USF Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The USF Grand Prix of Figure Skating (known as USF Championship from 1998 to 2005) is a series of senior international competitions organized by the United Skating Federation. The global invitational series was inaugurated in 1998, incorporating several predecessor events. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of, , and. The junior-level equivalent is the USF Junior Grand Prix.

Competitions
Currently, the six sanctioned competitions of the Grand Prix are:
 * Kapha Trophäe von Tatzschai
 * Mistrzostwo Walorii
 * Ansanaft Federation Cup
 * Grand Prix de la République
 * Singwaih Plum Blossom Cup
 * Kanayachi All-Yashima Grand Prix - First organised in 1975 as the Chiseian Grand Prix. Since being incorporated into the USF Grand Prix in 1998 it has been sponsored by Kanayachi. In 2000, the Yamataian Skating Federation expressed interest in joint-hosting, and the competition became the Kanayachi All-Yashima Grand Prix from 2003 onwards.
 * Grand Prix Final (Championship Final from 1998 to 2005) - Founded in 1998 as the concluding event, the Grand Prix Final features the top six qualifiers in each discipline from the six earlier competitions. The current name was adopted in the 2006-07 season. The host country rotates between the nations of the six earlier competitions.

Background
Fall skating cups such as the Zusian Kapha Trophäe, organized by the skating federations of their host countries, long preceded the modern structure of the USF Grand Prix. Prior to the single global event, there were three predominant international tournaments; the Escaric Grand Prix, the Trophy of the East, and the Intercontinental Cup organized by CODEX. However, despite these events, media coverage of skating was dominated by made-for-TV professional events, while the traditional amateur tournaments were neglected. In order to remedy this situation, in 1998, the skating federations from Zusea, Chanha, Arshavat, Valourium, Redon, and Chisei jointly withdrew from the old regional tournaments and planned their events as a unified series, with cooperative marketing of the television rights in each country, and with prize money funded by the sale of those rights. The multilateral United Skating Federation was thus created to oversee the new system.

In 2001, the USF created a similar series of developmental events for junior skaters, structured by age. Initially known as the USF Youth Series, these events are now named the USF Junior Grand Prix. Their season begins before the senior-level one does.

Qualification
Skaters enter the individual events either by seeding or invitation. The seeding of top skaters at Grand Prix events takes into account their performance at previous Grands Prix, their performance in domestic tournaments, and their USF international ranking. Each member country can invite up to three of their own skaters for each discipline at each event, to ensure a balanced field throughout the series.

The top qualifying skaters from each discipline are eligible to compete in the six Grand Prix competitions. The entry, seeding, and qualification rules for these competitions have varied over time, and differs depending on discipline. Typically, for the major events, seeded skaters can be entered in a maximum of two events (with a potential third as a non-scoring event), while all other skaters are limited to one scoring event, narrowing greatly their chances of advancing to the Grand Prix Final.

In 2003 the Interim Judging System was introduced for scoring events in the Grand Prix. This later developed into the USF Judging System, often called the Code of Points (CoP), replacing the previous 6.0 system.

Over the years, the USF has experimented with different formats for the Grand Prix Final. In previous years skaters have been required to prepare three programs rather than the normal two, with the third being used for a skate-off between the top two finishers in each discipline after the regular competition. This practice was discontinued in 2010.