Japan’s Kihira upsets Oly champ Zagitova to win Grand Prix gold
Americans Hubbell and Donohue dominate ice dance
LOS ANGELES, Dec 9, (AFP): Japan’s rising star Rika Kihira won the battle of the 16-year olds, upsetting reigning Olympic champ Alina Zagitova to claim ladies’ gold at the ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating Final on Saturday.
Skating her free programme ‘Beautiful Storm’ by Jennifer Thomas, Kihira missed her first triple Axel but skated clean the rest of the way, including nailing her triple Lutz-toeloop.
“I made a mistake early but got to go out there and finish. I am really happy to perform that way on this stage,” said Kihira.
Kihira, who also won the short programme, finished with a personal best total score of 233.12 points to beat runnerup Zagitova by more than six points.
European champion Zagitova, skating to “Carmen” in her free programme, earned a total of 226.53 points while her Russian compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva grabbed the third spot on the podium with 215.32 points. was sixth.
Kihira earned $25,000 for finishing first while Zagitova collected $18,000.
Kihira’s victory continued a breakthrough season in 2018. She won two prior grand prix events -- the Internationaux de France in Grenoble and the NHK Trophy in Hiroshima where she posted her previous best score of 224.31.
She is the first women to land a triple Axel-triple toeloop in competition when she did it at the junior grand prix finals last year.
Zagitova started the 2018 season several centimetres taller after going through a growth spurt over the summer. But she adapted almost immediately to the added height, winning grand prix series events in Helsinki and Moscow.
Zagitova burst onto the scene last year winning gold at the European Championships. She says she is feeling the pressure more this season.
“The first season is easier than the second one. Because you go out the first time there are no expectations and you can just skate,” she said.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue continued the US domination of ice dance by winning the gold medal with a free dance total score of 205.03.
The duo won the sixth ice dance gold medal for the US in the history of the Grand Prix Final. The US has also won a medal in ice dance at every final since 2006.
In the pairs, France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres rallied from a fourth place finish in the short program to capture gold with 219.88 points.
James and Cipres scored 148.37 points in the free skate to beat out runners-up Peng Cheng and Jin Yang of China.
Twenty-four skaters and couples qualified from the half dozen competitions of the ISU grand prix series.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the US perform in the Senior Ice Dance program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2018-19 in
Vancouver, British Columbia on Dec 8. (AFP)