ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final 2014-15: Daily Results, Scores and Reaction
The ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final kicked off on Thursday in Barcelona as both seniors and juniors began their medal campaigns. ย ย ย
With the sport's best competitors on show in Spain, it is set to be an enthralling showpiece across every event in the three days of competition with senior medals available inย men's singles, ladies' singles,ย pair skatingย andย ice dancing.
Read on for a daily results update as well as reaction from the competitors.
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Saturday Recap
Saturday's action brought this year's Figure Skating Grand Prix to a close and it was once again Russia that featured prominently on the podium to end the championships as overall table leaders.
One gold medal, two silvers and a bronze medal in the climactic four events paved the way to a rousing finish from the eastern European titans, with 12 medals to their name, Canada the next-best contenders with three golds.
Here's how Saturday's podium results ended:
| Event | First | Score | Second | Score | Third | Score |
| Pairs Free | Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN) | 146.22 | Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) | 141.39 | Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang (CHN) | 129.33 |
| Ladies Free | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) | 136.06 | Elena Radionova (RUS) | 134.85 | Ashley Wanger (USA) | 129.26 |
| Ice Dance Free | Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) | 109.80 | Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) | 102.03 | Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) | 100.91 |
| Men's Free | Yuzuru Hanyu (JAP) | 194.08 | Javier Fernandez (ESP) | 174.72 | Sergei Voronov (RUS) | 160.05 |
Full results can be found atย ISUresults.com.
Canada were the only nation in the pairs final to have just a single duo make it to the last hurdle, butย Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radfordย defied the odds to beat Russia (two pairs) and China (three pairs) to top spot.
The Canadian duet held a lead going into the free skating after impressing in Thursday's short program, but stood up to the pressure of another strong display, as confirmed by the official Grand Prix Twitter account:
While there was a little over four points' difference between third and sixth, the top two were in a field of their own.
The Russian pair of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov ran Canada close with a mark of 141.39, but the technical nuances of Duhamel and Radford beat previous bests by a huge margin, per Beverley Smith of Globe and Mail:
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's triumph in the ladies' final wasn't quite as domineering, beating compatriot Elena Radionova to gold by fewer than five points.
The two scored identically for technicality in Saturday's free skate climax, but it was Tuktamysheva's program component score that helped set her apart.
The United States' Ashley Wagner opened proceedings with a powerful display to bag 129.26 early on, giving her some hope for the highest prize, but it was ultimately dwarfed by her Russian superiors.
Canada evidently weren't content with Saturday's haul, however, and it was the turn of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje to take home the ice dance gold.
North American rivals Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. were beaten in every regard by Weaver and Poje in, the judges clearly comfortable in determining who was the more talented duo:
Chock and Bates may well have claimed the gold medal themselves were it not for the latter's fall on Friday, which set the United States back in their pursuit of Weaver and Poje.
Finally, Japan won their only gold of the day's action in the men's competition as Yuzuru Hanyu defended his Grand Prix title with a massive score of 194.08 in the free skate, 20 points more than second-place Javier Fernandez:
The huge margin of his victory is another sign of how far ahead of the crown Hanzu remains in his field, despite falling in his final performance.
What really shone for the Japanese giant was again his technical strengths. After stumbling, he had no choice but to dazzle in the time he did spend upright, and that's precisely what he did en route to a second successive gold.
Friday Recap
Yuzuru Hanyu took a commanding lead in the Senior Men's division with a dominant showing in the short program, and the Japanese skater now sits more than six points ahead of compatriot Tatsuki Machida going into the final day of competition.
Canada's Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau grabbed the gold in the Junior Pairs, while Evgenia Medvedeva ensured it would be another fine day for the Russian athletes with a first-place finish in the Ladies Junior Category.
The full results for Friday's action:
| Junior Ladies Free | Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) | 123.80 | Serafima Sakhanovich (RUS) | 119.96 | Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) | 117.72 |
| Junior Ice Dance Free | Anna Yanovskaya/Sergey Mozgov (RUS) | 89.46 | Alla Loboda/Pavel Drozd (RUS) | 82.59 | Betina Popova/Yuri Vlasenko (RUS) | 81.36 |
| Junior Men Free | Shoma Uno (JPN) | 163.06 | Alexander Petrov (RUS) | 137.07 | Sota Yamamoto (JPN) | 136.98 |
| Junior Pairs Free | Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) | 116.35 | Lina Fedorova/Maxim Miroshkin (RUS) | 106.74 | Maria Vigalova/Egor Zakroev (RUS) | 104.34 |
| Ice Dance Short | Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) | 71.34 | Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) | 65.06 | Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) | 63.90 |
| Men Short | Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) | 94.08 | Tatsuki Machida (JPN) | 87.82 | Maxim Kovtun (RUS) | 87.02 |
Full results can be found atย ISUresults.com.
Strong favourite Hanyu produced a phenomenal run in the short program on Friday, showing fans all over the world he is truly back after a difficult start to the 2014 season.
Hanyu ended his short program with a score of 94.08, more than six points higher than any other athlete. His run could have been even better had it not been for a slight stumble in the combination, falling on a triple toeloop after an off-balanced landing on the triple lutz. He more than made up for it with his finale, however:
As reported by the Associated Press (for Fox Sports), the 20-year-old supertalent told reporters after his run how happy he was he was finally able to focus on competing again:
"I felt very happy with the skate because at NHK and China I couldn't focus on the competition. But today I feel really comfortable and I was really focused."
Machida came in second with a score of 87.82, with Russia's Maxim Kovtun completing the podium. Hanyu will have a chance to defend his title on Saturday, with the Free Skate still on the schedule.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates came agonisingly close to first place in the Couples' Dance, performing a flawless routine until Bates fell with just seven seconds left. They now chase Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje by more than six points heading into the Free Skate.
As shared by the event's official Twitter feed, the disappointment was almost visible in Chock's eyes:
Medvedeva ranks as one of the biggest talents in the world of skating, and she comfortably took the gold in the Junior Ladies division, holding off compatriot Serafima Sakhanovich. The latter took the better marks in skating skills, but Medvedeva's flair and grace convinced the judges to hand her the gold.
The full podium, via the event's official Twitter feed:
Japan continued their dominance on Friday, as Shoma Uno underlined his promise as Hanyu's biggest challengers in the years to come with a win in the Junior Men's division. His final score of 163.06 after the Free Skate was more than 25 points higher than Alexander Petrov's, the runner-up.
Uno chose by far the most difficult routine of all competitors and scored in the sevens or higher in every category except for his linking. The sheer pace of his run was phenomenal:
Saturday will see the conclusion of the Pairs, Ice Dance, Ladies and Men's categories, and all eyes will be on Hanyu as he defends his 2013 title in the free program. Sporting a six-point lead, the 20-year-old only needs to avoid major mistakes to continue his domination of the sport of skating.
Thursday Recap
| Event | 1st | Score | 2nd | Score | 3rd | Score |
| JUNIOR LADIES - Short Program | Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) | 67.09 | Serafima Sakhanovich (RUS) | 66.05 | Yuka Nagai (JPN) | 62.99 |
| JUNIOR DANCE - Short Program | Anna Yanovskaya / Sergey Mozgov (RUS) | 59.12 | Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd (RUS) | 53.72 | Betina Popova / Yuri Vlasenko (RUS) | 50.52 |
| JUNIOR MEN - Short Program | Sota Yamamoto (JPN) | 76.14 | Boyang Jin (CHN) | 75.30 | Shoma Uno (JPN) | 75.21 |
| JUNIOR PAIRS - Short Program | Julianne Seguin / Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) | 59.22 | Lina Fedorova / Maxim Miroshkin (RUS) | 59.04 | Maria VIigalova / Egor Zakroev (RUS) | 57.41 |
| SENIOR COUPLES - Short Program | Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford (CAN) | 74.50 | Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov (RUS) | 72.33 | Wenjing Sui / Cong Han (CHN) | 66.66 |
| SENIOR LADIES - Short Program | Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) | 67.52 | Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS) | 66.24 | Elena Radionova (RUS) | 63.89 |
Full results can be found at ISUresults.com.
On the opening day of proceedings in Barcelona, it was all about the short program, andย the Russiansย inevitably dominated in the senior ladies' singles competition.
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva andย Julia Lipnitskaia were first and second respectively, leaving Grand Prix standings leader Elenaย Radionova in third.
The 15-year-oldย has won at Skate America and Trophee Bompard this year, butย Tuktamysheva's phenomenal score of 67.52 gave her the top spot, per GPF Barcelona, withย Lipnitskaia close behind:
In the pairs, it was Canada that took the short program win throughย Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, with Skate Canada providing their winning score:
The world bronze medallists put together a fine routine for a season's-best score to top Russian pairย Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, with Duhamel expressing how important the day's work was to them, per GP Figure Skating:
The Canadians have laid down a significant marker ahead of Saturday's free skate when all the other pairs will have ground to make up.
There were four short-program events in the juniors on Thursday with the Russians dominating proceedings, particularly in the dance competition where they claimed the top three spots.
The junior ladies opened the day's competition and Russia'sย Evgenia Medvedeva put on a fine performance to produce the best result, second-placedย Serafima Sakhanovich admitting to nerves after her routine:
In the junior men's singles it was a Japanese first and third forย Sota Yamamoto andย Shoma Uno while the junior Canadian pair matched their senior counterparts with their own leading performance.
Friday sees the turn of the men in the senior competition as well as the start of the ice dance proceedings. The juniors move on to the free skating, which will be crucial in deciding the top spots overall.
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