Ava Marie Ziegler's stunning Free Skate earned her gold at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Ava Marie Ziegler (USA) surged to the top to strike gold at the NHK Trophy in Osaka (JPN) Saturday. The NHK Trophy is the sixth and concluding event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and is the final opportunity to get into the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN) December 7-10.
Ziegler jumped from fifth place to the top of the podium at NHK Trophy in a thrilling competition with many placement changes. Teammate Lindsay Thorngren claimed the silver medal while Nina Pinzarrone of Belgium earned the bronze.
Ava Marie Ziegler jumped from fifth overnight to take top spot at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Performing to “Liberation” and “Bound to You” by Christina Aguilera, Ziegler landed a triple flip-double Axel-double Axel sequence as well as six more triple jumps. Her spins and footwork were graded a level four and the U.S. Skater achieved a new personal best of 138.46 points. She accumulated 200.50 points, cracking the 200 point-barrier for the first time in her career.
Ava Marie Ziegler scored a personal best 200.50 at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“I really used my fifth-place result yesterday to motivate me because I know that I could do better and I really used it to push me to be the best that I could be today,” Ziegler said. “I did stick to my plan which was to execute everything as I can do in practice and to really just show everybody that I can do it and I can be consistent and be clean. It (this result) definitely helped with my confidence.
"Leading towards other competitions, I'm going to stay humble but use this to better myself the next time and just keep building on what I did today.”
Thorngren’s program to music from “Twilight” featured a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and three more clean triples, but she fell on a double Salchow. The overnight leader collected level fours for her spins and footwork and was ranked third in the Free Skating with a season’s best of 129.80 points. At 198.73 points, the 17-year-old ended in second place overall to win her first ISU Grand Prix medal.
Lindsay Thorngren won her first ISU Grand Prix medal with silver at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“I know I can do better, but I'm really happy with how I've performed here and the experience I gained. And I think that will help me go on forward.”
Thorngren also revealed that she had to overcome an injury. “I sprained my ankle before the practice of the short program and I was able to push through with the help of my team, which I'm like really, really, really, really grateful for everything they've done for me, because I don't think I would have been able to get through the short program without them.”
Pinzarrone laid down a solid performance to “Spartacus” that included four clean triples and difficult spins and footwork. However, three triple jumps and a double Axel were ruled underrotated. The ISU Grand Prix de France silver medalist ranked second in the Free Skating with 131.22 points but overall dropped one spot to third at 194.66 points.
Nina Pinzarrone took the final podium place at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“I am overall super happy about this Grand Prix and I'm also super happy to have gotten two podium places at my two first Grand Prix and also to have qualified for the Grand Prix Final,” Pinzarrone noted. “At the beginning I never would have thought that this year it would happen, but I'm just so excited and super happy.”
Reigning ISU World silver medalist Haein Lee (KOR) came fourth as she had in France (188.95 points). Yuna Aoki (JPN) rose from eighth to fifth place at 184.46 points while ISU European Champion Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) moved up from tenth to sixth (184.32 points). 2022 ISU Grand Prix Final Champion Mai Mihara (JPN), who had missed her first ISU Grand Prix due to injury, struggled with some jumps to finish eighth (172.64 points).
Haein Lee made it back-to-back fourth places with her performance at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Full results for NHK Trophy are available here.
Only Pinzarrone qualified for the Grand Prix Finale with her silver and bronze medals from her two events (24 points). Ziegler did not have another Grand Prix and Thorngren placed fifth at Skate Canada (20 points).
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN). Skaters collect points towards to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN).
ISU Grand Prix Standings
The General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here on the ISU website. The individual announcements are published on the ISU Event section under each dedicated Grand Prix event (filter with the relevant Event Series).
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.
All Media Accreditations details and deadlines for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series can be found here.
Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed with English commentary on the official ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out Where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
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ISU Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
20 - 22 Oct, 2023 Skate America, Allen (Texas, USA)
27 – 29 Oct, 2023 Skate Canada International, Vancouver (CAN)
03 - 05 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)
10 - 12 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Cup of China, Chongqing (CHN)
17 - 19 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)
24 - 26 Nov, 2023 NHK Trophy, Osaka (JPN)
07 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known as the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.
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