The ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 continued in Shanghai, China, on Thursday with the Ladies Short Program.
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) wins Ladies Short Program
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia skated to a strong lead in the Ladies Short Program followed by her teammate Elena Radionova. Japan’s Satoko Miyahara finished third.
Performing to “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel, Tuktamysheva nailed a triple Axel, triple Lutz, triple toe-triple toe combination and picked up a level four for two spins and the footwork. The reigning European Champion posted a new personal best of 77.62 points, the third highest score achieved in the Ladies Short Program so far. “When I landed the triple Axel, I got goosebumps and I thought – is this a dream or did I really just do the triple Axel at the World Championships? I had to pull myself together after this and I was very focused or the triple Lutz and the triple toe-triple toe. It was the first time for me to do a clean short with the triple Axel. It was a risk to do the triple Axel in the short program, but figure skating has to evolve”, the ISU Grand Prix Final Champion noted.
Radionova’s Flamenco program featured a triple Lutz-triple toe, a triple loop, double Axel as well as three level-four spins and a level-four step sequence. The two-time World Junior Champion scored 69.51 points. “I am very pleased with my performance and that I was able to overcome myself and land all my jumps in my debut at the World Championships”, the European silver medalist commented.
Miyahara landed a triple Lutz-triple toe, a triple flip, double Axel and completed level-four spins and footwork in her routine to “The Magic Flute” to earn a personal best of 67.02 points. “I am very happy to get my best score at my first worlds. My goal of coming here was to receive a personal best score for both short and free program. I was happy that I was able to achieve that in the short program. Being in third place as a result of that came as a surprise”, the two-time Four Continents silver medalist told the press. She celebrated her 17th birthday on the day of the Short Program.
Kanako Murakami (JPN) came fourth at 65.48 points followed by Rika Hongo (JPN) with 62.17 points and Zijun Li (CHN) with 61.83 points. Kerstin Frank (AUT) withdrew before the Short Program citing a stomach flu. Overall 35 Ladies competed in the event and 24 reached the Final.
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 continue Thursday with the Pairs Free Skating.