GRAND PRIX FINAL
Added Davis, “We want to say thank you so much to the audience for your support as al- ways.”
Te judges were equally as enthusiastic
about the performance and awarded the team a free dance score of 113.69 points. Teir final score was 191.35 points. Virtue and Moir totaled 190.00. France’s Nathalie Pechalat and Fabi- an Bourzat won bronze with a score of 169.11 points. Davis and White won their first Grand Prix
Final title in 2009, two months before becoming Olympic silver medalists. As always, the two plan to work harder than ever as they try to realize their goal of winning an Olympic title. “Our Olympic silver medal was our first
World medal and our introduction to such a high level of success,” White said. “It was also part of what made us so hungry, having that suc- cess. We wanted to build and see where we can take it and more about what we can accomplish. We’ve put everything that we’ve learned and ex- perienced into the program we have this year.” Ashley Wagner became the fifth American woman to win multiple Grand Prix Final med- als as she took home the bronze. Wagner, who qualified for the event with gold- and silver-med- al wins at Trophée Bompard and Skate Ameri- ca, had her toughest free skate of the season in Fukuoka, but she explained after the event that perhaps the faulty Romeo and Juliet performance was a blessing in disguise. “Today was more about my mental strength after I make a mistake than anything else,” she explained. “I feel technically I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. “I’ve been pretty clean all season, relative-
ly mistake-free and I haven’t fallen. Tis made me realize that I need to learn how to make a mistake but keep my head in the rest of the pro- gram.”
Te skate started strong, but hit a snag at about the halfway point when Wagner went down on her triple Lutz. Her next two jumping passes were shaky, and the disappointment was evident on her face when Wagner hit her ending pose.
She admitted after the fact that the great
skate of the preceding athlete and eventual silver medalist, Julia Lipnitskaia, of Russia, got into her head.
Wagner started the week on a strong note.
She came off the ice with a huge smile after her “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” short program. While her score didn’t quite reflect it, Wagner felt the performance, which netted 68.14 points, was her strongest of the season. Simply put, “It was awesome. I am so happy
with the performance. Te flip-toe felt great, the spins felt really great.” Te aforementioned reference was to a triple
flip-triple toe. Wagner came into the season with the distinct goal of performing the triple-triple jump combination in both of her programs in every event this season.
“Te flip-toe is what I set my mind to from the start of the season and I feel it’s been getting
Ashley Wagner demonstrates effortless athleticism in her free skate at the Grand Prix Final. Wagner captured the bronze medal to go with the silver she won at last year’s event.
stronger mentally and physically.” Japan’s sweetheart Mao Asada won her
fourth Grand Prix Final title with a total score of 204.02 points. She has won three straight titles and has medaled in each of her six Grand Prix Final appearances. Upsets ensued in both the men’s and pairs
events. Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu set a world record short program score and recorded a 13-point win over reigning World champion Patrick Chan of Canada with a total mark of 293.25. Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim
Trankov had been unbeatable over the last two years but relinquished their Grand Prix Final title to Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szol- kowy. While upset might be a strong word — the Germans are four-time World champs — Volos- ozhar and Trankov had handily won the last two head-to-head matchups.
Bronze medalist Ashley Wagner waves to the appreciative crowd in Japan.
SKATING 37
CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES
TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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