Figure skating returns with a new twist — backflips

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The 2024-25 Grand Prix of Figure Skating tour opens on Friday night as Skate America gets underway in the Dallas area.

For those who don't know, the Grand Prix is the top series of competitions in the sport. From now through late November, a total of six meets will be held in different parts of the world. Skate Canada is next week in Halifax, followed by stops in France, Japan, Finland and China.

Skaters are allowed to compete at any two of these events. Once they're completed, the top six in each discipline — men's, women's, pairs and ice dance — are invited to the Grand Prix Final in France in early December. Apart from the world championships, which will take place in Boston in late March, the Grand Prix Final is the most prestigious global event of 2024-25. By the time the season is over, we should have a better handle on the top medal contenders for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

With Skate Canada coming up, most Canadian athletes are waiting until next week for their Grand Prix season debut. That's when we'll see the pairs team of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won Canada's first world title since 2018 last March in Montreal, and ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who took silver for their third worlds medal in four years. Kaiya Ruiter, who captured the national women's title last season at the age of 17, is also among the Canadians slated to compete in Halifax.

Canada has three entries this weekend at Skate America. Nineteen-year-old Wesley Chiu, who won his first national title last season but has yet to crack the top five in a Grand Prix,