American Amber Glenn upstaged three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto and four other Japanese skaters to take the lead after the women's short program at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, on Thursday night, December 5. The 25-year-old US champion, who won both of her GP events this season, holds a narrow lead heading into Saturday's free skate.
Glenn is in first place with a score of 70.04 points, ahead of Mone Chiba who is second at 69.33. Hana Yoshida is a bit farther back in third on 64.23.
Sakamoto, who won the GP Final in 2023, is fourth at 63.98, with Rino Matsuike fifth with 62.63 and Wakaba Higuchi sixth on 61.61.
The 25-year-old Glenn skated to "This Time" and landed a triple axel at the outset of the program, before the back end of her triple flip/triple toe loop combination jump was judged a quarter rotation short. She hit a triple loop without incident and posted level fours on all of her spins and step sequence.
Glenn is trying to become the first American woman to win the GP Final crown in 14 years, since Alissa Czisny triumphed back in 2010.
Glenn Battles Fatigue in Short Program
"I felt very tense after the triple axel when I almost fell on my face and it freaked me out a lot mentally," Glenn stated. "I'm not hurt, I'm OK, it just freaked me out and I held back on the next two jumps. They were not close to my best but I fought through it mentally to stay on my feet. It has been a rough day for a lot of us, I think it's a bit past our bedtimes with the jet lag and this is my first time at the Grand Prix Final."
Added Glenn, "I kind of have the same feeling as my first worlds, it's weird because you work so hard to qualify for that and then you are here and it's really strange. So I'm just glad I'm getting that entire experience."
Chiba Puts Herself in Title Contention at the Grand Prix Final
The 19-year-old Chiba competed to "Last Dance" and began with a triple lutz/triple toe loop combo that received an edge call on the front end. She had no problems landing her double axel, but was judged a quarter rotation short on her triple flip. She recorded level fours on all of her spins, and a level three on her step sequence.
"I enjoyed my performance, but I think that I put too much attention to each element," Chiba commented. "Tomorrow in the free skate I would like to enjoy more. My goal [for the Grand Prix Final] is to do my performance without any mistakes, both in short and the free skate."
Yoshida Struggles with Timing
Yoshida performed to "Yemen Oblak – Dark Clouds" and had problems with the front end of her triple lutz/triple toe loop combo, where she was hit with both an edge call and a quarter rotation short mark. She did register level fours on all of her spins and step sequence, however.
"My jumps were not bad, I landed them all but made some mistakes," Yoshida noted. "I think my combination was high enough but the timing of getting out of a jump and landing was not right and that in my opinion was the reason I stepped out. I'm quite surprised [to place in the top three], but my expectations for this event have not changed. I still plan to just focus on my free program and skate it clean."
Sakamoto Has a Mistake-Filled Short Program
Sakamoto had an uncharacteristically rough outing in her skate to "Resurreccion del Angel" and "La Muerte del Angel." The 24-year-old began with a nice double axel, but took an edge call on her triple lutz, and fell later in the program on her triple flip/triple toe loop combo. Her spins (two level threes) were also shaky and she got just a level three on her step sequence.
"Ever since I arrived in France my condition has not been good and I made mistakes," Sakamoto remarked. "Actually during all the last three weeks my condition has not been good. I really want to put today's performance behind me and change my mind for tomorrow."
Miura, Kihara in Second After Pairs Short Program
Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin are on top after the pairs short program with 76.72, with 2023 world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara close behind in second at 76.27. Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava are in third on 72.26.
The combined Junior/Senior Grand Prix Final will continue on Friday, November 6 with the junior men's short program, junior women's free skate, senior rhythm dance, senior pairs free skate and senior men's short program.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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