This season, figure skaters Evgenia Medvedeva, Alina Zagitova and Canadian Caitlin Osmond remained undefeated at the Grand Prix. The former will continue its successful streak in the December final, while the other two clashed at the stage in France. One of them, a young contender for an Olympic medal or an experienced vice-champion of the world, will experience the bitterness of defeat. Or both at once.
Although Zagitova has already won the Grand Prix stage in China, she got a place in the first warm-up, and not in the more prestigious second. In France, the girls were released on the ice first, and the Russian woman performed practically in front of empty stands. Such a chamber atmosphere constrained the athlete when it came to performing the jumps. She fell on a triple lutz and threw a flip and rittberger cascade. Zagitova had to be content with an unusual assessment for herself - she rarely received 62.46 points even at domestic junior starts. Such a result is forgivable for a 15-year-old girl, but I really want to perceive her as a mature figure skater who will make a noise in Pyeongchang.
Osmond also had enough flaws, but not so serious. She performed a double toe loop in an axel instead of a triple one, touched the ice on the lutz with her hand. But the music of Edith Piaf melted the hearts of judges and spectators. The Canadian did not reach the 70-point level under any hands, but she also lost less than one point to this psychological milestone. The difference between Osmond and Zagitova was less than seven points, and their duel will continue in the free program. The Russian woman is able to win back any lag, if she performs all the jumps and cascades cleanly.
There were three more girls between the two rivals, and one of them, Maria Sotskova, lost a little more than a point to Osmond. She was one of two skaters who managed to perform a cascade of two triple jumps. But the flip, which she returned to the program and did not perform earlier in Canada, was not a success for the Russian woman. With this jump, she could have taken the lead, but will now try to win it on the second day of the competition.
The third Russian participant of the French Grand Prix was Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. Returning to her former level, when she was invincible in the 2014/2015 season, she does not succeed in any way. The girl has only one formidable weapon left - a triple axel, which practically saved her in Beijing. But a new attempt to perform the most valuable jump turned into not just a fall, but also the fear of entering the lutz. The judges gave only 53.03 - there is simply nothing to compare such low marks with.
Dancing
The organizers did not give preferences to the main stars of the French national team Gabriele Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron and put a short dance next in the competitive program. As it turned out, they can perform in the stands that are still not full in the midst of the working day, as well as when the whole hall feeds them with positive energy. On the first day, Papadakis and Sizeron usually lose to their main competitors Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, but now the French are as close as possible to the Canadians. They broke their personal best and scored 81.40 points.
The Russians Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin tried not to get lost against their background and performed at a decent level for themselves. For this duo, luck is to overcome the 70-point milestone, and they coped with this task. But now they need to set new goals, since Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov performed much better in Japan. Free dance will judge them completely, but for now Stepanova and Bukin take third place after the short one.
The powerful North American school in France was represented by two duets from the USA and Canada. Madison Chock and Evan Bates were as charming as ever, and for that they were waiting for the second place. But Caitlin Weaver and Andrew Poget unexpectedly fell back to fifth - the mistake of a partner on twizzles became catastrophic for the Canadians.
Couples
Competitions of sports couples often turn into a demonstration performance of one world-class duo, forced to compete with themselves. So it was in China and Japan with world champions Sui Wenqing and Han Tsun, it happened in France with Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov. The skaters from the Celestial Empire managed to firmly secure the status of the leaders of the season, but the Russians were ready to return it in a calm atmosphere, where there is no pressure from rivals.
Nina Moser's charges almost succeeded. They managed to get closer to the Chinese with the technical stuffing of their short program. If someday they decide to replace the rittberger throw with a flip, they will be in front. But so far, the Russians are not risking and prefer to lose to Sui and Hanyu three points in an absentee dispute with an ideal rental, and not give them an even greater handicap. The skaters received 77.64 points - this is their best result of the season. Tarasova and Morozov would have scored even more if they had not been late again at the beginning of the program, and this violation is punishable by the removal of one point.
The closest rivals of the Russians were the French, Vanessa James and Morgan Sipre. They scored 73.18 points, and now we can say that they are ready for the new season - such a result will help them to appear at the European Championship, and the French team to perform a little better in the Olympic team tournament. Tarasova and Morozov should not pay attention to this, they have a free program ahead and a new challenge to the invincible Chinese.
Men
In men's skating, the stage in Grenoble brought together two first-class stars - the Japanese Shomu Uno, who will be the hope of the fans if Yuzuru Hanyu is still injured, and the Spaniard Javier Fernandez, who failed starts in China due to a sick stomach. But there was another athlete on the start list who could shine just as brightly. Recently, Alexander Samarin surprised many with a bronze medal at the stage in Canada. He got a taste and is now ready to repeat his success.
At least one wants to believe in this after a brilliantly performed short program. The 19-year-old skater jumped a cascade of a quadruple lutz - a triple sheepskin coat, reinforced it with a quadruple sheepskin coat, and in the middle of the rental gave an excellent triple axel. The judges in charge of the components are gradually getting used to Samarin and decided to encourage him following the technical jury. He broke his personal best and scored 91.51 points - this season it is the eighth result among all skaters in the world. The Russian has reached his limit with the current program and now he can safely learn new quadruple jumps.
And then why not aim, for example, at the result of Fernandez? In fact, the Spaniard, who has forgotten about all diseases, differs from Samarin only in that he jumps salchow instead of a sheepskin coat. But at the same time, the judges love him infinitely and do not regret triples for allowances and a dozen for components. The two-time world champion received 107.86 points, even for himself, in France - only Hanyu skated better this season even before the start of the Grand Prix.
Syoma Uno is nearing the end of his series of five 300-point performances in a row. The imperturbable Japanese began his short program with a fall on a quadruple flip. His triple axel did not quite work out, and many members of the jury did not like the rotation. Nevertheless, Uno has already made a name for himself, and Samarin only earns it. The Japanese took second place behind Fernandez, beating the Russian by a little more than two points. It's hard to believe, but the fight for the silver in the French Grand Prix stage is still ahead.
The final of the Grand Prix in figure skating has ended in Marseille, France. In the piggy bank of the "adult" Russian team there are two golds and one bronze, the juniors have three golds, three silvers and one bronze. The world record of Evgenia Medvedeva, four quadruple jumps of Nathan Chen, the "golden" debut of Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov - in the material of "Lenta.ru".
The Grand Prix Final is the most prestigious figure skating tournament and, without exaggeration, the main event of the first half of the 2016/2017 season in the world of figure skating. Six of the best sports couples, six dance duets, the same number of singles and singles came to Marseille to determine the strongest in their programs.
Sports couples
The first set of medals was played by sports couples. Russia in this form was represented by Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov and Natalia Zabiyako / Alexander Enbert. Both couples train in the group of Nina Moser, the coach of the reigning Olympic champions Tatyana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov, who, in turn, miss this season due to their partner's pregnancy.
Both Russian duos made their debut in the Grand Prix series finals. But this did not prevent our skaters from performing with dignity in Marseilles, and Tarasova and Morozov, for the first time in their careers, from winning a tournament of this level. Evgenia and Vladimir twice became bronze medalists of the European Championship, at the last year's World Championship they took fifth place. In Marseille, in the free program, they performed a quadruple twist, an ultra-C level element, and for the first time in their careers they announced themselves so loudly. Although it is worth admitting that the main rivals of the Russians skated far from flawlessly, the Chinese Yu Saoyu / Zhang Hao, who became the second, lost to Tarasova / Morozov in the sum of two programs by a little more than seven points, and two-time world champions from Canada Megan Duhamel / Eric Redford were on their own. themselves are not alike, breaking up both the short and free programs.
The second Russian duet Natalya Zabiyako / Alexander Enbert finished their performance in fourth position, which can be considered a success in the current conditions for the guys. Natalia and Alexander learned that they would be performing in France a couple of days before the start of the competition, when Alena Savchenko / Bruno Massot had to withdraw due to their partner's injury.
Anastasia Mashina / Vladislav Mirzoev celebrated the victory in the junior tournament, Alexandra Boykova / Dmitry Kozlovsky (all - Russia) climbed to the third step of the podium.
Men
The men's tournament in Marseille took place without the participation of domestic athletes, which, of course, upset figure skating fans from Russia. But, to tell the truth, even without our guys in France there was someone to look at. Yes, and in the current competition in men's single skating, Russian figure skaters do not have to claim high positions at the moment.
The undisputed hero of the Grand Prix finals of the 2016/2017 season is 17-year-old American Nathan Chen. In the free program, the skater performed four quadruple jumps to the accompaniment of "Polovtsian Dances", including two very difficult jumps performed for the first time in one program without errors - the fourth lutz in a cascade with a triple toe loop and a quadruple flip. For the cascade of a quadruple lutz-triple toe loop, Nathan Chen received a record mark for one jump element - 19.9 points.
In terms of the sum of the two programs, the American lost only to Sochi Olympic champion Yuzur Khan. The renowned Japanese brilliantly coped with the short program to the track Let "s go crazy, performed by Prince. In the free program, Hanyu also announced four quadruple jumping elements, but he fell from one. On the third line was another Japanese Sema Uno, who was injured in the short program and reigning world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez finished fourth, Canadian Patrick Chan fifth, American Adam Rippon, who came out a year ago, closed the top six.
The performance of Russian juniors in the singles tournament can be considered successful. Dmitry Aliev with a total of 240.07 points became the first, Alexander Samarin, who won the silver, lost a little less than four points to him. Hopefully, at least one competitive skater from Russia will appear for the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, who will be able to compete on equal terms for places on the podium with the elite of the world men's single skating.
Dancing on Ice
For the last two years, Gabriela Papadakis / Guillaume Sizeron has been the trendsetters in the most subjective form of figure skating. For two seasons, the French did not know defeat, systematically, step by step, approaching the main tournament of the four-year period as the undisputed leaders. But this year, the plans of Papadakis and Sizeron were disrupted by the Olympic champions of Vancouver and the silver examples of Sochi Tessa Virtu / Scott Moir, who decided to return to the big sport.
The return of the Canadians turned out to be truly triumphant, they not only received exorbitant points from the judges, but also beat the seemingly invincible French in all respects. In Marseille, Virtue and Moir received a record 80.50 points from the judges for their short dance. Before Canadians, not a single couple in the history of modern judging has managed to score more than 80 points for a short dance. Gabriela Papadakis / Guillaume Sizeron finished second on aggregate, followed by Maya Shibutani / Alex Shibutani from the United States.
The Russian duo Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitry Soloviev remained outside the podium, finishing in fourth place. But in the current realities, this result can be considered successful, given everything that the guys had to endure over the past few years - both the partner's injury and the Meldonium scandal involving the partner.
“Today, unfortunately, we tore off our signature element - rotational support,” said Bobrova after the end of the tournament. - Recently, in general, they could get out of any situation and do it. But today it didn’t work out, and it’s very offensive, the judges usually give “plus three” for her. However, from the good - we received not very low scores without this support, which means we can hope that with it the marks will be even higher. "
In the junior competition, the Russian duo Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd lost the championship to the American pair Rachel Parsons / Michael Parsons. The Russians lost less than one point to their rivals.
Women
Over the past few years, the singles tournament has attracted the closest attention and aroused great interest among all figure skating lovers and fans. In Marseille, four out of six participants represented Russia. The company of Anna Pogorila, Maria Sotskova, Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova was made up of Canadian Caitlin Osmond and Japanese Satoko Miyahara.
The Japanese figure skater Miyahara showed almost the best skates in her career in France, which allowed her to eventually rise to the second step of the podium. The first, as expected, was Evgenia Medvedeva, the winner of last year's final in Barcelona, although in the free program the pupil Eteri Tutberidze made a small mistake on the first flip. Moreover, Medvedeva received 79.21 points for the short program, setting a new world record. Anna Pogorilaya is in third position, Caitlin Osmond is in fourth, Maria Sotskova, a debutante of the adult Grand Prix finals, is in fifth, Elena Radionova is in sixth.
In the junior tournament, the championship was won by Alina Zagitova, who trains in the group of Eteri Tutberidze, the second was another Russian woman Anastasia Gubanova.
MOSCOW, November 13 - R-Sport, Elena Dyachkova. Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva reached the Final of the Grand Prix series, winning the stage held in Paris. The Russian woman, who will turn 17 in a few days, secured herself participation in the decisive round of the competition with the maximum possible number of points scored - earlier she excelled at the stage in the Canadian Mississauga.
Last season, which became the first "adult" in her career for Medvedeva, the skater won all possible trophies - the Grand Prix Final, and then the championships of Russia, Europe and the world. After the victory in Paris, a new campaign will begin for Medvedeva - the defense of all previously won titles.
0.14 points short of the record!
In the short program at the stage in France, Medvedeva lacked only 0.14 points to update the world record. For a clean run, the Russian figure skater received an incredible 78.52 points from the judges. In the free program, Medvedeva allowed a fall - for the first time in a competition since the European Championships in Bratislava. This time, the triple lutz did not submit to the leader of the Russian national team. But, despite this, the Russian woman retained an unconditional leadership, even if so far without record marks - 143.02 points for an arbitrary and 221.54 in total. For two victories in the Grand Prix standings, Medvedeva received the maximum possible 30 points and became the first single skater to secure participation in the Series Finals in Marseille.
Tarasova and Morozov are the second, but they are competing for the final
In the free program, the chances of Zabiyako and Enbert, who took second place in Moscow, to reach the final of the series became only theoretical - the partner fell on a triple sheepskin coat and could not complete the cascade, and instead of the triple salchow, which did not work out at the previous stage, this time the duet performed double. As a result, the Russian couple scored 121.20 points in free rental, and in total - 192.56, missing Vanessa James / Morgan Sipre (198.58) to the third step of the French podium.
Savchenko and Masso were the penultimate on the ice and skated an arbitrary one with a lot of blots - first, the partner tore off the cascade, then doubled the toe loop. On a triple axel throw, the five-time world champion fell, and at the end of the program the couple lost points after Savchenko landed with a triple salchow throw on two legs. But, even in spite of all these flaws, the judges generously awarded the duo with marks for the components - 133.04 points for an arbitrary and 210.59 in total.
Tarasova and Morozov had to show clean rolling to reach the first place, but they were unable to complete this task. On the quadruple throw, there was a partner's blot on landing, costing the Russian pair of lost points, as well as a mistake on the cascade. The Russian duo lost the free program (130.70) to both the Germans and the French, but retained the second place in terms of the sum of the two skates - 206.94.
Premiere of Papadakis / Sizeron
The free dance, this time without marks close to the world record, was won by Papadakis and Sizeron, becoming the winners of their first Grand Prix stage of the season (193.50). The next start of the French will take place in Sapporo, Japan. The second place was taken by the Americans Madison Hubbel / Zachary Donoghue (174.58), who secured their way to the Marseille final - they were previously second on Skate America. Third - Canadians Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier (170.78).
Fernandez - in the final
The two-time world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez, like Medvedeva, secured himself access to the Grand Prix Final with the highest possible indicator - a week after winning the stage in Moscow, he won the start in Paris. In the short program, Fernandez fell from a quadruple toe loop, but otherwise skated cleanly, receiving 96.57 points from the judges and taking the first line. American Nathan Chen, who amazed everyone with his jumping ability on the Challenger in Finland, on the first day became the first skater in history to perform quadruple lutz and flip purely in one program, and took second place (92.85). The third was the bronze medalist of the Sochi Olympics Denis Ten from Kazakhstan (89.21).
In an arbitrary, Fernandez fell from a triple axel, but kept the lead - 188.81 points and 285.38 in total. Chen out of five announced quads fell on a salchow and sheepskin coat and became only fourth (264.80). Ten (269.26) moved up to the second place thanks to a clean run, and the American Adam Rippon took the third place in Paris, who performed only one quadruple in an arbitrary - a sheepskin coat, but was otherwise flawless (267.53).
Russian Artur Dmitriev, after an unsuccessful short program, in which he became only 11th (64.48), showed the seventh result in the free program (154.22) and eventually finished ninth at the French Grand Prix (218.70).