The inaugural edition of the Finlandia Trophy was held in 1995 in
Helsinki.
Igor Pashkevich and
Elena Ivanova, both of Russia, won the men's and women's events, respectively.
Sylwia Nowak and
Sebastian Kolasiński of Poland won the ice dance event. The 2005 Finlandia Trophy was scheduled to be held in
Vantaa and would have featured the men's and women's events, but the competition was cancelled because too few skaters signed up. The competition returned in 2006 and was held in Vantaa through 2011. In 2012, the Finlandia Trophy relocated to
Espoo. The
ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It was a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the
International Skating Union (ISU) and organized by
ISU member nations. The objective was 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 must be scheduled between 1 August and 15 December. When an event is held as part of the Challenger Series, it must 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 is: 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 are limited to sending a maximum of three skaters or teams per discipline to each event,
Skating Finland could enter an unlimited number of entrants in their own event. Additionally, each skater or team is limited to participating in at most three Challenger Series events each season. In February 2016, the ISU declared that the Finlandia Trophy, along with the
Nebelhorn Trophy, the
Ondrej Nepela Memorial, and the
Golden Spin of Zagreb would constitute a "core group" of Challenger Series events in recognition of their long-standing tradition. The Finlandia Trophy was a Challenge Series event from 2014 through 2023, although the competition was cancelled in 2020 due to travel restrictions imposed by the Finnish government in reaction to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ISU ordered that no international competitions would be held in Russia or Belarus. Therefore, the
Rostelecom Cup, which had been scheduled for that November, was cancelled. Finland was chosen to host the replacement event: the
Grand Prix of Espoo. Finland hosted both the Grand Prix of Espoo and the Finlandia Trophy in 2022 and 2023, but beginning in 2024, Skating Finland chose to focus its resources on the Grand Prix event, to which it bestowed the Finlandia Trophy name. Therefore, the last installment of the Finlandia Trophy as a Challenger Series event took place in 2023. ==Medalists==