Bordeaux / France

The competition at Trophée Eric Bompard wrapped up Bordeaux, France with the Pairs, Ladies and Men’s Free Skating and the Free Dance. Trophee Bompard is the fifth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

Elena Radionova (RUS) skates to gold
Russia’s Elena Radionova skated to the gold medal. Teammate Julia Lipnitskaia took the silver and the bronze went to Ashley Wagner (USA).

Skating to Piano Concerto No. 3 and Trio Elegiaque by Sergei Rachmaninov, Radionova reeled off seven triple jumps including a triple Lutz-triple toe and a triple loop-single loop-triple Salchow combination as well as three level-four spins. The two-time and reigning World Junior Champion set a new personal best score with 136.64 points for herself and totaled 203.92 points to win her second Grand Prix event this season. “I am very glad to have won my second Grand Prix. This time it was more successful for me, I skated cleaner and with more confidence. I corrected the mistakes that I did before. I was a bit nervous before the free skating, but as soon as I stepped on to the ice was calm and skated as usual”, the 15-year-old from Moscow said.

Lipnitskaia’s program to “Romeo and Juliet” by Nino Rota and Abel Korzeniowski featured four clean triples, but she fell on a triple flip attempt and underrotated a Lutz. She picked up a level four for the three spins and a level three for the footwork. The European Champion posted a seasons best with 118.39 points which added up to 185.18 points overall. “I was calmer than at the Cup of China and I skated better, but I am not ready enough yet and therefore mistakes happened. I am pleased that I did not let the program go like in China, but I fought”, the World silver medalist commented.

Wagner opened her program to "Moulin Rouge" with a double Axel. However, she fell on her second jump, a triple flip, but recovered to complete five more triples and a level-four spin. With 116.39 points, the two-time US Champion was ranked fourth in the Free Skating but overall remained in third place with 177.74 points. “Going out on the ice today I had a lot of stomach pain. I felt really nauseous and sick. The program in general was something I had to fight through. I trained so hard at home and I think that I relied on all the run throughs I have done at home so that mentally I was strong enough to just trust that physically I was capable to push through”, Wagner told the press.

 Radionova advances with two wins to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and Lipnitskaia qualified with two second places. Wagner will have to wait and see what happens next week at NHK Trophy in Japan.

Courtney Hicks (USA) moved up from sixth to fourth (172.58 points). Mae-Bérénice Meité (FRA) finished fifth at 169.46 points and Maria Artiemeva (RUS) slipped from fourth to sixth at 162.49 points.

Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) win Pairs gold
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov of Russia won the Pairs gold medal. China’s Wenjing Sui/Cong Han claimed  the silver medal and Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang, also from China, earned the bronze.

Stolbova/Klimov put out a flawless Free Skating to “Notre Dame de Paris” that featured a triple twist, throw triple flip and Salchow as well as a triple toe-double toe-double toe combination as well as three level-four lifts. The World and Olympic silver medalists scored 138.61 points and accumulated 209.81 points overall to win their second Grand Prix gold medal. “It felt different (than in Moscow last week) We felt more confident and we added some more emotions and choreography. We did almost everything as planned”, Klimov said.

Sui/Han produced a quadruple twist, throw triple flip and Salchow as well as a side by side triple Salchow and four level-four elements to earn a seasons best of 133.41 points. The 2014 Four Continents Champions had 200.68 points overall. “We skated well as we do in training, but we still can improve some elements and do them better. Now we are going to the Grand Prix Final and hopefully we will skate even better than here and achieve a higher score”, Sui commented.

Skating to “My Fair Lady”, Wang/Wang completed a triple twist, throw triple flip and loop as well as difficult lifts and a side by side triple toeloop. The Cup of China bronze medalists scored 118.72 points and added a second Grand Prix bronze medal to their resume with 181.97 points overall. “We performed up to our level, however we still feel we can improve some elements and the performance aspect of our programs”, Lei Wang noted.

Stolbova/Klimov qualified with two victories on the circuit for their first Grand Prix Final. Sui/Han booked their ticket to Barcelona with two second places.

Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim (USA) were ranked third in the Free Skating but remained in fourth place overall at 179.32 points. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres (FRA) finished fifth (167.88 points).

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) dance to victory
Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced to victory in the Ice Dance event. Canada’s Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier took the silver medal and Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) earned the bronze.

Papadakis/Cizeron’s dance to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 included difficult lifts and footwork. The French earned a level four for the lifts, twizzles and spin and a level three for the two step sequences to achieve a new personal best with 102.60 points. Overall they accumulated 166.66 points to win their second Grand Prix gold medal. “I think the short dance was a little bit harder, because we had this pressure to be at home and we won the Grand Prix in China. We knew people were expecting us to win again. But today it was a bit more relaxed and we were more focused on performing”, Cizeron commented.

Gilles/Poirier  completed two level-four lifts and a level-four spin in their dance to “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. The Four Continents silver medalists picked up a level three for the other four elements and scored 95.68 points, a new seasons best, which added up to 157.58 points. “For us getting a silver medal here is definitely mission accomplished. We did have a mistake today which we didn’t do in the free dance at Skate Canada, on the other hand I think the rest of the program was a bit stronger. The characters develop every time we perform it and we become more and more familiar with the program”, Poirier told the press.

Performing to music from “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack, Hubbell/Donohue produced four level-four elements, but a wobbly curve lift and the circular footwork were graded a level two. The 2014 Four Continents Champions earned a seasons best of 91.92 points which added up to 152.11 points overall. They claimed their second Grand Prix bronze medal this season. “Parts of the program improved from what we did at Skate Canada, but we did make a major mistake which was unfortunate. At this point, we are just racing against time. I think that we have the talent and potential to progress faster than others”, Hubbell said.

Papadakis/Cizeron secured a spot in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final by winning their two events. Gilles/Poirier will join them in Barcelona after picking up two silver medals on the circuit.

Sara Hurtado/Adria Diaz (ESP) placed fourth with 146.10 points ahead of Charlene Guignard/ Marco Fabbri (ITA) with 142.29 points.

Maxim Kovtun (RUS) skates off with gold
Maxim Kovtun of Russia surged from sixth place after the Short Program to skate off with the gold medal. Japan’s Tatsuki Machida took the silver medal and overnight leader Denis Ten of Kazakhstan settled for the bronze.

Performing to “Exogenesis Symphony” by Muse, Kovtun hit a quadruple Salchow and toeloop as well as a (shaky) triple Axel-triple toeloop and four more triples. The Russian Champion earned a level four for the step sequence while the spins were a level three and two. Kovtun collected 166.24 points and totaled 243.35 points to win his second Grand Prix gold medal. “Today I did not think about placements or medals, I just wanted to put out a good performance. I enjoyed skating today throughout the whole performance, up to the last two spins. I felt the support of the audience”, the 19-year-old said.

Machida landed five clean triples in his routine to “Symphony Number 9” by Ludwig van Beethoven, but he fell on a quad toe and underrotated a flip. His spins and footwork garnered level fours and threes and the World silver medalist earned 149.04 points. He remained in second place at 237.74 points. “I was so nervous today and my jumps were not good. Since the morning practice I was anxious and I couldn’t give my best performance”, Machida admitted.

Ten nailed a quad-triple toe combination right out of the gate in his program to “Ambush from Ten Sides” and “Vocussion”, but he popped two Axels and fell on the second quad. The Olympic bronze medalist salvaged points with two level-four spins and level-four steps. He was ranked fifth in the Free Skating with 144.50 points but held on to third place at 236.28 points. “I am not satisfied with my performance, but it is just the beginning of the season. My coach already told me the keypoints I need to work on. I am glad about the medal. It is not only my first Grand Prix medal, but also the first for my country”, the 2013 World silver medalist commented.

Kovtun qualified for his second consecutive Grand Prix Final and Machida, who got a gold and a silver on the circuit, will compete in his third Final.

Konstantin Menshov (RUS) slipped from third to fourth place (233.22 points). Adam Rippon moved up from seventh to fifth (225.42 points) and Adian Pitkeev (RUS) finished sixth (219.38 points).

For full results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2014/15 please refer to www.isu.org/en/single-and-pair-skating-and-ice-dance/series/isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating. Trophee Bompard concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues next week with the six and last of the qualifying events, the NHK Trophy, in Osaka (JPN).