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The Ice Challenge – held in 2021 as the Cup of Austria – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein and Skate Austria in Graz, Austria. The competition debuted as an international event in 2009; prior to that, it was a regional event called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen, named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein. When the ISU launched the Challenger Series in 2014, the Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. The Ice Challenge has been a Challenger Series event four times during its history as of 2025. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; and when the event was part of the Challenger Series, skaters earned World Standing points based on their results.
History
The Ice Challenge – originally called the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen, named in honor of Leo Scheu, the first president of the Grazer Eislaufverein – began in 1971 and was only a regional competition, organized and hosted by the Grazer Eislaufverein in Graz, Austria. In 2006, the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen was expanded to allow competitors from all of Austria. In 2008, the competition allowed international competitors for the first time, and in 2009, it received official endorsement by the International Skating Union (ISU) and was placed on their international calendar.
The ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union and organized by ISU member nations. The objective is to ensure consistent organization and structure within a series of international competitions linked together, providing opportunities for senior-level skaters to compete at the international level and also earn ISU World Standing points. Challenger Series events had to be scheduled between 1 August and 15 December. When an event was held as part of the Challenger Series, it had to host at least three of the four disciplines (men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance) and representatives from at least twelve different ISU member nations. The minimum number of entrants required for each discipline was: eight skaters each in men's singles and women's singles, five teams in pair skating, and six teams in ice dance. While ISU member nations were limited to sending a maximum of three skaters or teams per discipline to each event, Skate Austria could enter an unlimited number of entrants in their own event. Additionally, each skater or team was limited to participating in at most three Challenger Series events each season. The Ice Challenge was one of the inaugural competitions. Douglas Razzano and Hannah Miller of the United States won the men's and women's events, respectively; Lina Fedorova and Maxim Miroshkin of Russia won the pairs event, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the United States won the ice dance event.
The Ice Challenge has been held several times since 2014, but was a Challenger Series event only in 2015, 2021, and 2022. It was scheduled to be a Challenger Series event in 2023 before the Grazer Eislaufverein cancelled the competition.
