The 2021 World silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan scored his second ISU Grand Prix victory of the season at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble. Shun Sato rose from fourth to second to make it one-two for the Japanese Men, while Jason Brown (USA) remained in third place to take the bronze.
Gold medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan © International Skating Union (ISU)
Performing to music from “Gladiator”, Kagiyama nailed a quad Salchow, quad toe-triple toe, a somewhat shaky solo quad toe and five triples including an Axel. His only major error came when he singled the second planned Axel. The 2021 Gran Premio d’Italia Champion earned 185.77 points and racked up 286.41 overall.
“I am really happy to win the second gold in my first Grand Prix season,” the 2020 World Junior silver medalist commented. “The Grand Prix Final was part of my goals for this season and since it takes place in Japan, I really wanted to take part there and I am glad I make it.”
Shun Sato (JPN), who took silver © International Skating Union (ISU)
Sato’s performance to “The Phantom of the Opera” featured a quad Lutz, quad flip and two quad toes that were a bit wobbly as well as two triple Axels. The 2019 ISU Junior Grand Prix Champion set a season’s best score of 177.17 points and moved up two spots with 264.99 points overall to capture the first ISU Grand Prix medal of his career.
“This is my first Grand Prix season and finishing on the podium was my goal,” Sato said. “I am really happy to be on the podium for the first time but I need to catch up to Yuma so I will work hard,” he added.
Bronze medalist Jason Brown (USA) © International Skating Union (ISU)
Brown opened his emotional program to “Schindler’s List” with a quad Salchow that was slightly two-footed and went on to complete five clean triples, but he singled the Salchow and doubled the loop. The 2020 ISU Four Continents silver medalist was ranked fourth in the Free Skating with 174.81 points but held on to third place on 264.20 points overall.
“This is my eighth or ninth Grand Prix season and I feel so lucky to still be up here,” Brown said. “I’m really happy to be up on the podium today. My second half (of my program) was a bit rough but I am proud of the first half. It’s definitely learning a lot as the season goes on and trying to kind of take every step along the way and grow from them and bring it into the next competition,” he continued. Brown must wait to see whether his second place at Skate Canada International and third place here in France will be enough to take him to the Final.
Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) dropped from second to fourth place on 254.48 points. 2020 European Champion Dmitri Aliev (RUS) finished in fifth place (253.56 points) while Keegan Messing (CAN) rounded up the top six on 253.06 points. Andrei Mozalev (RUS) ranked second in the Free Skating and moved up from ninth to seventh (248.54 points).
For full results, see here.
