Figure skater Bychenko dazzles on the way to podium

Israeli figure skater Alexei Bychenko displayed promising form over the weekend ahead of next February’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics, claiming a bronze medal at the Japan grand prix in Osaka.

The 29-year-old registered an overall score of 252.07 points to finish in third place. Sergei Voronov of Russia took the gold, with Adam Rippon of the USA winning the silver.

Bychenko, who also represented Israel at the 2014 Sochi Games, registered the best-ever finish for an Israeli man at the figure skating world championships in Helsinki earlier this year, ending the event in 10th place.

Last year, Bychenko won a bronze medal in the grand prix event in Moscow after also taking a medal at the European Figure Skating Championships when he finished in second place.

Bychenko will be in action once more this coming weekend when he competes in the grand prix event in Grenoble, France.

Voronov eased to victory on Saturday with an elegant, melancholy short program, while his compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva won the women’s event.

In the absence of favorites Yuzuru Hanyu and Patrick Chan, the 30-year-old Voronov topped a podium filled with experienced skaters in a sport that seems increasingly focused on quad jumps and youthful energy.

Voronov’s winning routine to the “Sarabande Suite” which opened with a flawless quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, won a standing ovation and screams of delight from the crowd in the western city of Osaka to gain a personal best 181.06 for the short program and 271.12 overall.

Medvedeva claimed her second grand prix gold of the season despite a rare fall on a triple flip, her specialty, but clinched a place in next month’s grand prix final in Japan with 144.40 in the free skate for a total of 224.39.

Carolina Kostner of Italy took second with 212.24 and Russian Polina Tsurskaya was third.

World pairs champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China surged to gold with 155.10 points, a record for the free skate, for a total of 234.53.

Reuters contributed report. to this