The Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France continued Saturday with the Men's, Pairs, Ladies Free Skating and the Free Dance. The Trophee Bompard is the fifth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
Patrick Chan (CAN) skates to gold
Canada's Patrick Chan skated to the gold medal. Nan Song of China claimed the silver and Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic clinched the bronze.
Chan's program to Concierto de Aranjuez was highlighted by a quadruple toeloop and quadruple-triple toeloop combination and two triple jumps, but he fell in the footwork. The World Champion scored 156.44 points and totaled 240.60 points to win his second Grand Prix event of the season. The warm up felt really good, the program didn't feel so good. I felt a little shaky on the quads, all week actually. I'm very happy to squeeze it out. They looked good, but doing them in practice every day you become very fine-tuned to the feeling of the good one and I definitely didn't feel that here today. As for the rest of the program, all I can say that's sometimes you make mistakes, Chan told the post-event news conference.
Skating to Hungarian Rhapsody, Song nailed two quad toes as well as well as five triple jumps to earn 147.57 points. Overall he accumulated 224.10 points. Today's performance wasn't as good as at the Cup of China, the 21-year-old admitted. But I am still happy that I did two quads again in the Free Skating, this was only the second time for me to do this.
Brezina's routine to a modern version of The Untouchables soundtrack featured two triple Axels but he struggled with the last two spins. The Czech skater got 144.28 points which added up to 218.60 points. First of all I'm very happy because I think I made it to the Final. That was my goal for like three years and I finally made it. I was happy with the skating. I still had a couple of mistakes I need to work on., the 21-year-old commented.
Chan and Brezina are qualified for the Grand Prix Final while Song needs to wait and see what will happen at the Cup of Russia next week.
Adam Rippon (USA) finished fourth at 217.89 points and Florent Amodio (FRA) came fifth at 201.34 points.
Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov (RUS) seize gold
Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov of Russia won the Pairs event, seizing the second Grand Prix title of their career. Teammates Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov moved up from third to earn the silver medal and the bronze went to Canada's Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford.
Volosozhar/Trankov had to overcome a shaky start into their Black Swan program when they singled the twist. The World silver medallists came back to produce a side by side triple toe-double toe combination, a triple Salchow, throw triple loop and level-four lifts. They picked up 130.44 points and collected 194.13 points overall. Our performance wasn't so perfect and again we lost the twist. I don't know what happened, Trankov said. After this we kept going well and did the jumps and a good throw in the second half of the program, he added.
Bazarova/Larionov completed a triple toe, high triple twist, throw triple flip and difficult lifts in their strong performance to Doctor Zhivago. The team from Perm scored a seasons best of 125.85 points and overall 184.91 points. Finally we were able to put out a free skating without mistakes and so we are very satisfied with today's performance. We were calmer than at Skate America and we are in a better shape now, Bazarova noted.
Duhamel/Radford opened their routine to Viva la vida and Yellow by Coldplay with a triple twist followed by a triple Salchow and five level-four elements, but she fell on the throw triple loop and both struggled with the back end of their triple Lutz-double toe-double toe combination. The Candians received a seasons best of 115.56 points and slipped to third at 176.62 points. I think it was pretty to see that was a fight for us. We did a great element and then had some problems. We did another great element and we had some problems. Hopefully people could see the potential in that program. We're capable of going a lot higher than that so we're looking to improve next time out, Radford commented.
Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig (USA) remained in fourth place at 169.58 points and Jessica Dubé/ Sébastien Wolfe (CAN) placed fifth with 150.68 points.
Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (RUS) skates off with gold
Elizaveta Tuktamischeva of Russia skated off with the gold medal in the Ladies event, her second Grand Prix gold medal. Italy's Carolina Kostner edged out Alissa Czisny (USA) for the silver medal by just 0.17 points.All three skaters qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
Tuktamischeva's Latin medley included a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a double Axel-triple toeloop and three more triple jumps. The 14-year-old earned a seasons best score of 120.85 points and was ranked second in the Free Skating, but remained in first at 182.89 points. It wasn't a bad skate today, but obviously there were a few minor errors, so there is something I can improve on, the World Junior silver medallist noted.
Performing to Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, Kostner produced four triple jumps and two level-four spins to score 119.62 points. The only glitch came when she stumbled on a doubled flip. The reigning World bronze medallist accumulated 179.32 points overall. I am very happy to have finished today and that I can get a couple of days rest. I think my program was not bad, but all the way through I was telling myself, 'just keep going'. I know I can do better and I have a lot to improve on, the three-time European Champion Kostner commented.
Czisny landed five clean triples in her routine to Valse Triste by Sibelius and her three spins garnered a level four. With a seasons best of 121.90 points, the 24-year-old won the Free Skating portion, but overall finished third at 179.15 points. I was much more satisfied with my performance today or most of the effort today. That wasn't my best, but we changed a lot of things since Skate America and I was pleased with how I did today, Czisny told the press.
Kanako Murakami (JPN) placed fourth with 161.31 points and Viktoria Helgesson (SWE) was ranked fifth with 154.90 points.
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) dance to gold
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada danced to the gold medal with Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat of France taking the silver. Italians Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte earned the bronze medal.
Virtue/Moir put out a strong performance of their Funny Face free dance, completing intricate footwork and difficult lifts. The Olympic Champions were awarded a level four for the lifts, twizzles and spin and a level three for the footwork, but lost one point for an extended lift. They earned 105.75 points and racked up a total of 176.93 points. We went out and did exactly what we wanted to do, which is really to push the program and trying to skate with some speed. That felt really good. I think our points were good. I made a little mistake on the last lift and that cost us a timing deduction. That's why we didn't have a seasons best, but for us that was a seasons best skate and the overall feeling was good, Moir pointed out.
Pechalat/Bourzat's Egyptian dance included interesting lifts and smooth steps. The European Champions earned the same levels for their elements as the Canadians and posted a new seasons best of 98.04 points. The French totaled 164.56 points. We did a wonderful Free Dance tonight, really strong and powerful from the beginning. The audience cheering for us throughout the program was a great support, and we did all the elements without thinking, Bourzat explained.
Cappellini/Lanotte produced a solid dance to La Strada, but one lift was wobbly and got a level two. The Skate Canada bronze medallists scored 89.14 points and accumulated 153.76 points to take their second medal on the Grand Prix this season. The program at Skate Canada was a little bit cleaner. It was a tiny bit shaky this night. I'm not sure why, Cappellini said. It is very good for us to have won two bronze medals. We didn't expect this at the beginning of the season, she continued.
Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) came fourth at 140.32 points and Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) finished fifth with 130.94 points. Virtue/Moir and Pechalat/Bourzat qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
The Trophee Bompard concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. For full results please see www.isu.org . The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues next week with the Cup of Russia in Moscow.