Pair for gold: Boikova and Kozlovsky return for Grand Prix medals

The first stage of the ISU Grand Prix series of the 2026/27 season starts in Angers, France, on October 23. For the first time since 2021, Russians Alexandra Boikova and Dmitry Kozlovsky will compete in the series. It is symbolic that they will break the five-year pause in France, where they won their last victory at the Grand Prix. After two successful performances at the challengers, the skaters expect to compete for medals, but the competition will be much more serious. A meeting with Olympic medalists and other strong rivals will allow us to assess how ready the Russian couple is to fight the global elite after a long isolation.

The Russians' return to the Grand Prix

Russians were not included in the initial Grand Prix bids in June. The path to the series was opened by admission to a neutral status and the autumn challengers. Boikova and Kozlovsky staged a grueling Russia – Japan – USA– Russia tour and won two tournaments in a row, having also managed to participate in the control rentals of the national team. In early September in Tokyo, they scored 203.66 points, just 1.11 ahead of compatriots Ekaterina Chikmareva and Matvey Yanchenkov. A week later, overseas, in Norwood, the Russians won with a score of 198.66, but the competition was simpler. Americans Audrey Shin and Spencer Akira Hou were almost 15 points behind.

In September, the couple received an invitation to the Grand Prix stage in Finland (November 20-22) - this happened during a short program training session in Boston. But one stage of the Grand Prix is not enough to compete for the finals of the series - the top 6 in each type passes into it, and there simply won't be enough points for a place in the top 3 at one stage. But in October, Maria Pavlova and Alexey Svyatchenko, who played for Hungary, withdrew from the French stage. Their place went to Boikova and Kozlovsky, who were the first reserves. Another vacancy, in Helsinki, went to Chikmareva and Yanchenkov.

Then the visa problem intervened: until October 19, participation in Angers remained questionable. But, fortunately, everything was successfully resolved. "Today we received French visas. Thank you all for your support. See you in Angers," Kozlovsky wrote on his Telegram channel.

Point question: Trusova and Gumennik will compete in Alma Ata for the Grand Prix

Due to the new ISU rules, silver at the Challenger in Kazakhstan is no longer enough for Russians.

On October 21, the skaters have already arrived in France. Symbolically, in November 2021, Boikova and Kozlovsky won the French Grand Prix in Grenoble with 216.96 points. Now they are returning to the series as three-time champions of Russia. But they have not won any major competitions other than the 2020 European Championship. During the challenges, the skaters themselves said that they were primarily interested in major tournaments — the Grand Prix final, the World Cup, and the Olympics. During their suspension, they spoke the loudest about difficulties with motivation and injustice. Now I have accumulated sports anger and a desire to make up for lost time in medals.

"Carmen" with a quadruple ejection

One of the main intrigues of Angers is whether the ultra-si element will be performed in pair skating. The short program was directed by Roman Hagenauer to the soundtrack of the movie "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." The free version is a modern interpretation of "Carmen" with compositions by Ryan Otter and an arrangement by "Habanera". Both sets require high speed and clear connections.

— The program is very complicated. The most difficult of all the short ones we had. We entered the season very abruptly, we had no rentals," Kozlovsky said at the September test rentals.

But much more interesting is the main trump card of the free skate — the quadruple salchow, the rarest element for international tournaments. In Tokyo, Alexandra landed it cleanly. In Norwood, they played over two legs, losing points, but the Russians won anyway.

— Sasha and Dima took a risk, and it turned out to be justified. If it hadn't been for this outburst, it's still unknown who would have been the first," coach Andrey Yezhlov told Izvestia after the Tokyo tournament.

The advantage of the quadruple can be lost on incomplete levels and errors in other elements. In Japan, the practically clean-looking rental did not provide the Russians with a large margin.

The main rivals of the Russians at the Grand Prix

The main rivals are Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, European champions and silver medalists of the Olympic Games and the 2026 World Cup, competing for Georgia. At the October challenger in Batumi, they received 215.83 points, 12.17 more than the best total of Russians Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov. But then the refereeing raised a lot of questions, which led to Daniil Gleikhengauz supporting the Georgian couple, and Gallyamov trolling him on social media.

Silver exit: how our skaters performed at the Trialeti Trophy in Batumi

Petrosyan was close to victory, Mishina and Gallyamov returned vividly to the international stage.

It is impossible to directly compare the scores of different tournaments, but the gap is noticeable. At the same time, the duets (Boikova/Kozlovsky and Metelkina/Berulava) now work for the same coaches — Eteri Tutberidze and Stanislav Morozov.

"Alexandra and Dmitry's high level allows them to win this stage," Olympic medalist and world champion Ilya Averbukh told TASS. — If it's the same Georgian couple, it will be difficult to fight, because these guys are in shape. But the main thing is that we are already performing.

The competition will include the Germans Annika Hokke and Robert Kunkel, who finished seventh at the 2026 World Cup, and the Chinese Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihan. The level of rivalry at the challengers is usually much lower. The battle in Angers will be intense and principled.

Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov, Frenchman Adam Xiao Him Fa and Japanese Kao Miura will compete in the men's stage in France. Among the participants of the women's tournament are Ami Nakai, Nina Pinzarone and Anastasia Gubanova. Olympic champions Laurence Fournier—Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron are the main stars in dancing, and former Russians Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, who are currently competing for Georgia, will compete against them.

Meanwhile, the Russian bid for other stages of the Grand Prix is expanding. Vladislav Dikidzhi has already received two starts: in China (November 6-8) and Japan (November 27-29). Alexandra Trusova was invited to China and the USA (November 13-15) due to the withdrawal of competitors. Evgeny Semenenko is going to Finland (November 20-22). Boikova and Kozlovsky and Chikmareva and Yanchenkov were also announced in Helsinki. Recently, Mishina and Gallyamov received an invitation to China. Peter Gumennik and Adelia Petrosyan are on the verge of joining the series.