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Post by Admin on Dec 1, 2015 1:54:25 GMT
Six years. That’s how long it’s been since the U.S. qualified as many as six entries to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. That’s also how long it’s been since the U.S. had the highest number of entries of any country in the Grand Prix Final. And it’s the last time the U.S. won more gold medals than any other nation in the six individual events leading up to the final. All three droughts ended Saturday night as the six grand prix events came to a close at the NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan. Team USA wrapped up the individual-event portion of the series with 15 medals and 10 skaters headed to the Grand Prix Final – two individuals and four teams. The U.S. athletes who qualified for the Dec. 10-13 final in Barcelona, Spain, are Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner in ladies; Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim in pairs; and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, and Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue in ice dance. The Shib sibs were second at Skate Canada last month. Hubbell and Donohue won Trophee Eric Bompard two weeks ago in Bordeaux, France. The event was cancelled prior to the free dance due to the terror attacks in Paris, and the results were based on the short dance. The two teams qualified fourth and fifth out of the six teams heading to the final.
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Post by Admin on Dec 3, 2015 1:47:40 GMT
Ashley Wagner can next week become the first U.S. singles skater to make four straight Grand Prix Final podiums, but not if she performs like she did last weekend at NHK Trophy in Japan. “NHK was a disaster,” the three-time U.S. champion said Tuesday, “but that was kind of a one-time deal.” Wagner backed into the Grand Prix Final as the sixth and final women’s qualifier by finishing fourth at NHK Trophy on Saturday, snapping her streak of 10 straight podium finishes in Grand Prix events. She had won Skate Canada four weeks earlier. “I didn’t know how Mao had skated,” said Wagner, who was in third after the short program. “I figured I needed to at least get on the podium [to definitely make the Grand Prix Final], and I knew that I could probably afford a fourth place [to still make the Final]. I think that is where I went wrong. I should have just put my head down, started fresh and gone into that long program not focusing on, OK, well, I can get as low as this and I’ll make it to the [Grand Prix] Final. I think that didn’t really get me into the fighting spirit that I’m so used to competing with. When I focus on the results and not how I’m going to get there, it usually doesn’t go so well for me. It was a rookie mistake. I think I was playing it safe and trying to avoid making a mistake, and of course that’s exactly what I ended up doing.” Wagner’s confidence that the NHK hiccup won’t repeat could be bolstered by last season, when she was also the last qualifier into the Grand Prix Final (before Gold withdrew), was in last place after the Final short program but starred in the free skate to grab bronze. “I like it when I have something not go so well,” she said. “When things are too perfect for too long, in a way it kind of freaks me out a little bit.” Wagner called the women’s field in Barcelona “wide open.” It may be, given six different women won the six qualifying events, the first time nobody doubled up since 2006. However, Wagner tapped Asada when asked to name her biggest competition. Wagner, 24, and Asada, 25, are the only women’s Grand Prix Final qualifiers older than 20. “When she’s on, [Asada] has the whole package,” Wagner said of the three-time World champion who took last season off from competition. “She knows how to put on a performance. The audience loves her. Technically, she’s very strong. I think that If I had to pinpoint someone, Mao Asada on one of her good days, is definitely going to be one of the top girls.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 5, 2015 1:49:55 GMT
Gracie Gold goes into next week’s Grand Prix Final, the most prestigious annual figure skating competition outside of the World Championships, as the top qualifier but with zero Grand Prix series medals this season. “I did really well at both of my Grand Prix [events], but I don’t technically have a medal from either,” she said Wednesday. “One being my own fault.” Gold, who finished fourth at the 2014 Olympics and the 2015 Worlds, finished second at Skate America in October. A woman stepped on her glass silver medal while Gold posed for a photo with fans later that evening, she said. “I glued it all together, kind of,” said Gold, who is hoping for a replacement medal. On Nov. 13, Gold skated a personal-best short program and led by 7.69 points at Trophée Bompard in Bordeaux, France. Later that night, terrorist attacks rocked Paris, which is 350 miles northeast of Bordeaux. Gold said she was woken by a phone call from her father back in the U.S. and turned on CNN, learning of the attacks. “It was unsettling, for sure,” she said. “It was shocking for all of us. Bordeaux is several hours away, but I don’t think it mattered where you were in the world. I think we all kind of felt the horror of that night.” Gold went to morning practice a few hours later, still prepared to perform in the free skate later that day. Soon after her morning practice, the International Skating Union announced the free skates were canceled. Gold agreed with the decision. “It just seemed so silly to be worried or sad that we couldn’t do a free program or finish a Grand Prix in light of the terrorist attacks,” she said. The ISU took nine days after the Bompard cancellation to announce that the Bompard short program results would count as final results for Grand Prix Final qualifying — and that Gold was definitely into the Grand Prix Final. “I definitely didn’t want to be making that decision because, whichever way it went, you’re never going to get that Grand Prix back,” Gold said. “It’s easy for me to say that I am glad that they just took the short program results, because I had a great short program.” Gold said she flew from France to the U.S. the day after the Bompard cancellation, with a “quite magical” overnight in Rome in between.
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Post by Admin on Dec 10, 2015 1:57:25 GMT
Japan's figure skating superstars Yuzuru Hanyu and Mao Asada will both be bidding to make history in the ISU Grand Prix Final in Barcelona starting on Thursday. Olympic champion Hanyu is targeting an unprecedented third straight men's gold as three-time world champion Asada chases a record fifth women's crown. Hanyu, 21, arrives in Europe on a high after becoming the first skater to break the mythical 300-point mark at the NHK Trophy in Nagano. Hanyu posted a combined 322.40 points after a free programme which also smashed Canadian Patrick Chan's previous high. But rather than providing a confidence boost the Toronto-based skater admitted his success had increased the weight of expectations. A win would see Asada, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist, overtake Russia's Irina Slutskaya for the most wins after 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2013. The 25-year-old's challengers include Japan's world silver medallist Satoko Miyahara, Americans Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner, and Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova. "(The NHK Trophy) was quite regrettable," said Asada, who finished third in Nagano after winning the Cup of China. "Making use of this experience, I want to do my best at the finals. Resetting my skating and my mind." Radionova, the world bronze medallist, added: "I started this season with an injury. That's why the win in Moscow (Cup of Russia) was the victory over my fears and lack of self-confidence."
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Post by Admin on Dec 13, 2015 1:48:41 GMT
One year after winning the junior Grand Prix Final, 16-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia was crowned the senior women’s champion following her masterful free skate on Saturday. Skating on the same rink in Barcelona, this year’s junior world champion coasted through her routine to Rene Aubry’s “Allegro” before receiving a shower of flowers from the cheering crowd. She added to her leading short program with 147.96 points for a total score of 222.54. “I didn’t really expect this result here, but I worked really hard for it,” Medvedeva said through a translator. Satoko Miyahara of Japan was second with 201.13, followed by Russian 16-year-old Elena Radionova with 201.13.
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