USA’s Amber Glenn nabbed her second consecutive Grand Prix gold in the Women’s event at Cup of China on Saturday. Japan’s Mone Chiba, the overnight leader settled for silver, while Chaeyeon Kim of the Republic of Korea rose one spot to claim the bronze.
The 2024 Grand Prix de France champion made two mistakes in her short to “This Time” by Janet Jackson but placed a very close second (70.84). The triple Axel was landed on the quarter, and she stepped out and put a hand down on the triple flip-triple toe. However, the triple loop was solid, as were her level-four spins and footwork.
The 25-year-old was a bit surprised to learn she had received a “q” on the Axel.
“I always do it super, super clean, especially in practice,” said Glenn. “I mean, I guess it could have been underrotated, but I usually never do that, so that was surprising. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I got a q on my toe loop, but the Axel, that was a bit strange to me.”
Glenn added that she fought for all of her levels and that she’s been having a hard time with toe pick jumps.
“Especially with flip, because the first day I hurt my ankle a bit,” she said.
The skater, who revealed she has severe anxiety and ADHD, worked a lot to improve on her consistency.
“Those (issues) make it very challenging to perform in front of crowds,” said Glenn. “So, we really dove into that in the off season. The problem is literally my brain, because I think all the right things. It’s just my brain sometimes gets a little funky.”
The 2024 U.S. National champion nailed her opening triple Axel and landed a total of seven more triple jumps in the free skate. The only errors were an edge call on the front end of a triple flip-triple toe and a solo triple flip, which was also landed on the quarter. Two spins were graded a level four, and she placed first in the free skate and overall with two new personal best scores (144.70/215.54).
“I am happy I did my triple loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence,” said Glenn, who added she was tired. “That’s the first time I’ve ever done it, so it’s like kind of new for me. I am very grateful for my team and for the physician here. I was downplaying it, but I really hurt myself on Tuesday practice, and she has worked miracles with my right ankle.”
“Going into the Grand Prix Final I just hope to stay as healthy as possible,” she added. “I’ve accomplished my goal, which was to be consistent throughout this Grand Prix, and I want to continue doing that at the Final.”
The 2024 Four Continents champion received an edge call on the front end of her opening triple Lutz-triple toe, a repeat from NHK Trophy, but that was the only flaw in the short program. Her upbeat routine to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer also featured a double Axel and triple flip, as well as level four spins and footwork throughout. She placed first in this segment with 70.86 points.
“I think I did it all today and enjoyed my performance,” said the 19-year-old. “I was able to skate with my smile during the whole program which feels good. I think not only the top three skaters, but the top five skaters have very close points. I think about the Free Skating as a new day, a new starting line, and I want to focus on my performance and take it one element at a time. That is my plan.”
Chiba gave delivered a good free skate with the exception of a fall during the step sequence. Here routine to “Ariana Concerto No. 1: II. Adagio Sostenuto” featured eight triple jumps but both Lutz jumps received an edge call. All spins were graded a level four, and she finished second in the free skate with a new season’s best of 141.05. However, the fall was costly, and the 2024 NHK Trophy silver medalist slipped to second place overall (211.91).
“I think that the free program here was better than at NHK,” noted Chiba. “I had a smile from beginning until the end, and I enjoyed performing it. Also, I landed all my jumps and got positive GOEs. I just lost the balance on the step sequence today, but I will work more on it going into the Grand Prix Final.”
The 2024 World bronze medalist gave a near-solid performance in her short program to music from Tron: Legacy. She produced a double Axel and triple flip, but the front end of a triple Lutz-triple toe was landed on the quarter. That was the only error in an otherwise clean routine which included level four spins. She scored 69.27 points for fourth place going into the free skate.
“My jumps were a bit low today, probably because I was a little nervous,” confessed the 17-year-old. “But I got level 4 on my layback, so I am happy with that. Tomorrow I just want to focus on a clean program and avoid any mistakes.”
Kim placed third in the free skate with a new season’s best of 139.20 points. Her dramatic routine to “Whisperers from the Heart” and “Love Dance” featured seven triple jumps, but the solo Lutz was underrotated. She received an edge call on the front end of a triple flip-double Axel sequence, but all other jumps were clean. All her spins and footwork were also graded a level four. With a total score of 208.47, a personal best, she moved up onto the podium to claim the bronze.
“I was a bit nervous in the morning today,” said the 2024 Four Continents silver medalist. “I am happy that I managed to do the triple Lutz-triple toe combination later in the program. Before this competition, Yuna Kim came to my practices and watched my short and free programs. I was very happy to work with her!”
Japan’s Rion Sumiyoshi delivered a solid short program for third place with a personal best of 70.48 points. She had a slight stumble on her rocker going into the double Axel, but that didn’t affect the element which still received positive GOEs. The triple Lutz-triple toe and triple flip were clean, and she displayed beautiful level-four spins and footwork throughout her routine to “Concerto pour la fin d’un amour.”
“I had a small accident in the beginning, so I am glad I was able to stay focused and do the work after it,” said the 21-year-old. “I have not been thinking about qualifying to Grand Prix Final too much. I just want to skate good.”
The 2024 Grand Prix de France bronze medalist placed fourth (131.97) in the free skate and slipped off the podium to fourth overall (202.45). She stepped out of a triple Lutz before taking a fall on a triple loop and later landed the front end of a triple flip-double Axel-double toe sequence on the quarter. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and she finished fourth in the free skate and overall (131.97/202.45).
“I am very disappointed about my first half, and the mistake in the loop was unexpected,” said Sumiyoshi. “But it was important for me to improve my score, so I am happy about the points today. I need to do more mental training, and I need to do be more consistent.”
Japan’s Rinka Watanabe posted a new season’s best of 69.08 for her fifth place in the short program. The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalist landed the first jump of a triple loop-triple toe on the quarter, but the rest of her skate to Moonlight Sonata was solid and featured an excellent double Axel as well as a triple Lutz. All spins were graded a level four while the steps were a level three.
“I probably did close to my best today, but of course I can also improve and do better,” said the 22-year-old. “I want to do a triple Axel tomorrow, so my goal now is to have a clean performance.”
The 2024 Skate America silver medalist opened her free skate with a triple Axel, but it was landed on the quarter, as was the back end of a triple loop-triple toe. She received an edge call on a triple flip and later took a fall on a triple Lutz and triple loop. While the spins were strong and graded a level four, the mistakes were costly, and she finished sixth (127.87). With a total score of 196.95, she was able to maintain fifth place overall.
“I don’t remember how I felt after the fall, but I am okay now,” said the skater from Chiba. “My triple Axel was pretty good today, but of course I need to work more and prepare better for Nationals.”
She has two very different program this season and she admitted that her free program is a bit easier to skate to.
“It’s a tango, it has a background story,” Watanabe explained. “I like skating to it, and I like tango. The short program is a bit more challenging as I have never skated to such music, and I need to come up with my own story behind the program.”
Kimmy Repond of Switzerland renewed her personal best with a score of 67.71 with a solid and exquisite short program to “Mother Nature.” The 2023 European bronze medalist landed a triple flip-triple toe, double Axel and triple loop. The only error was an edge call on the front end of her combination jump. Her beautiful spins were graded a level four, and she finished sixth in this segment.
“I’m really happy with what I did today,” said the 18-year-old. “I also had a clean slate in Canada, but got a bit higher score here, so it seems like it’s going in the right direction. By the end of the season, I really want to break 70 points, and I still have some things and levels to work on.”
Repond admitted to being more nervous at this event than she was at Skate Canada.
“I managed to skate with the nerves, so I’m really happy that I did that,” she said. “Also, I broke my boot five days ago, and I was worried about not being able to skate, but with a lot of tape, it definitely helped me.”
Repond gave a good free skate to the dramatic music from the Gladiator soundtrack. She a landed a total of seven triple jumps, but the Lutz and a flip received an edge call while the back end of a triple flip-triple toe was landed on the quarter. She also lost a level on two of her spins, which were graded a level three, but the footwork was a level four. She finished fifth with a season’s best of 128.20 points and maintained sixth place overall (195.91).
“I feel really good,” said the Swiss national champion. “I’m really happy with how I did today, but I know I can do bit better. I did a little mistake on the Lutz, and I don’t know what went wrong with the spin, but I am still pretty happy with how I did here.”
Madeline Schizas of Canada placed seventh overall (180.77) followed by Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova (177.34) and Yi Zhu of China (166.04).
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