Grenoble / France

World silver medalist Kaetlyn Osmond, of Canada, captured the Ladies Short Program as the Internationaux de France de Patinage opened in Grenoble Friday. Russia’s Maria Sotskova is close behind in second place followed by Yuna Shiraiwa, of Japan.

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k Osmond GP FRA Grenoble 2017

Skating to ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’ and ‘Milord’, Osmond landed a triple flip-double toe and a triple Lutz, but the combination was shaky and she put her hand down on the Lutz. The Canadian Champion recovered to complete a double Axel as well as level-four spins and footwork to score 69.05 points. “Definitely there were a few things in my program I’m not too excited about,” Osmond said. “Missing the combo at the beginning and then having a little mistake on my Lutz, I wish I would have done those better, but overall I pushed through my whole program and I’m happy about where I am. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

“I didn’t feel any extra nerves today. I felt very confident going into my Short Program. Mistakes happen now and then. The Short Program has been going well all season and last time I made a few mistakes in the short it ended up the best event I had. So maybe that’s a lead up for that,” the World silver medalist said.

Sotskova’s routine to ‘Swan Lake’ was highlighted by a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a solid double Axel as well as two level-four spins, but she stumbled on her triple flip. The Skate Canada silver medalist still managed a season’s best with 67.79 points. “It felt easy to skate and I enjoyed performing today, however I made an error on the triple flip and I’m upset about it,” the 2016 World Junior silver medalist said. “I did not feel especially nervous because of the (Grand Prix) Final. I was very calm. Actually I started worrying that I was too calm,” she added.

Shiraiwa produced a triple Lutz-triple toe, a triple flip and double Axel in her program to ‘The Girl With Flaxen Hair’ by Claude Debussy to pick up a personal best of 66.05 points. “This was the best performance of the season so far and I feel relieved,” the 15-year-old said. “I had little time to prepare between NHK Trophy and here, so my first priority was to condition my body. I also prepared mentally and did some meditation and I think it helped.”

2017 Four Continents Champion Mai Mihara (JPN) stumbled out of her combination and hit the boards to come fourth on 64.57 points. 2017 World Junior Champion Alina Zagitova (RUS), who won the Cup of China earlier this month, stands in fifth place after falling on her triple Lutz and stumbling on her combination (62.46 points). Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ) completes the top six (62.29 points). 2015 World Champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) fell on her triple Axel and popped her Lutz to place 11th (53.03 points).

The Internationaux de France de Patinage are the fifth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series that culminates in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya (JPN) in December. The top six skaters/couples in each discipline qualify for the Final. The global prize money for the Grand Prix is US$272,000.

Full entry lists and results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2017/18 are available here.  Follow the discussion on social media by using #GPFigure #FigureSkating