The 2021–22 figure skating season began on July 1, 2021, and ended on June 30, 2022. During this season, elite skaters competed at the ISU Championship level at the 2022 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Championships, as well as at the 2022 Winter Olympics. They also competed at elite events such as the Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix series, and the ISU Challenger Series.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand Prix Final was cancelled, while parts of the Junior Grand Prix, Grand Prix, and Challenger Series were not held as scheduled. Among the ISU Championships events, the 2022 Four Continents Championships were relocated, and the 2022 World Junior Championships were also postponed and relocated. Due to these re-allocations, the Estonian Skating Union ended up hosting three of the four ISU Championships events this season.
Beginning from the 2021–22 season, the International Skating Union officially changed the terminology in all ISU rules and events from "ladies" to "women".
On March 1, 2022, the ISU banned all figure skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus from attending any international competitions due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The ISU acknowledged two key challenges in organizing the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: entry restrictions into host countries and/or return to the home countries and limited air travel options. However, the ISU remained committed to having a full calendar of events, with modifications as necessary, and issued the following statement:
"Despite the lingering world-wide coronavirus pandemic, the ISU is looking forward to the Olympic season and will do its utmost to assist the ISU Members in maintaining and safely conducting the planned ISU Events and allowing a maximum number of participants."
On August 5, the ISU announced that due to varying travel and quarantine restrictions during the pandemic, it would consider re-allocation requests for the Junior Grand Prix series on a case-by-case basis according to an outlined criteria of preference. The ISU also said that they would abandon the re-allocation process in the event of an abundance of requests or overly complex requests that would cause logistical issues. In addition, the ISU decided not to implement a JGP ranking for the season and to instead prioritize holding the JGP series safely "with the best possible participation" in light of the pandemic. In October, the ISU announced alternative qualification criteria for the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final.
Skate Canada was scheduled to host the second JGP event in Edmonton, Alberta, but cancelled the event due to uncertainties surrounding the pandemic. The Fédération Française des Sports de Glace hosted two back-to-back JGP events in Courcheval.
On August 16, the ISU announced the cancellation of the third Grand Prix event, the 2021 Cup of China, citing the limited number of international flights to China and strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. On August 27, the Gran Premio d'Italia was named as the replacement event. On December 2, the ISU announced that the 2021–22 Grand Prix Final would not be able to be held as scheduled in Osaka, Japan, and that they were considering the possibility of postponement to later in the season. The event was definitively cancelled on December 17.
On September 13, the Chinese Skating Association also announced the cancellation of the 2022 Four Continents Championships. The ISU again asked for other members to apply as alternate hosts on the originally scheduled dates. After receiving no applications from non-European members, the ISU asked the Estonian Skating Union, the host of the 2022 European Championships, to host the Four Continents Championships at the same venue the week after the European Championships.
On February 12, the ISU announced that the 2022 World Junior Championships could not be held as planned due to concerns about a surge in omicron variant cases Bulgaria peaking on the originally scheduled dates, as well as the host nation's restrictive entry requirements. As the 2021 World Junior Championships had already been cancelled, the ISU announced that they would evaluate the feasibility of postponing the event until May if the Bulgarian Skating Federation were willing and other ISU member nations were willing to attend. On March 4, the ISU announced that the event would be held from April 13–17 in Tallinn, Estonia, the second ISU Championships event of the season to be re-allocated to the Estonian Skating Union.
ISU member nations' responses
Due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, as well as varying vaccination requirements, several federations faced issues traveling to certain countries to compete. Russia was unable to send athletes to France for the first two Junior Grand Prix events and required the ISU's re-allocation system to obtain additional quotas at other events. The federation also faced logistical difficulties in obtaining visas for their athletes at both Skate America and Skate Canada. Other federations limited international competitive opportunities for their skaters due to lengthy quarantine periods upon returning home. Both Japan and China did not send any athletes to the Junior Grand Prix, with China also skipping the entirety of the ISU Challenger Series; Japan only sent athletes to the latter events of the Challenger Series. China later also opted not to send any athletes to the 2022 World Championships or the World Junior Championships.
Season notes
Age eligibility
Skaters were eligible to compete in ISU events on the junior or senior levels according to their age. These rules may not have applied to non-ISU events such as national championships.
Changes
If skaters of different nationalities formed a team, the ISU required that they choose one country to represent. The date provided is the date when the change occurred or, if not available, the date when the change was announced.
Partnership changes
Retirements
Coaching changes
Nationality changes
International competitions
Several competitions were rescheduled from the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scheduled competitions:
- Code key
- Color key
Cancelled events
Several competitions were cancelled by either the ISU, the host federation, or the local government due to the COVID-19 pandemic or the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
International medalists
Men's singles
Women's singles
Pairs
Ice dance
Records and achievements
Records
The following new senior ISU best scores were set during this season:
The following new junior ISU best scores were set during this season:
Achievements
- At the 2022 European Championships, Deniss Vasiļjevs was the first Latvian skater to win a medal (a bronze medal) at an ISU Championship event.
- At the 2022 Four Continents Championships, Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi earned the highest placement (the silver medal) for a Japanese ice dance team at an ISU Championship event. Takahashi was also the first skater to earn a medal in two different disciplines at the Four Continents Championships, having previously won four medals in men's singles.
- At the 2022 Four Continents Championships, Cha Jun-hwan was the first Korean men's singles skater to win a gold medal at an ISU Championship event.
- At the 2022 World Championships, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara earned the highest placement (the silver medal) for a Japanese pair team at the World Championships.
- At the 2022 World Championships, Loena Hendrickx was the first Belgian women's singles skater to win a medal (a silver medal) at an ISU Championship event. At the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia, Hendrickx also won Belgium's first Grand Prix medal (a bronze medal) in women's singles.
- At the 2022 World Junior Championships, Karina Safina and Luka Berulava were the first Georgian pair team to win a gold medal at an ISU Championship event.
- At the 2022 World Junior Championships, Mikhail Shaidorov was the first Kazakh skater to win a medal (a silver medal) at the World Junior Championships.
- At the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, Morisi Kvitelashvili won Georgia's first Grand Prix gold medal at the senior level in any discipline.
- At the 2021 Autumn Classic International, Marilena Kitromilis was the first Cypriot skater to win a gold medal at an ISU-sanctioned event.
Season's best scores
Men's singles
Women's singles
Pairs
Ice dance
World standings
Men's singles
As of April 16, 2022.
Women's singles
As of April 17, 2022.
Pairs
As of April 15, 2022.
Ice dance
As of April 17, 2022.
Current season's world rankings
Men's singles
As of April 16, 2022.
Women's singles
As of April 17, 2022.
Pairs
As of April 15, 2022.
Ice dance
As of April 17, 2022.
References
