FINAL APPROACH T
Team USA earns 10 medals at last three stops of Grand Prix Series by MIMI WHETSTONE
eam USA fi nished the Grand Prix season strong by earning two gold, two silver and six bronze medals in the fi nal three stops of the 2012 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. At Rostelecom Cup, held in Moscow
on Nov. 9–11, the ladies took center ice with Gracie Gold and Agnes Zawadzki earning silver and bronze, respec- tively. Gold led after the short program with 62.16 points, the
fi fth-highest short program score earned by any ladies competitor this season. Finishing the week with 175.03 total points, Gold earned 115.64 for her “Life is Beautiful” free
skate, which featured a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and three level 4 spins. Zawadzki’s “Rhapsody in Blue” free skate, which earned 106.43 points, included a double
Axel-double toe-double loop sequence that netted 7.18 points. Her total for the week was 166.61 points. T e gold medal went to Finland’s Kiira Kor- pi with 177.19 points, while Team USA’s Caroline Zhang fi nished 10th with 138.21 points. Reigning U.S. pairs champions Caydee Denney
and John Coughlin won their second Grand Prix bronze of the season, becoming the fi rst U.S. pairs team to medal at two Grand Prix events since Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker in 2008. T eir “T e Phantom of the Opera” free skate earned pos- itive grades of execution on 11 of 12 elements and the duo fi nished the week with 179.21 points. T e pairs title went to Russia’s Tatiana Volos-
ozhar and Maxim Trankov with 207.53 points, while Americans Tiff any Vise and Don Baldwin
fi nished sixth with 143.15 points. T e men’s title went to two-time reigning World
champion Patrick Chan of Canada, who earned an impressive 262.35 points. Team USA’s Richard Dornbush placed sixth, earning 210.89 points for the competition. Johnny Weir, who sat in 10th place after the short program, withdrew from the compe- tition prior to the free skate due to injury. Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani began
their Grand Prix season in the ice dancing event, fi nishing fourth with 140.91 points. T e gold medal went to 2010 Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, who fi nished the week with 173.99 points. T e next stop in the Grand Prix Series was
Trophée Eric Bompard, held Nov. 16–18 in Paris, where reigning U.S. champions took the ice in the ladies and men’s events. After fi nishing second in the short program, U.S. champion Ashley Wagner performed
12 JANUARY 2013
a fl awless free skate, earning a season-best score of 127.54 points and her second Grand Prix title of the season. Wagner fi nished the week with 190.63 points and became the fi rst U.S. lady to win multiple Grand Prix titles in a season since Sasha Cohen in 2003. Team USA’s Christina Gao fi nished fourth with 164.71 points after earning a season-best 112.16 points for her “Libertango” free skate. U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott won the silver,
his eighth Grand Prix Series medal and the fi rst from Trophée Bompard with a total of 227.63 points. His free skate, set to “Bring Him Home” by Steven Jamail, earned a season-best 146.45 points. Abbott completed six triple jumps in the free skate and his program com- ponents score of 82.70 points bested the fi eld by more than fi ve points. T e gold medal went to Takahito Mura of Japan with 230.68 points. While Team USA was not represented in the
pairs event, the gold medal went to Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia, who earned 187.99 points. Placing fourth in the ice dancing competition,
Americans Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue fi n- ished second in the free dance segment with a per- sonal-best score of 88.69 points. T eir performance featured positive grades of execution on each of their elements, including a circular step sequence that re- ceived 7.21 points. Hubbell and Donohue earned a total of 145.23 points and their highest Grand Prix Series placement. T e top spot was held by Nathalie Pechalat and
Fabian Bourzat of France with 168.90 points. T e sixth and fi nal Grand Prix event, NHK Tro-
phy, was held Nov. 23–25 in Miyagi, Japan, where Team USA was represented by 15 athletes. Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 U.S. champion, sat in
second place after the short program and earned the bronze medal after a strong free skate to “Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78” by Camille Saint-Saens Nagasu fi nished the week with 176.68 points. Japan’s Mao Asada topped the podium with 185.27 points, while Zawadzki fi nished fi fth with 160.37 points. American Ross Miner moved up from fourth place after the short program to win the bronze medal with a total of 235.37 points. His “Captain Blood” free skate included a perfect quad Salchow and posi- tive grades of execution on 12 of his 13 elements. He bested his personal-best free skate score by 12 points. T e gold medal went to Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, who earned a world record 95.32 points for his short program, on his way to 261.03 total points. Dornbush placed fi fth with 217.56 points and teammate Adam Rippon fi nished eighth with 210.47 points.
Gracie Gold performs during the ladies short program at 2012 Rostelecom Cup.
PHOTO BY JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
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