The Bofrost Cup on Ice was an annual

figure skating competition A figure skating competition is a judged sports competition in figure skating. Types of figure skating competitions International International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) are governed by the union's rules ...

sanctioned by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

(ISU), organized and hosted by the

German Ice Skating Union The German Ice Skating Union (, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals cannot become members. The Deutsch ...

(). The first iteration was held in 1986 in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. When the ISU launched the Champions Series (later renamed the Grand Prix Series) in 1995, the German competition – then called the Nations Cup – was one of the five qualifying events. It remained a Grand Prix event until 2002, after which point it was supplanted by the

Cup of China The Cup of China is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Chinese Skating Association (), and part of the ISU Grand Prix Series. The first competition was held in ...

. This event was held under several names, including the Fujifilm Trophy and the Sparkassen Cup on Ice. The last installment of this competition took place in 2004. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles,

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

, and

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. Skaters earned points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were invited to then compete at the

Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – originally known as the Champions Series Final – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). It is the culminating event of the Grand Prix Series. Meda ...

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time Europe ...

of Russia holds the record for winning the most Bofrost Cup on Ice titles in men's singles (with four), while

Maria Butyrskaya Maria Viktorovna Butyrskaya (, born 28 June 1972) is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 1999 World champion and a three-time European champion — becoming the oldest skater and the first Russian to win the World ladies' title and th ...

of Russia holds the record in women's singles (with three). Mandy Wötzel and

Ingo Steuer Ingo Steuer (born 1 November 1966) is a German pair skater and skating coach. With Mandy Wötzel, he is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion. As a c ...

of Germany hold the record in pair skating (with four), while

Anjelika Krylova Anjelika Alexeyevna Krylova (; born 4 July 1973) is a Russian retired ice dancer. With partner Oleg Ovsyannikov, she is the 1998 Olympic silver medalist and two-time (1998, 1999) World champion. She currently works as a coach and choreographer ...

and

Oleg Ovsyannikov Oleg Vladimirovich Ovsyannikov (; born 23 January 1970) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With partner Anjelika Krylova, he is the 1998 Olympic silver medalist and two-time (1998, 1999) World champion. Career As a four-year-old, ...

of Russia hold the record in ice dance (with four).

History

Beginning with the 1995–96 season, the

(ISU) launched the Champions Series – later renamed the Grand Prix Series – which, at its inception, consisted of five qualifying competitions and the Champions Series Final. This allowed skaters to perfect their programs earlier in the season, as well as compete against the skaters with whom they would later compete at the World Championships. This series also provided the viewing public with additional televised skating, which had been in demand. The five qualifying competitions during the inaugural season were the 1995 Nations Cup, the

1995 NHK Trophy The 1995 NHK Trophy was the final event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. This was the inaugural year of that series. It was held in Nagoya on December 7–10. Medals were ...

, the

1995 Skate America The 1995 Skate America was the first event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 17–22. Medals were awarded i ...

, the 1995 Skate Canada, and the

1995 Trophée de France The 1995 Trophée de France was the third event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Bordeaux on November 14–17. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of ...

. Skaters earned points based on their results in their respective competitions and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were invited to compete at the

1995–96 Champions Series Final The 1995–96 ISU Champions Series Final was an elite figure skating competition held in Paris, France from February 23 through 25, 1996. Medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The Champions Series ...

. The inaugural competition – the

1986 Fujifilm Trophy The Bofrost Cup on Ice was an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the German Ice Skating Union (). The first iteration was held in 1986 in Frankfurt. When the ISU launch ...

– was held in

Petr Barna Petr Barna (born 9 March 1966) is a Czech former competitive figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia. He is the 1992 European champion, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, and a seven-time Czechoslovak national champion. Personal life Ba ...

of Czechoslovakia won the men's event, Dianne Takeuchi of Canada won the women's event, Melanie Gaylor and

Lee Barkell Lee Barkell originally from Kirkland Lake, Ontario is a Canadian figure skating coach, working with both singles and pairs, and a former competitive pair skater. With Melanie Gaylor, he won gold at the 1986 Fujifilm Trophy, 1986 Nebelhorn Tro ...

of Canada won the pairs event, and

Lia Trovati Lia Trovati (born 25 April 1965) is a former competitive ice dancer who represented Italy. Along with partner Roberto Pelizzola, she won the gold medal at the Italian Figure Skating Championships in 1987 and 1988. Additionally, they won the bron ...

and

Roberto Pelizzola Roberto Pelizzola (born 13 October 1958 in Milan) is an Italian figure skating coach and former competitive ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom d ...

of Italy won the ice dance event. From 1986 to 1987, the competition was known as the Fujifilm Trophy. There was no event held in 1988. In 1989, the competition – now known as the Nations Cup – moved to

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

, where it remained for the entirety of its run. In 1998, the competition changed its name to the Sparkassen Cup on Ice, and in 2002, it again changed its name, this time to the Bofrost Cup on Ice, in recognition of its sponsor, the frozen foods company Bofrost. In 2003, the Bofrost Cup on Ice lost its spot in the Grand Prix series after the

Chinese Skating Association The Chinese Skating Association (CSA) () was founded in 1956. It was the second Asian country to join the International Skating Union (ISU). It hosts international and manages domestic short track speed skating and speed skating competitions. M ...

reached a more lucrative television contract with the ISU, and the

replaced it on the schedule. Reinhard Mirmseker, then-president of the

, tried to convince the ISU that rather than stripping the rights to a Grand Prix event from Germany, they should hold a seventh Grand Prix event instead, or perhaps rotate the sixth event among the nations of Europe, but those suggestions were turned down. Despite losing its spot in the Grand Prix series, the German Ice Skating Union continued to stage the competition anyway, but with a unique format. In lieu of the usual short programs, singles skaters competed in a jumping event, where each skater performed a particular jump or jump combination in a

round-robin format Round-robin may refer to: Computing * Round-robin DNS, a technique for dealing with redundant Internet Protocol service hosts * Round-robin networks, communications networks made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology * Round-robin schedu ...

and were scored by a panel of judges. After each skater received their score, they had the option of either keeping it, or risk performing the jump again for a potential higher score. Skaters with the lowest average scores were eliminated in each round.

Carolina Kostner Carolina Kostner (born 8 February 1987) is an Italian figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships, 2012 World champion, a five-time European Figu ...

of Italy praised the format of the event: "This competition was very cool. Every skater had a second chance." Likewise,

Joannie Rochette Joannie Rochette (born January 13, 1986) is a Canadian physician and retired competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, the 2009 World silver medallist, the 2008 and 2009 Four Continents silver medallist, the 2004 Gr ...

of Canada stated: "This competition is really good. It's exciting and thrilling. I like the combination of a jump competition with a free program." The comparable event for pair teams involved performing throw jumps, side-by-side jumps, and lifts in the same competitive format.

Ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

teams performed their original dances as they would have at a normal competition. All skaters and teams performed their free skates or free dances for the second half of the competition. Although this new format was well received, and the German Ice Skating Union had hoped to continue it as an annual invitational event, the Bofrost Cup on Ice did not continue after 2004.

Medalists

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Records

Cumulative medal count

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Total medals

References

External links

German Ice Skating Union
{{Grand Prix Figure skating ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating International figure skating competitions hosted by Germany Recurring sporting events established in 1986 Recurring events disestablished in 2004 1986 establishments in West Germany 2004 disestablishments in Germany