Ice Challenge

Ice Challenge
GenreInternational competition
FrequencyAnnual
VenueEisstadion Liebenau
LocationGraz
Country Austria
Inaugurated2009
Next event2025
Organized byGrazer Eislaufverein
& Skate Austria

The Ice Challenge – held in 2021 as the Cup of Austria – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein and Skate Austria in Graz, Austria. The competition debuted as an international event in 2009; prior to that, it was a regional event called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen, named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein. When the ISU launched the Challenger Series in 2014, the Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. The Ice Challenge has been a Challenger Series event four times during its history as of 2025. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; and when the event was part of the Challenger Series, skaters earned World Standing points based on their results.

History

The Ice Challenge originally called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen, named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein began in 1971 and was only a regional competition, organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein in Graz, Austria. In 2006, the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen was expanded to allow competitors from all of Austria. In 2008, the competition allowed international competitors for the first time, and in 2009, it received official endorsement by the International Skating Union (ISU) and was placed on their international calendar.[1]

The ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union and organized by ISU member nations. The objective is to ensure consistent organization and structure within a series of international competitions linked together, providing opportunities for senior-level skaters to compete at the international level and also earn ISU World Standing points.[2] Challenger Series events had to be scheduled between 1 August and 15 December. When an event was held as part of the Challenger Series, it had to host at least three of the four disciplines (men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance) and representatives from at least twelve different ISU member nations. The minimum number of entrants required for each discipline was: eight skaters each in men's singles and women's singles, five teams in pair skating, and six teams in ice dance.[3] While ISU member nations were limited to sending a maximum of three skaters or teams per discipline to each event, Skate Austria could enter an unlimited number of entrants in their own event. Additionally, each skater or team was limited to participating in at most three Challenger Series events each season.[4] The Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. Douglas Razzano and Hannah Miller of the United States won the men's and women's events, respectively; Lina Fedorova and Maxim Miroshkin of Russia won the pairs event, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the United States won the ice dance event.[5]

The Ice Challenge has been held several times since 2014, but was a Challenger Series event only in 2015, 2021, and 2022.[6] It was scheduled to be a Challenger Series event in 2023 before the Grazer Eislaufverein cancelled the competition.[7]

Senior medalists

The 2025 Ice Challenge champions: Maxim Naumov of the United States (men's singles); Gabrielle Daleman of Canada (women's singles); Chelsea Liu and Ryan Bedard of the United States (pair skating); and Eva Pate and Logan Bye of the United States (ice dance)

CS: Challenger Series event

Men's singles

Men's event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009 Tomáš Verner Anton Kovalevski Alban Préaubert [8]
2010 Alexander Majorov Douglas Razzano Kristoffer Berntsson [9]
2011 Stephen Carriere Misha Ge Viktor Pfeifer [10]
2012 Peter Liebers Douglas Razzano Armin Mahbanoozadeh [11]
2013 Denis Ten Viktor Pfeifer Gordei Gorshkov [12]
2014 CS Douglas Razzano Alexander Samarin Martin Rappe [5]
2015 CS Artur Dmitriev Jr. Jason Brown Mikhail Kolyada [13]
2016 No competition held
2017 Daniel Grassl Javier Raya Adrien Tesson [14]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021 CS Nika Egadze Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda Ilia Malinin [15]
2022 CS Liam Kapeikis Andreas Nordebäck Nikita Starostin [16]
2023 CS Competition cancelled [7]
2024 David Sedej Anton Skoficz No other competitors [17]
2025 Maxim Naumov Jacob Sanchez Grayson Long [18]

Women's singles

Women's event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009 Kanako Murakami Valentina Marchei Amanda Dobbs [8]
2010 Léna Marrocco Natalia Popova Sarah Hecken [9]
2011 Caroline Zhang Linnea Mellgren [10]
2012 Jenna McCorkell Isabelle Olsson Monika Simančíková [11]
2013 Courtney Hicks Miki Ando Nicole Rajičová [12]
2014 CS Hannah Miller Isabelle Olsson Ivett Tóth [5]
2015 CS Mirai Nagasu Maria Artemieva Tyler Pierce [13]
2016 No competition held
2017 Daša Grm Giada Russo Natalie Klotz [14]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021 CS Wakaba Higuchi Park Yeon-jeong Niina Petrõkina [15]
2022 CS Anna Pezzetta Kaiya Ruiter Kimmy Repond [16]
2023 CS Competition cancelled [7]
2024 Anna Pezzetta Julija Lovrencic Sarah Marie Pesch [17]
2025 Gabrielle Daleman Kaiya Ruiter Olga Mikutina [18]

Pairs

Pairs event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009
[8]
2010
  • Ji Hyang Ri
  • Won Hyok Thae
[9]
2011
[10]
2012 [11]
2013 [12]
2014 CS [5]
2015 CS [13]
2016 No competition held
2017
  • Lena Kreitmeier
  • Anton Kempf
No other competitors [14]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021
No other competitors [19]
2022 [16]
2023 Competition cancelled [7]
2024
  • Nica Digerness
  • Mark Sadusky
  • Linzy Fitzpatrick
  • Keyton Bearinger
[17]
2025
[18]

Ice dance

Ice dance event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009 [8]
2010 [9]
2011 [10]
2012 [11]
2013 [12]
2014 CS [5]
2015 CS [13]
2016 No competition held
2017 [14]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021 CS [15]
2022 CS
[16]
2023 CS Competition cancelled [7]
2024
  • Amy Cui
  • Jonathan Rogers
[17]
2025
  • Jamie Fournier
  • Everest Zhu
[18]

Junior medalists

Men's singles

Junior men's event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009 Franz Streubel Kamil Białas Timothy Leemann [8]
2010 Stanislav Pertsov Martin Rappe Olexander Kucher [9]
2011 Peter James Hallam Kamil Dymowski Nicola Todeschini [10]
2012 Tomáš Kupka Alexander Bjelde Peter James Hallam [11]
2013 Alexei Genya Tomáš Kupka Charles Tetar [12]
2014 Dmitri Aliev Byun Se-jong Anton Kempf [20]
2015 Petr Gumennik Daniel Grassl Catalin Dimitrescu [21]
2016 No competition held
2017 Jonathan Hess Gabriele Frangipani Nik Folini [22]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021 Naoki Rossi Aleksa Rakic Alp Eren Özkan [19]
2022 Hugo Bostedt Tobia Oellerer Connor Bray [16]
2023 No competition held [23]
2024 Maksym Petrychenko Hugo Willi Herrmann Daniel Ruis [17]
2025 William Chan Maksym Petrychenko Robert Wildt [18]

Women's singles

Junior women's event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009 Gerli Liinamäe Barbora Švédová Anastasia Kistler [8]
2010 Monika Simančíková Isabelle Olsson Lara Eisenbauer [9]
2011 Kristina Zaseeva Elin Hallberg Gabriella Josefsson [10]
2012 Sabrina Schulz Minami Hanashiro Nelma Hede [11]
2013 Maria Herceg Anna Dušková Yasmine Kimiko Yamada [12]
2014 Lea Johanna Dastich Byun Ji-hyun Anna Dušková [24]
2015 Stanislava Konstantinova Maria Perederova Kristina Isaev [21]
2016 No competition held
2017 Alessia Tornaghi Stefanie Pesendorfer Júlia Láng [22]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021 Vivien Papp Amalia Zelenjak Varvara Kisel [19]
2022 Sarina Joos Polina Dzsumanyijazova Marianne Must [16]
2023 No competition held [23]
2024 Vasilisa Bogomolova Nela Snebergerova Flora Marie Schaller [17]
2025 Maria Eliise Kaljuvere Sherry Zhang Quinn Startek [18]

Pairs

Junior pairs event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009
  • Evgenia Krapivina
  • Konstantin Medovikov
  • Catherine Clement
  • James Hunt
[8]
2010
No other competitors [9]
2011 [10]
2012 No other competitors [11]
2013 [12]
2014 [25]
2015 No junior pairs competitors [21]
2016 No competition held
2017
  • Sara Carli
  • Marco Pauletti
No other competitors [22]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021
No other competitors [19]
2022
  • Ashlyn Schmitz
  • Tristan Taylor
  • Sonja Löwenherz
  • Robert Löwenherz
[16]
2023 No competition held [23]
2024
  • Polina Polman
  • Gabriel Renoldi
  • Ines Moudden
  • Alejandro Lázaro García
  • Elisabetta Profaizer
  • Matteo Libasse Mandelli
[17]
2025
  • Johanka Zilková
  • Matyas Becerra
  • Paola Jurisic
  • Michail Savenkov
  • Ninon Dapoigny
  • Connor O'Grady
[18]

Ice dance

Junior ice dance event medalists
Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
2009
  • Stefanie Frohberg
  • Tim Giesen
[8]
2010
  • Lolita Yermak
  • Alexander Liubchenko
  • Jana Čejková
  • Alexandr Sinicyn
[9]
2011
  • Sophie Jones
  • Richard Sharpe
[10]
2012
  • Julia Dolgikh
  • Alexandr Prachanov
[11]
2013
  • Christine Smith
  • Simon Eisenbauer
[12]
2014
[26]
2015 No junior ice dance competitors [21]
2016 No competition held
2017
  • Ria Schwendinger
  • Valentin Wunderlich
[22]
2018–20 No competitions held
2021
[19]
2022
  • Anna Simova
  • Kirill Aksenov
  • Anita Straub
  • Andreas Straub
[16]
2023 No competition held [23]
2024
  • Ambre Perrier Gianesini
  • Samuel Blanc Klaperman
  • Laura Finelli
  • Massimiliano Bucciarelli
[17]
2025
  • Laurence Briere
  • Julien Levesque
  • Mia Lee Mayer
  • Atl Ongay-Perez
  • Diane Gallix
  • Elod Egyed-Zsigmond
[18]

Cumulative medal count (senior medalists)

Men's singles

Total number of Ice Challenge medals in men's singles by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States44210
2 Russia1124
3 Sweden1113
4 Germany1023
5 Czech Republic1001
 Georgia1001
 Italy1001
 Kazakhstan1001
 Slovenia1001
10 Austria0213
11 Japan0101
 Spain0101
 Ukraine0101
 Uzbekistan0101
15 France0022
16 Canada0011
Totals (16 entries)12121135

Women's singles

Total number of Ice Challenge medals in women's singles by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States4026
2 Italy2204
3 Japan2103
4 Canada1203
5 Slovenia1102
6 France1001
 Great Britain1001
8 Sweden0213
9 Ukraine0202
10 Russia0101
 South Korea0101
12 Austria0022
 Germany0022
 Slovakia0022
15 Estonia0011
 Hungary0011
 Switzerland0011
Totals (17 entries)12121236

Pairs

Total number of Ice Challenge medals in pairs by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States75214
2 Germany2316
3 Austria1102
4 Australia1001
 Russia1001
6 Netherlands0101
7 Israel0022
 Italy0022
9 Canada0011
 North Korea0011
 Ukraine0011
Totals (11 entries)12101032

Ice dance

Total number of Ice Challenge medals in ice dance by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States73010
2 Italy1124
3 Great Britain1102
4 Finland1023
5 Australia1001
 Hungary1001
7 Canada0213
8 Denmark0202
9 Czech Republic0101
 France0101
 Georgia0101
12 Germany0033
13 Austria0011
 Spain0011
 Switzerland0011
 Ukraine0011
Totals (16 entries)12121236

Total medals

Total number of Ice Challenge medals by nation
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States2212640
2 Italy43411
3 Germany33814
4 Russia2226
5 Japan2204
6 Great Britain2103
 Slovenia2103
8 Australia2002
9 Canada1438
10 Austria1348
11 Sweden1326
12 France1124
13 Czech Republic1102
 Georgia1102
15 Finland1023
16 Hungary1012
17 Kazakhstan1001
18 Ukraine0325
19 Denmark0202
20 Spain0112
21 Netherlands0101
 South Korea0101
 Uzbekistan0101
24 Israel0022
 Slovakia0022
 Switzerland0022
27 Estonia0011
 North Korea0011
Totals (28 entries)484645139

References

  1. ^ "IceChallenge – Eine Erfolgsgeschichte auf glattem Eis" [IceChallenge – A success story on smooth ice] (PDF). IceChallenge 2022 Magazin (in German). 2022. p. 27.
  2. ^ "Challenger Series". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 March 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Communication No. 1894" (PDF). International Skating Union. 26 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Communication No. 1994" (PDF). International Skating Union. 26 February 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e "2014 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Cancelled – 2023 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "2009 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "2010 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 25 August 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "2011 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 12 September 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "2012 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "2013 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d "2015 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d "2017 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 9 January 2026. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  15. ^ a b c "2021 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h "2022 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 18 August 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "2024 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 Ice Challenge". Skating Scores.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Ice Challenge 2021". Rink Results. Archived from the original on 16 September 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  20. ^ "41. Leo Scheu Memorial 2014 – Junior Men". Skate Austria. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  21. ^ a b c d "42. Leo Scheu Memorial 2015". Skate Austria. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  22. ^ a b c d "43. Leo Scheu Memorial 2017 – ISU". Skating Austria. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  23. ^ a b c d @icechallenge_graz; (27 July 2023). "Icechllenge - Cancellation! After careful consideration, we, the Icechallenge team, have made the decision to cancel the Icechallenge 2023" – via Instagram.
  24. ^ "41. Leo Scheu Memorial 2014 – Junior Ladies". Skate Austria. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  25. ^ "41. Leo Scheu Memorial 2014 – Junior Pairs". Skate Austria. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  26. ^ "41. Leo Scheu Memorial 2014 – Junior Ice Dance". Skate Austria. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.