place in France in December.
Only the top six in each of the four events qualify for that event in Grenoble, so a podium finish is essential for the favourites to move themselves into position, with only the Cup of China to follow.
Unusually for a Grand Prix competition, no exhibition gala will take place on Sunday, with the pairs free skate and ice dance free dance being scheduled for the final day of the event.
Olympics.com takes a look at a few skaters who will hope to shine on the Helsinki ice.
Stars to watch at 2024 Finlandia Trophy
Kagiyama will be out to make it two wins from two in consecutive weeks to book his spot in next month's Grand Prix Final. It will also be another chance for the Japanese skater to remind Grand Prix series leader Ilia Malinin of his ability to crack the 300-total-point, having also done so at the NHK Trophy just this past weekend.
He will face challenges in the men's event from France's Kévin Aymoz, who was runner-up to Malinin at Skate America in the season's opening Grand Prix event, while Daniel Grassl marked his comeback to the circuit by finishing second behind Kagiyama in Tokyo and will also hope for another podium finish.
Republic of Korea's Cha Junhwan, third at Skate Canada International, is the other podium finisher from this season competing in Finland.
On the women's side, Kagiyama's Japanese compatriots Yoshida Hana and Matsuike Rino headline a field shorn of two of the other big names who were due to compete. Belgium's Loena Hendrickx and USA's Isabeau Levito announced their withdrawals on 4 November, with Hendrickx's decision meaning the European champion will miss the entire Grand Prix season.
The pairs competition will see Canadian world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps and Italy's Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini enter looking to book their Grand Prix Final spots with a second podium finish of the season, while in ice dance, each of Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (Canada) and Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (Great Britain) are searching for the second wins of the year, to go with victories at Skate Canada International and Skate America respectively.
2024 Finlandia Trophy: Competition dates and schedule
The 2024 edition of the ISU Grand Prix series event takes place in Helsinki, Finland, from 15–17 November.
Here is the full schedule of the events.
All times local Eastern European Time / EET (UTC +2 hours) and subject to change.
Friday, 15 November
- 15:00–16:29: Men's short program
- 16:45–17:15: Opening ceremony
- 17:30–18:59: Women's short program
- 19:20–20:25: Pairs short program
Saturday, 16 November
- 12:45–14:32: Men's free skating
- 15:00–16:47: Women's free skating, followed by victory ceremony women and men
- 17:35–18:53: Ice dance rhythm dance
Sunday, 17 November
- 13:00–14:17: Pairs free skating
- 14:40–16:12: Ice dance free dance, followed by victory ceremony ice dance and pairs
2024 Finlandia Trophy: How to watch
You can watch the Finlandia Trophy through the following broadcasters:
- Australia - SBS
- Brazil - ESPN
- Canada - CBC
- People’s Republic of China - CCTV
- Finland - YLE
- France - France TV
- Germany - ARD, ZDF
- Great Britain and Pan-Europe - Eurosport
- Italy - Rai
- Japan - J Sports, Fuji TV, TV Asahi
- Mexico - Sky Mexico
- USA - NBC's streaming service Peacock
For full tune-in information, see the ISU’s “Where to Watch” page.
ISU also provides live streaming on its YouTube account, although many territories are geo-blocked.