USA’s Amber Glenn grabbed the Women’s gold at the Grand Prix Final title on Saturday in Grenoble, France. This marks the first time in 14 years that an American woman has won this event since Alissa Czisny took the title in 2010. Mone Chiba of Japan maintained second place to earn the silver, while headliner and teammate Kaori Sakamoto settled for bronze.
The 2024 Grand Prix de France champion opened her short program with a triple Axel, but there was a small trip after the landing. Her routine to “This Time” by Janet Jackson also featured a triple flip-triple toe, but the back end was slightly underrotated and two-footed. All three spins and the footwork were graded a level four, but the triple loop was also two-footed. The footwork and change foot combination spin scored high grades of execution (GOE), and she placed first (70.04) going into the free skate.
Glenn later said she felt very “tense” after the triple Axel and that the small trip “freaked” her out mentally.
“Today wasn’t my best,” said the 25-year-old, who won both her events in France and China. “After my triple Axel, I felt like I would fall on my nose. This made me hesitant for the rest of the jumps and I didn’t perform them to the best of my abilities. I am glad I was able to fight through it and hold it together. I think today was a day that didn’t really work out for the most of us. I felt a bit similar compared to my first Worlds, feeling the tension.”
The 2024 U.S. National champion gave a solid and endearing free skate to “I Will Find You” and “The Return,” opening with a solid triple Axel. She went on to land six more triple jumps. The only mistakes were a doubled Salchow and a triple flip that was landed on the quarter. Two spins garnered a level four and she placed first in this segment and overall (142.03/212.07).
Glenn said that the win was not “real” to her yet as she only earned her first international gold medal at Lombardia Trophy earlier this fall.
“I have been competing internationally since I was 13 and now, I’m 25,” she pointed out. “Having all the experience that I do, it means a lot. I was there to do a job, and I did that to the best of my ability. I would not say it was quite a performance, more of a demonstration of skill. I hope that I can really work on that going into Nationals and hopefully Worlds. But I’m very proud of my consistency; that is something that I’ve struggled with for a very long time.”
“Seriously, the other girls are absolutely incredible,” said Glenn, when she was jokingly asked about competing with them at Japanese Nationals. “I know many of us did not have the best short program or long programs. I feel like today was significantly better than Thursday for most of us, if not all of us. But I know we all have more that we can do and we can show. I’m just proud of all of us, for making it here to this prestigious event and I’m just happy to be here.”
The skater added that the triple Axel was her “100% favorite” jump to do.
“Today it was significantly bigger,” said Glenn. “So, it took a lot of my energy, whereas usually it doesn’t.”
The 2024 Four Continents champion gave a great performance to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer. She produced a triple Lutz-triple toe, but the Lutz received an edge call. The triple flip was landed on the quarter, but the double Axel was solid. All three spins were graded a level four, and she placed second with 69.33 points.
“I could’ve jumped the flip better,” said Chiba. “Compared to my Lutz from China Cup, I think my Lutz was good. I was a little bit too nervous during my step sequence, so I think I wasn’t able to dance much during my performance today. I wasn’t able to deliver with my full power. I want to fix that going into Nationals.”
“In my free program, I want to give a performance that’s more like me,” she added. “I want to do a performance where I’m relaxed, and one without any mistakes. I will practice with that feeling in mind. Compared to last year, I make less mistakes in similar situations, so I think I improved in that sense.”
Chiba, who took silver at both her individual events, placed second in the free skate with 139.52 points. Her classical routine featured seven triple jumps, but both Lutz jumps received an edge call and the loop was landed on the quarter. She was otherwise solid, and all three spins and the footwork were graded a level four. With 208.85 points, she maintained second overall to win the silver.
The 19-year-old said she felt nervous, almost as if she was doing a world championship.
“Yesterday, I couldn’t read the audience reaction,” said Chiba. “Today I was careful to not make mistakes and do better. I’m satisfied about today’s performance because I didn’t fall and could land the last flip and loop. That is why my score today was very good as I almost beat my highest record.”
“I’m glad that I got a silver medal, but I don’t think I gave my all,” she added. “My performance today was far from perfect but, having said that, I was able to somehow stick the landing of my triple loop and my triple flip as well. So overall, I was able to put together a pretty good performance.”
The 2022 Olympic bronze medalist found herself in a surprising fourth place (63.98) after her short program to an Astor Piazzolla medley. As always, her opening double Axel was flawless, but the triple Lutz received an edge call, and she took a fall on an underrotated triple flip-triple toe. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level three, and the level-four change foot combination spin received a “V” for not meeting all requirements.
“Ever since I arrived in France, my condition has not been good,” shared the 24-year-old. “I made mistakes. 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 mindset for tomorrow.”
The three-time World champion delivered an entertaining free skate to “All That Jazz” which featured four clean triple jumps. Unfortunately, three jumps in the second half were deemed underrotated, which affected her GOES. All three spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and she placed third in this segment and overall (137.15/201.13).
Sakamoto said she would grade her performance at “90%” of what she is capable of.
“But the mistakes that I made in the short program definitely had an impact on the total result, so it made me aware, again, that skating clean is very, very important,” she noted.
“Compared to the short program, I was able to approach it with more confidence,” said the four-time Japanese national champion. “I was able to give it my all with the feeling that I wanted to show what I had been practicing. So, I am satisfied with today’s program. Compared to the World Championship last year, I think I still have a lot to learn, and I’m not completely free of stress. So, there are still some points where I’m not sure if I’ll be okay, but I think I’m doing pretty well.”
Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi placed sixth (61.61) with her short program to music from Dune. She opened with a solid double Axel, but fell on a triple Lutz, missing the combination jump.
“I changed the composition of my performance at the last moment, and I regret it because I couldn’t perform at my best,” said Higuchi. “Tomorrow I will try to perform a clean performance without any mistakes. I really want to enjoy myself during this performance.”
The 2018 World silver medalist delivered a clean and emotional performance to “Nature Boy” and “Running Up that Hill” which featured five solid triple jumps. The only glitches were an edge call on a triple flip and a doubled Salchow. Two spins and the footwork were deemed a level four, and she scored 134.35 for fourth place. With a total score of 195.96, she rose two spots to fourth overall.
“I am trying to show my best even though I am a bit nervous,” said the 23-year-old. “I focused on doing my best for the competition, so it helped me to calm down. I was calmer than yesterday, so I was able to skate as I had practiced. But I had a very short practice period after I changed the composition of my short program. I did not change anything for the free program, so I was more confident that I would succeed.”
Japan’s Hana Yoshida skated a contemporary and inspiring short program to “Temen Oblak.” The double Axel was clean, but she landed the front end of a triple Lutz-triple toe on the quarter while stepping out of the back end. The triple loop was also landed on the quarter; however, all other elements were graded a level four. She placed third with 64.23 points.
“There were some jumps that weren’t bad,” said the 19-year-old. “I’m very disappointed that I made mistakes, especially because there were jumps I could definitely land. But I wasn’t nervous from the start. I felt good and had fun while skating. I was feeling very good at the end of my performance.”
The 2023–24 ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist opened her free skate with a triple Axel but landed the jump on the quarter. Both triple Lutz jumps and a triple flip received and edge call, but she was otherwise clean in her beautiful routine to “S.O.S. d’un terrien en détresse.” The footwork and two spins were graded a level four, and she placed fifth (129.79) in the free skate. With a total score of 212.07, she slipped off the podium to fifth overall.
“I’m not satisfied but I think I did my best,” said the 2024 Skate Canada bronze medalist. “Even though the Lutz (combination) was not good, I wanted to do the Lutz-toe loop because it’s the Final and there is no next competition. I think I fought. I think I need more practice, and I will try it at the nationals.”
Japan’s Rino Matsuike placed fifth (62.63) in the short program with her routine to “One Day I’ll Fly Away.” The 2024 Skate Canada silver medalist landed a solid double Axel and triple flip-triple toe. She took a fall on a triple Lutz but quickly recovered to produce level-four footwork and two level-four spins.
“I thought I’d be way more nervous, but the performance was over before I even had a chance to be nervous,” said the 20-year-old. “I wish I could have concentrated a little more on jumps one by one, or my spin.”
The 2024 Finlandia Trophy silver medalist gave a spellbinding free skate to “Lux Aeterna” that featured beautiful transitions and level-four footwork. Unfortunately, three of her jumps were landed on the quarter and a double Axel was underrotate. Nevertheless, she picked up a level four on two spins, receiving high GOE marks for the change foot combination spin. She placed sixth in the free skate and overall (126.39/189.02).
“Yesterday I was not anxious at all, but today I was quite stressed, so I think I was a little stiff,” admitted Matsuike. “I’m a little disappointed that some of my jumps were unstable, and I think I still have progress to make. But I tried my best to skate confidently. I want to do my best at the Japan Championships.
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