Osmond skates into lead
NAGOYA, JAPAN — Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond executed a near perfect performance Friday to take first place in the women’s short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating event.
The 22-year-old from Marystown, N.L., landed a triple-triple combination, a triple Lutz and a double Axel to collect an international personal best 77.04 points.
“It felt really good and I felt really controlled,” said Osmond, the world championship silver medallist last season. “I wasn’t happy with how my short program went at the Grand Prix in France and I didn’t want that to happen here.”
Alina Zagitova of Russia was second at 76.27 and Satoko Miyahara of Japan third at 74.61. The long program is Saturday. On the men’s side, American Nathan Chen held his lead from the short program to edge Japan’s Shoma Uno.
Skating to “Mao’s Last Dancer,” Chen landed three of five attempted quad jumps in his free program.
Uno, two points behind Chen after the short program on Thursday, won the free skate but it wasn’t enough to overtake Chen, who finished a half-point ahead with a total of 286.51 points. Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada was third with 282.00.
In junior ice dancing, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., were fourth after the short dance with 60.52 points. The couple won gold and silver this season on the circuit.
The competition continues Saturday with the women’s, pairs and ice dance long programs.