"I'm so happy... I do 100 percent of what I can."
Those are the words of 15-year-old Kamila Valieva (in her best English) after the Russian made her debut on the senior Grand Prix circuit with a stirring short program to lead after Day 1 of Skate Canada International in Vancouver on Friday (29 October).
Valieva led a Russian sweep of the top three in women's singles, with 2015 world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in second and 2020 European champion Alena Kostornaia in third.
Kostornaia and Tuktamysheva each broke the 80-point mark, at 84.19 and 81.24, respectively, while Kostornaia scored a 75.58. American Alysa Liu, also making her senior debut in the figure skating Grand Prix, is fourth, scoring 73.63.
It was a statement skate by Valieva, who - along with Tuktamysheva and Kostornia - is one of at least six or seven ROC skaters looking to make the three-woman team for the Olympic Games Beijing 2022.
"I don't think about the Olympics at the moment," said Valieva. "I try to go the Olympics but I want to be happy [through the season]."
Each of Valieva, Tuktamysheva, Kostornaia and Liu landed the triple Axel, though Liu's was called under-rotated.
Skate Canada is the second stop of the Grand Prix Series following Skate America last week.
Earlier, in the rhythm dance, Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skated into first place - trying to defend their title here from 2019, after the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The veteran duo leads 85.65, over six points clear of Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy at 78.82. Spain's Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz are third with 76.97.
Four women land triple Axels in stirring display
It was a night that belonged to the young women of figure skating as the technical level of skating was something not ever quite seen before.
"I'm speechless," wrote Jeff Buttle, the bronze medallist from Torino 2006, after Valieva's "In Memoriam" short program, which featured a Rippon triple Axel (arms overhead), a triple flip and triple Lutz-triple toe combination.
Her 36.15 in program components added to her technical prowess, with each of her spins - including a layback to finish - earning Level 4s from the judges.
Tuktamysheva, meanwhile, is 24, and was world champion in 2015 before winning silver earlier this year. Her continued upping of her technical game (she's landed the quadruple toe in practice) has kept her in fighting shape as a new generation of Russian teens has entered the top level of the sport.
"The younger skaters, every time I compete with them, I try to be better," she said in English. "That's why I compete. I feel that I can do better; that it's not my 100 percent. That's my motivation: To be in condition to compete with them. I have a lot of experience. It's so interesting. I'm not scared; I feel alive."
Liu, who has spent much of the last few months training in Italy, was happy with her own triple Axel, which she'll try again for the free skate: "I'm really glad that I went for it," she said of the jump.
Higuchi Wakaba of Japan is fifth behind Liu, at 69.41, while American Karen Chen is sixth, scoring 68.74.