Germany’s Hase and Volodin capture fourth Grand Prix gold in Helsinki
2025 Finlandia Trophy: Pairs Figure Skating
Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin captured their fourth individual gold in the Grand Prix at 2025 Finlandia Trophy on Saturday. USA’s Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov placed a close second for the silver, while teammates Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea earned the bronze.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin
The 2025 Skate Canada silver medalists were near solid in their intense tango short program to “El Abrazo.” The only flaw came on the death spiral which received no value/points as Volodin lost his pivot position. Otherwise, the team earned many positive grades of execution (GOE) throughout, producing a triple twist, side-by-side triple Salchows, a throw triple loop and level four lift and spin. They placed first in this segment with 70.40 points.
“We have mixed feelings,” said Hase. “The first three elements were very good. After that, it got a bit shaky. We are happy to still reach the 70 mark and be in a good position for tomorrow. We didn’t see the footage yet (on the death spiral); it was probably a concentration or timing issue.”
Skating to Memoryhouse, the 2025 World silver medalists executed a triple twist and triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, but then Volodin went down on the triple Salchows. However, that was the only error in their poignant routine. The team otherwise produced a throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow while earning a level four on two lifts and the pair spin. The placed first in the free skate with 136.48 points and first overall with a total score of 206.88.
“Winning here means a lot. It is a big relief,” said Hase. “And I think we skated choreographically and emotionally better than at the last competition. Yesterday’s performance was not our strongest. There, we started strongly and then got a bit shaky. Today was much better. We were more focused. The mistake on the Salchow was a bit unfortunate, but the rest was very good. And it was very fun to skate here.”
“We were very nervous and made more mistakes at our last competition,” Volodin agreed. “I did one mistake today. It is a problem with my blade. I will try to fix that during the next week. I am very pleased with the rest. Technically, everything is okay, and I think it was a good performance.”
Now having qualified for the Grand Prix Final next month, the 2025 European champions want to show “even more” emotions, as well as confidence, in both programs.
“For the Final, we want to show even more emotions in both programs,” said Volodin. “We were very nervous and made more mistakes at our last competition. I did one mistake today. It is a problem with my blade. I will try to fix that during the next week. I am very pleased with the rest. Technically, everything is okay. And I think it was a good performance. In this Final, we want to skate with even more confidence.”
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov
Efimova and Mitrofanov placed third in the short program with a new personal best of 70.19. Their edgy routine to “Cloak and Dagger” was highlighted by their triple twist and throw triple loop. The lift, death spiral, footwork, and spin all received a level four, but Efimova slightly underrotated and put a hand and foot down on the side-by-side triple toes.
“It was great to skate here,” said Efimova. “For Misha and for the audience, it was a special event for us because it’s in Finland and all of our families are here. Last year, we had Skate America, and this year Finland. It is another home event for us.”
“It is an honor to be here,” Mitrofanov agreed. “Having our parents here gives comfort, knowing that we have support no matter what the skate is. It definitely was a little goal of ours to hit the 70-point mark, so that’s a little check mark, and that makes us very happy.”
The three-time Challenger Series medalists scored a new personal best of 135.30 points for second place in the free skate. Their “Love Story” tribute to Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov was sublime. The only flaw came when Efimova two-footed the landing of a throw triple Salchow. The side-by-side triple Salchow-double Axel sequence and triple toes were solid, as was the throw triple loop. Two lifts and the pair spin received a level four, and they finished second overall with another personal best total score of 205.49.
“It feels amazing! It is great that we beat the 200-mark today,” said Efimova. “We are happy with today, happy with all the work that we have put in. We were just doing our thing and finally could bring it together in competition. Thank you so much for everyone who supported us. I feel it has a lot to do with our families being here, honestly. It gives so much comfort. It hasn’t been easy to go into this new competitive season after such a long season. It was heavy after US Nationals, so to get back into that competition mode took, to get emotionally ready to be 100% on the competitive ice. So, I’m so happy that we made it today with the full charge.”
Mitrofanov also wanted to thank the fans and all “amazing” supporters.
“The Skating Club of Boston helped us so much in terms of providing such great training facility,” he said. “And our coaches for helping us to be able to achieve our dreams. We just definitely want to give a huge thank you for everyone.”
Efimova noted that two days ago marked the 30th year of Grinkov’s untimely death. Both skaters agree that Gordeeva and Grinkov’s 1993-94 long program to Moonlight Sonata is their favorite. Efimova also shared that she has dreams of skating to this piece by Beethoven.
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea
Kam and O’Shea delivered a good short program to “Hallelujah” with only one error. The triple twist and side-by-side triple Salchows were clean, but Kam stepped out of the throw triple loop. However, both the spin and lift were graded a level four, and the 2025 Skate Canada bronze medalists placed a very close second with a new season’s best of 70.24.
“Our goal for this competition was to step out and improve on everything we’ve done over the past two competitions,” said O’Shea. “We feel like we did that. It was not the perfect skate, but we definitely took steps again in the right direction. That’s the goal throughout the Grand Prix Series.”
“We really wanted to focus on the performance aspect of both of the programs,” added Kam. “We’ve been focusing also a lot on the elements, obviously, because they also need to work. By doing the full program with the full performance through every single element and trying not to lose focus or anything, to give the audience our best job.”
O’Shea added that they had a late start to the season as they didn’t participate in early summer camps, Champs Camp, or Challenger Series events.
“So, we are happy to be where we currently are, with it still being growth for us,” he said. “That’s really our focus, to do the process.”
Kam and O’Shea had a good free skate which included a level-three triple twist, side-by-side triple toes, a throw triple Lutz and throw triple loop. Kam slightly underrotated a triple Salchow, stepping out of the double Axel in the sequence, but the 2024 Four Continents bronze medalists earned a level four for all three lifts, spin and death spiral. They placed third in the free skate and overall (128.85/199.09).
“I am so proud of Ellie today and proud of us, but especially of her,” said O’Shea. “Her dress was trying to fall off for the entire competition as the zipper decided to break. So just for her to have the mental fortitude to keep going through all of that and stay focused… some interesting craziness, but it was really impressive. I also think today we showed one of the best set of two throws that we have done in competition. So, I am really proud of that.”
“It definitely helps just to have more experience at these competitions,” said Kam, regarding the percentage of throw jumps going up. “I feel like last year I still felt I was so new to international competition and always feel so lucky to be here. But I think just being more comfortable at these competitions helps. Because last year the throws were maybe a ton of improvement, especially in practice, and we had just a hard time showing them in competition and that was really frustrating. But this year being able to be more comfortable in this kind of competition helps a lot.”
The 2025 U.S. bronze medalists are currently the second alternates for the Grand Prix Final.
“Being an alternate to the World Championships, when you have to wait for over a month, it’s hard to keep motivated,” O’Shea pointed out. “But we are also assigned to Golden Spin, so we will compete in two weeks no matter what. We just have to see to which part of the world we are flying, so we are ready anyway.”
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan placed fourth (67.53) in their short program to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” Moriguchi put a hand down on the side-by-side triple loops and they were out of synch on the final spin which was graded a level two with a “V.” However, the throw triple Salchow was solid, and the lift and footwork were both rewarded with a level four.
“We’re very happy to get the 67 points despite the mistake,” said Nagaoka. “At the side-by-side spin, I didn’t really get the grip on my foot, but the jumps felt good for me personally.”
“Having Dmitrii Savin new on our team helped us, especially with the pair elements—the throw and the twist,” added Moriguchi.
The 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup bronze medalists had several errors in their free skate, placing fourth in this segment with 125.59 points. Nagaoka put a hand down on the front end of a triple loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence in which both Axels were received a “q.” She also took a fall on the throw triple loop and stepped out of the throw triple Salchow. However, two lifts and the pair spin received a level four, and they earned many positive GOEs for their level-three triple twist. With a total score of 193.12, they moved up one spot to fourth place overall.
Nagaoka relayed that their coach said that their score was not that bad given the mistakes.
“We regret the mistakes on both of the throws, but we managed to pull everything together,” said Nagaoka. “I also put my hand down on the first jump of the combination, but I was able to do the combination, and that gave me confidence. There are levels that we couldn’t get, but we know exactly what to work on.”
“We are very glad that the technical score and the PCS were both over 60,” Moriguchi added. “We know that there is room to improve on the throw jumps and also on the levels. We are a bit disappointed about losing levels on the death spiral and the Axel lasso lift.”
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud
Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud delivered an emotional short program to “Say You Love Me” that was near perfect. However, the triple twist only received a level two while the spin and footwork were a level three. The throw triple loop and side-by-side triple toes were solid, but they lost a level on the spin and footwork which was graded a level three. They placed fourth with 70.13 going into the free skate.
“It has been an objective for us to go over 70 points for quite some years,” said Pereira. “Now, doing it twice in a row, actually feels really good. We were both a little bit sick last week. We saw the protocols, and we know where to put in the work. The coaches will take care of that, but we feel very good about what we did.”
The 2025 Four Continents bronze medalists both took a fall on the triple Salchows in the free skate, but the throw triple loop was clean. Pereira had to fight for the landing of the throw triple Lutz, but two lifts and the pairs spin were graded a level four. Michaud also singled the back end of the triple toe-double Axel sequence. They placed sixth in the free skate (121.20), slipping to fifth place overall (191.33).
“We trained really hard at home, and I think actually the key to us being able to come back from mistakes like that is our section work,” Pereira offered. “We skated this program multiple times, but we also break it down into small pieces and we mix up the pieces. So we do it in every form, in any way, in case something happens in competition where you don’t feel optimal. We really train hard, but also it makes mistakes even more upsetting when you know it doesn’t come together in competition.”
“This season has been a bit weird, a weird collection of random mistakes,” she added. “You try to minimize those as much as possible, but always something new comes up. But we are a great team and we support each other no matter what.”
China’s Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang placed sixth overall (185.28), followed by Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy (167.88) and Ioulia Chtchetinina and Michal Wozniak of Poland (155.59).
With the conclusion of 2025 Finlandia Trophy, the 2025-26 Grand Prix Final qualifiers for the Pairs discipline are listed below:
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