The competition at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010 concluded in Torino, Italy, on Saturday with the Ladies Free Skating. The Palavela ice rink was once again sold out. Overall 55 000 tickets were sold for the Championships.
Mao Asada (JPN) claims Ladies title
Mao Asada of Japan claimed victory in an exciting Ladies event. Yu-Na Kim of Korea surged from seventh to second while Finland’s Laura Lepistö captured the bronze, the first medal for a Finnish single skater at the World level.
Asada skated second in the final flight and opened her dramatic program to “Bells of Moscow” with a solid triple Axel. The second triple Axel in combination with a double toeloop was downgraded, but this remained the only glitch in the performance. The Olympic silver medalist completed four more triple jumps as well as three level-four spins. Asada scored 129.50 points (67.02 element score/62.48 program component score) and racked up a total of 197.58 points to take her second World title. She had won Worlds in 2008 but finished fourth in 2009. “I’m very happy for today, because I’ve done perfectly in both long and Short Program. I’m satisfied with this competition and it is a relief after the Olympic Games”, Asada commented. “I’m so happy to be here today. I’ve trained so hard to do the triple Axel perfectly. I wanted to follow (Men’s Champion) Takahashi's success. I think that Europe is a lucky place for me. Next year the World Championships are in Japan and I think this is a good start to the new season”, she continued.
A sub-par Short Program had left Kim in seventh place, but the Olympic Champion rallied back with a strong Free Skate to “Concerto in F” by George Gershwin that featured a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a double Axel-triple toeloop as well as three more triples and difficult spins and footwork. However, Kim fell on a triple Salchow and popped a planned double Axel into nothing. The 2009 World Champion scored 130.49 points (66.45/65.04) and edged out arch-rival Asada for the first place in the Free Skating, but overall finished second to her at 190.79 points. Kim took her fourth medal in as many appearances at the ISU World Championships. “I’m very happy with the silver medal. It is my first silver medal at the World Championships and I won the Free Skating”, the 19-year-old said. “My Short Program was not good, and I’m happy that I was able to overcome the difficulties. My Short Program and the morning practice were not very good and I was worried. But in the warm up, the jumps were good and I felt confident about the Free Skating”, she added.
Skating to “Adios Nonino” and “Fuga y Misterio”, Lepistö nailed a triple toe-triple toe combination and a triple Lutz, but then doubled the edge jumps loop and Salchow. The European silver medalist picked up points with her strong spins. She earned 114.32 points for the Free Skating (54.24/60.08) and was ranked sixth in this segment, but overall she held on to third with 178.62 points. “Today I did the hardest elements very well, but I’m very annoyed about the easier ones, they are not difficult for me but I didn’t do them perfectly”, Lepistö commented. “I’m so happy, I can’t express it. I was so nervous waiting for the others’ scores and now it’s just amazing. I still didn’t realize what this medal means for me and for Finland”, she said.
Miki Ando (JPN) moved up from 11th to fourth with a strong Free Skating that included six triples. She was ranked third in the Free Skating and had 177.82 points overall. Cynthia Phaneuf (CAN) pulled up three spots to fifth place with a clean program (177.54 points). Homecrowd favourite Carolina Kostner (ITA) came sixth (177.31 points). Overnight leader Mirai Nagasu (USA) struggled with some jumps to plummet to 7th (175.48 points).
Ten ISU members took the twelve medals at the 100th ISU World Figure Skating Championships. The gold in Ladies and Men’s singles went to Japan. Canada earned the gold in Ice Dance and the silver in the Men’s. China, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Russia and the USA claimed one medal each.
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010 conclude Sunday with the Ladies’ Free Skating. To view live and watch highlights click here.
