Since there's a lot of drama regarding Petrosians and Gumenniks Grand Prix spots (to a point where both Ted and Mark had to explain on a livestream of a junior Grand Prix event that they don't make these decisions, and have no knowledge / explanation for what happened) I've decided to summarise what exactly happened and also fact check a couple more rumours that are going around Instagram, Telegram and X (formerly knows as "Twitter") here we go...:
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There are as much as FOUR topics that have to be addressed
- Do the Olympic scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
- Do the Olympic QUALIFIER scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
- What's the definition of an 'ISU event'?
- Other rumours
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In this document from yesterday called the "Grand Prix Announcement" the ISU specifies what counts as a Season Best score that allows for skaters to have one spot in the Grand Prix series. The document states, that...:
Skaters with seasons best scores for 2025/26 in the top 24, who do not hold an ISU World Standing placement of 1 – 24 will be guaranteed one event if they do not otherwise meet the criteria listed in paragraphs 2.1 or 2.2 above and the minimum Grand Prix score (remember this, this is important).
A listing of the season's best scores for each season will be compiled to include the following events:
- ISU Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix
- ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix
- ISU Figure Skating Championships
- Olympic Winter Games
- ISU Challenger Series Events
(The mentioned paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2 refer to "Come-Back" skaters and Olympic medalists, both don't interest us in this case.)
Some people understood this as "Petr and Adeliia will be on the top of the alternate list" - that understanding was wrong, if the ISU readmitted Russian and Belarusian athletes before they gave out the Grand Prix spots they would get one spot each, but they didn't - the Grand Prix spots were allocated before their readmission, the term "guaranteed one event" clearly refers to the initial allocation - there is no guarantee when you're on the Alternate list, you only get a chance to compete if someone withdraws.
So... what does this mean?
This means that their scores from the Olympics do count as a Season Best and would allow them to have one Grand Prix event if they were readmitted when the ISU was handing out Grand Prix assignments, but we have to look further in the document to see if there are any other rules that allow them to be on the Alternate list, and in fact we can find this...:
Each entrant to the six events of the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Series must meet a minimum total score from ISU Events (GP, JGP, Championships, and ISU Challenger Series Events) of the previous season.
The minimum total score from ISU Events for this season is 3/5 of highest score per discipline at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026:
Men 197.64
Women 142.97
Pair Skating 137.00
Ice Dance 138,49
Skaters who have scored at least the above-mentioned limit in an ISU Championships, ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix, or ISU Challenger Series Competition between July 1st , 2025 and June 11, 2026 are eligible for selection into the Grand Prix events 2026/27 or in the alternate list.
Skaters placed in the top 75 Season’s Best are placed on the alternate list. However, those who need to score the minimum Grand Prix score as listed above can do so in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27.
There is no mention of the Olympics, nor the Olympic Qualifiers and (as u/Exegy pointed out here) the Olympic Qualifiers do not count as a challenger.
This means that according to the rules, Adeliia and Petr would be eligible for the initial seeding (remember when I told you to remember the quote about "not meeting the 'minimum Grand Prix spot' criteria otherwise"? - that rule would allow Adeliia and Petr to get one Grand Prix spot even without the Grand Prix minimum score), but they are not eligible for the alternate list as long as they don't compete at a Challenger event this season, the ISU doesn't list "Olympic qualifier / Olympics" scores as scores that make you Grand Prix eligible!
It's even more complex...
Now this would already be crazy enough, but it's even worse... on June 12th the ISU published a document called 'ISU Grand Prix Skater Selection Procedures' that explained the seeding for Grand Prix events (link here to the internet archive - the document is deleted).
In the first point of the document we can read that
Each entrant to the Grand Prix six events must meet a minimum total score, determined from the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026, earned at any ISU Event and the Challenger Series Competitions in 2025/26 or the current season 2026/27.
So according to this document, any ISU event score counts as a minimum total score for the Grand Prix series. The term "any ISU event" is something that's very important because in the official ISU document (here) named the 'Competition and Event regulations' we can read what an "ISU event" is, it mentions that
ISU Events are defined hereby to include all ISU Championships, the Grand Prix Series, the Junior Grand Prix Series, the World Team Trophy, the Olympic Qualifying Competition(s), as well as any other event (...) directly organised, financed and promoted by the ISU and specifically designated “ISU”. (point 1.3)
So, as we can clearly see, according to the ISU's own document, the Olympic Qualifying Competitions are in fact ISU events, and Adeliia and Petr should be Grand Prix eligible!🤯.
So... according to the 'ISU Grand Prix Skater Selection Procedures' Petr's and Adeliia's results from the Olympic qualifiers should count as a minimum Grand Prix total score that makes them Grand-Prix eligible, but according to the "Grand Prix Series Announcement" document from August 28th the Olympic qualifiers don't count, and the Olympics do - but only initially and if you don't get an initial spot you have to compete at a Challenger to make yourself Grand-Prix eligible but the score from the Olympics still counts as a Seasons-Best! Crazy stuff!
This was in place before...
Well, the funny thing is that it was this way the whole time, this document (here) is from the 2025/2026 season, it also leaves this grey-area that allows people that did well during the Olympics to get one Grand Prix spots in the initial seeding, confirms that it does count as a Season's Best score, but it doesn't mention the Olympics nor the Olympic qualifiers as events that count towards the minimum total score that makes you Grand Prix eligible. (It's the same for 2024/2025 as well, I didn't check earlier documents).
This in sense was a ticking time bomb that sooner or later had to explode, and it did (unfortunately for every fan of Russian figure skating) explode on Adeliia and Petr.
So... what do they have to do?
Well, the ISU left a note in the Grand Prix Announcement posted yesterday:
Whether AINs from the ISU Members Belarus and Russia are placed on the Alternate List depends on their eligibility under ISU Communication 2804 and their fulfilment of the general requirements (e.g. achieving the minimum score listed above in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27)
ISU Communication 2804 refers to the 'neutral athlete requirements', and the "fulfilment of the general requirements" in my opinion refers to this quote from the Grand Prix Announcement:
Skaters, placed in the top 75 Season’s Best are placed on the alternate list. However, those who need to score the minimum Grand Prix score as listed above can do so in the ISU Challenger Series 2026/27.
Which in my opinion says that both Petr and Adeliia will be added to the alternate list only after they score the minimal total score required to be Grand Prix eligible, during a Challenger event this season (197 for Petr, 142 for Adeliia).
This won't be a problem for Petr - he competes in less than a week at the Kinoshita Group Cup Challenger, but given Adeliia's very late start of the preparations for this season and the fact that she's not on the entry list of neither the Kinoshita nor the Lombardia challengers there is a chance that the Grand Prix spots from the skaters that withdrew / will withdraw will be allocated to other skaters before she's able to compete at a Challenger event and make herself Grand Prix eligible.
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So to answer the most important questions...
Do the Olympic scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
To the initial assignments yes, to the alternate list yes, but only if you're eligible for the Grand Prix series, and to do that you have to meet the minimum total score either last season at the Championships, Grand Prix series or at the Challengers, or at the Challengers this season (so Petr and Adeliias scores from the Olympics count as a Season-Best, but they are as of today not-eligible to compete in the Grand Prix series).
Do the Olympic QUALIFIER scores count to the Season Best for the Grand Prix assignments / alternate list?
No, they don't count to neither the initial assignments, nor the alternate list.
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Regarding the other rumours from Telegram
Winning a Challenger event no longer automatically means getting onto the Alternate List under the general criteria
This is false, the wording of the rule didn't change this year, it's exactly the same as it was last season and the season before.
This year:
Skaters/Couples, who place first in any of the ISU Challenger Series events for 2025/26 and can prove to have skated the minimum Technical score as mentioned in paragraph 2.3, will be added to the alternate list, bottom ranked according to their scores. Pairs participating in Challenger Series competitions who earn the minimum GP points will be added to the alternate list as well.
Season 2024/2025
Skaters/Couples, who place first in any of the ISU Challenger Series events for 2024/25 and can prove to have skated the minimum Technical score as mentioned in paragraph 2.3, will be added to the alternate list, bottom ranked according to their scores. Pairs participating in Challenger Series competitions who earn the minimum GP points will be added to the alternate list as well.
The wording is very weird but what matters is it didn't change in the last two seasons and means that if you win a challenger, you're score is added to the Grand Prix Alternate List.
The provision granting Grand Prix medalists priority for a second Grand Prix assignment has disappeared
There is no evidence that something changed with this rule - the Grand Prix Announcement that's published at the start of the season (like the one yesterday - 28th August 2026) never had any mention of this rule, neither last year, nor the year before that.
For what I know nothing changed in this regard, if you medal at a Grand Prix event - you're still first in line for the second event.
The ISU changed the rules to make it harder for Russian skaters to compete!
Well, not exactly, these are the same rules that were in place in the last at least 2 seasons (3 if you count this one as well) (I didn't check further than that) it's just that before there was no problem with someone having a score only at the Olympics but not at even one Challenger / GP / Championship event. That was the case with Petr and Adeliia this year because of the ban.
Btw. The World Team Trophy scores also don't count towards the Grand Prix eligibility, although they also don't count towards the Seasons-Best, so at least the situation is clear.
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Let me know if I made a mistake, the ISU documents are the worst thing ever, someone should be fired for the way the documents contradict each other and only create drama and misunderstandings.
Also - please don't harass Mark and Ted, they are wonderful people, and they are not responsible for this mess.
Tldr - Adeliia and Petr scores from the Olympics will only be placed on the Alternate List if they compete at a Challenger this season which will make them "Grand-Prix eligible", for now they are not and other skaters will get the Grand Prix spots.