2020–21 Figure Skating Season

During this season, elite skaters competed at the 2021 World Championships, as well as at elite events such as the Grand Prix series and the Challenger Series.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Skating Union (ISU) cancelled the Junior Grand Prix series and the Grand Prix Final. Additionally, the 2021 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, and World Junior Championships were all cancelled, although the 2021 World Championships were still held.

On May 1, 2020, the International Skating Union established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-president for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its responsibilities included determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the season, and the financial impact of any potential cancellations. On August 31, the ISU published the official Guidelines for ISU Events During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

On July 9, the General Administration of Sport of China announced that no international sporting events would be held in China in 2020 except for 2022 Winter Olympics test events. The Chinese Skating Association was scheduled to host several events during the season, including the Cup of China, the Grand Prix Final, and the World Junior Championships. While the Grand Prix Final, scheduled to be hosted in Beijing, was exempt from the Chinese government's ruling due to its status as the test event for the Olympic Games, the ISU had not yet discussed a contingency plan regarding Grand Prix event cancellations at the time of the Chinese government's announcement. The ISU announced on July 13 that the Cup of China would remain as scheduled in Chongqing due to its connection to the Beijing test event: the Grand Prix Final.

On July 20, the ISU officially cancelled the Junior Grand Prix series, citing increased travel and entry requirements between countries and potentially excessive sanitary & health care costs for hosting members. Over half of the events of the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series were also either cancelled by the host federations or postponed to an unspecified later date.

On August 4, the ISU confirmed that the Grand Prix series would proceed as scheduled during the fall, with a decision to be made regarding the Grand Prix Final at a later date. The competitions were expected to feature skaters from the home country, skaters already training in the host nation, and skaters assigned to that event for geographic reasons; all officials would also be from the national organizing committee. On September 25, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Skate America would be held without an audience in line with Nevada Gaming Control Board guidelines regarding the pandemic. On September 30, the ISU announced that the Grand Prix Final would not be held as scheduled in Beijing on December 10–13, and that they were searching for an alternate host outside China for the event. On October 14, Skate Canada announced the cancellation of the 2020 Skate Canada International due to the worsening situation in Ontario. The French Federation of Ice Sports informed the ISU of the cancellation of the 2020 Internationaux de France on October 19. In November, the Grand Prix Final was first removed from China altogether, before being definitively cancelled on December 10, 2020. The ISU later rescheduled the Beijing test event to the 2021 Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy in October.

On October 16, the ISU announced the cancellation of the 2021 Four Continents Championships. On November 24, the 2021 World Junior Championships were also cancelled. On December 10, the ISU announced the definitive cancellation of the Grand Prix Final alongside the cancellation of the 2021 European Championships. The 2021 World Championships were held as scheduled in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 22–28, although three positive COVID-19 cases were detected during the event. In addition, the ISU slightly modified the qualification rules to allow additional skaters the opportunity to meet the minimum TES requirements.

Due to the vast difference in skaters' travel restrictions, the ISU determined that it would be unfair to award ISU world standings and season's world ranking points at the Challenger Series and Grand Prix events. Thus, the 2021 World Championships were the only event to affect the 2020–21 ISU world standings. As the Junior Grand Prix and World Junior Championships were cancelled, junior skaters had no opportunities to earn World Standing Points for the season.

Scores earned at the domestic Grand Prix events did not count as official ISU scores for the purposes of achieving minimum TES requirements or as personal/season's bests. Thus, the season's best scores list was composed entirely of scores earned on the Challenger Series, where the 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy and 2020 Budapest Trophy were the only two of ten scheduled events to be held, the 2021 World Championships, and the 2021 World Team Trophy.

ISU member nations' response

Several countries postponed or cancelled their national championships. U.S. Figure Skating relocated the 2021 U.S. Championships to be able to create an isolated bubble environment.

Age eligibility

Skaters were eligible to compete in International Skating Union (ISU) events at the junior or senior levels according to their age. These rules may not have applied to non-ISU events such as national championships.