Paris / France

The competition at Trophee de France concluded Saturday in Paris (FRA) with the Free Dance, the Pairs, Men’s and Ladies Free Skating. Trophee de France is the fourth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2016/17. Skaters compete for points to qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and a prize money of US $ 180,000 per individual event of the Grand Prix.

GP-FRA-Day3-Pairs-Gettyimages-622845854Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot (GER) win Pairs event

Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot of Germany won the Pairs competition. Russia’s Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov claimed the silver medal and Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres of France pulled up from fourth to earn the bronze medal.

Savchenko/Massot’s program to “Lighthouse” by Patrick Watson was highlighted by a high triple twist, difficult lifts and spins. However, Massot struggled with the side by side jumps while Savchenko missed the throw triple Axel, sprained her right ankle and also two-footed the throw triple Salchow. The World bronze medalists scored 133.04 points and accumulated 201.59 points overall to win their second Grand Prix gold medal. “I think we got a very good welcome here, it was amazing to skate here. It was really hard to do two competitions in a row, physically, but more so in the head and I did bad mistakes in the beginning of the program, but I came back in the program and we did good lifts”, Massot commented.

Performing to “Music Was My First Love”, Tarasova/Morozov completed a quadruple twist, throw triple loop and Salchow as well as a side by side triple Salchow, but Morozov doubled the toeloop. The European bronze medalists were ranked third in the Free Skating at 130.70 points and remained in second place at 206.94 points. “We got the silver medal, but it still wasn’t clean for us. We’re going the right way and today we did (landed) the quad twist for the first time in the Grand Prix. We skated better than as Skate America”, Morozov told the press.

James/Cipres’ program to “The Sound of Silence” featured a triple twist, side by side triple toe-double toe and triple Salchow as well as a throw quad Salchow, albeit two-footed. The French Champions were second in the Free Skating with 132.53 points and totaled 198.98 points to take the bronze. “We are very happy with our performance today. It was hard for us to go back to skating after Skate America, which was a big disappointment. Today we fight on the ice”, Cipres noted.

With two victories on the circuit, Savchenko/Massot are the first team to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. With a bronze and a silver, Tarasova/Morozov have a good chance to grab a spot in the Final as well.

Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert (RUS) slipped from third to fourth at 192.56 points. Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran (USA) finished fifth (176.18 points) ahead of Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer (AUT) with 145.01 points.

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) dance to gold

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced to gold. The silver medal went to Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) and Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier of Canada moved up one spot to secure the bronze.

Papadakis/Cizeron put out a fluid dance to “Stillness”, “Oddudua”, and “Happiness Does Not Wait”, executing intricate footwork and beautiful lifts. The two-time World Champions earned a level four for their lifts, the twizzles and the spin while the two step sequences garnered a level three. The two-time European Champions scored 115.24 points and totaled 193.50 points to take the gold. “It was a hard summer, because the program took long to make, it was hard to make a decision about the program, but we’re happy the program is what it is today and we’re very happy about the performance”, Papadakis commented.  

Hubbell/Donohue’s dance to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Earned It” featured excellent lifts and footwork as well and the Skate America silver medalists collected the same levels as the winners. Hubbell/Donohue scored 107.81 points which added up to 174.58 points overall. “We really feel the momentum and we hope we can we’ve done now to make the Final for the second year in a row which is a huge accomplishment and it was our goal for the Grand Prix season. I think we’re just excited to go home and just continue this progress”, Hubbell said.

Dancing an Argentine Tango to “La Buena Onda”, Gilles/Poirier completed level-four lifts and twizzles to score 106.04 points. They moved up from fourth to third at 170.78 points. “We’re very proud of what we did today. We didn’t let the big mistake that I did yesterday defeat us. We know that we have two solid programs this season. Unfortunately, we didn’t do both solid this week. We know we have things to work on”, Gilles commented.

Papadakis/Cizeron will compete again in two weeks at the NHK Trophy in Japan. Hubbell/Donohue have two silver medals and a good chance to go to the Grand Prix Final.

Elena Ilinykh/Ruslan Zhiganshin (RUS), who skated to Bollywood music, dropped from third to fourth at 167.40 points. Isabella Tobias/Ilia Tkachenko (ISR) remained in fifth place with a dance to “The Nutcracker” (158.86 points).

Javier Fernandez (ESP) skates to victory

Spain’s Javier Fernandez skated to victory in the Men’s event. Denis Ten of Kazakhstan pulled up one spot to claim the silver and Adam Rippon came from fourth to capture the bronze medal.

Skating to an Elvis Presley medley, Fernandez pulled off a quadruple toeloop, quadruple Salchow-double toeloop, quadruple Salchow and triple Axel-double toeloop, but he crashed on his second triple Axel. The two-time World Champion scored 188.81 points and racked up 285.38 points overall. “I feel a bit tired, it is the first time I did two competitions back to back. I was happy that I was able to perform not perfect, but really good. I just hope to go to the Grand Prix Final in a better shape and try to fight to be in the podium one more time, hopefully for a better medal in the past years”, the four-time European Champion noted.

Ten’s performance to “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini featured a quadruple toeloop, two triple Axels and six other triples as well as three level-four spins. The Olympic bronze medalist picked up 180.05 points which added up to 269.26 points and collected his first silver medal on the Grand Prix circuit. “It was very important for me to start the season despite all the obstacles with a positive spirit and strong skate. I felt that I did a good progress not result-wise, but training-wise. This will lead me to further development”, the two-time World medalist commented.

Rippon completed a quadruple toeloop, eight triples including two Axels and level-four spins in his routine to “The Arrival of the Birds” and “O” to score a personal best of 182.28 points. With 267.53 points overall, he moved up from fourth place after the Short Program and picked up his second Grand Prix bronze medal this season. “I feel like a huge weight is off my back landing the quad today. So nobody can say that I never landed it. I took it one element at a time. I just want to build on this at my competitions later this season, keep growing and just get better and better”, Rippon said.

With two victories on the circuit, Fernandez advances to the Final while Rippon will have to wait and see if two third places will be enough. Ten only competed in one Grand Prix as he had withdrawn from Progressive Skate America due to injury.

Nathan Chen (USA) landed a quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop, a quadruple flip and quadruple toeloop (with his hand down), but missed two other quads and slipped from third to fourth place at 264.80 points. Takahito Mura (JPN) finished fifth (248.42 points) and Jorik Hendrickx (BEL) came sixth (230.47 points).

Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) skates off with gold

Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia skated off with the Ladies gold medal. Teammate Maria Sotskova claimed the silver in her debut on the senior Grand Prix and Wakaba Higuchi (JPN), another debutant, moved up from fifth to clinch the bronze medal.

Medvedeva landed six triples including a triple flip-triple toeloop and a triple Salchow-triple toeloop in her performance to “Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close”, but she fell on a triple Lutz. The reigning World Champion collected a level four for her spins and the step sequence. Medvedeva scored 143.02 points and accumulated 221.54 points overall to win her second Grand Prix gold medal this season. “I am very pleased to have qualified for the Grand Prix Final again, that is a step forward for me. However, with my performance today I am absolutely not satisfied. But mistakes push you further and make you work harder”, the European Champion said.

Sotskova’s program to “Adagio” by Alfred Schnittke featured six clean triples and level-four spins and steps. The only glitch came when she underrotated a triple Lutz. The World Junior silver medalist posted a new personal best with 131.64 points and totaled 200.35 points. “I am happy with my medal, but it was very difficult for me today. My performance wasn’t so good. I want to work harder to improve. At my next Grand Prix (NHK Trophy) I want to show my very best”, the 16-year-old commented.

Skating to “Sheherazade”, Higuchi produced a triple Lutz-triple toe combination as well as three more clean triples and strong spins to earn a new personal best with 129.46 points. With 194.48 points overall, the two-time World Junior bronze medalist moved up two spots. “This is my first senior Grand Prix and I was aiming for the podium. I am happy that I achieved that”, the Japanese skater told the press.

Gabrielle Daeleman (CAN) slipped from second to fourth at 192.10 points. So Youn Park (KOR) placed fifth (185.19) followed by Laurine Lecavelier (FRA) with 184.65 points. Three-time World Champion Mao Asada (JPN) finished ninth (161.39 points).

Trophee de France concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. A total of 55 skaters/couples from 19 ISU members competed at Trophee de France. For full entry lists and results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2016/17 please refer to /en/single-and-pair-skating-and-ice-dance/series/isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating . The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series continues next week with Audi Cup of China in Beijing.