Las Vegas, USA
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Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue scored 84.97 points to take first place © International Skating Union

Two-time World Ice Dance medalists Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) are right on track to defend their Skate America title after they danced to the lead in the Rhythm Dance at Skate America in Las Vegas on Friday. Russians Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin finished second and Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada are currently ranked third.

Hubbell/Donohue’s dance to 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' included level-four twizzles, a level-four straight line lift and level-four Finnstep pattern. The 2019 World bronze medalists scored 84.97 points.

“Zach and I were so pleased to begin our season here at Skate America. It’s our first time ever jumping right into the Grand Prix season and I feel like we have so much progress to make on the program, but it was a great performance for today,” Hubbell said.

“It was very exciting to me to debut the Marilyn Monroe character. It’s something I dreamed of skating to for many years. So it was great to actualize that in Las Vegas.”

Dancing to 'Sparkling Diamonds' and 'Your Song', Stepanova/Bukin collected a level four for their twizzles and the curve lift, while the partial step sequence and the midline step sequence garnered a level three. The 2019 European silver medalists earned 81.91 points.

“We’re very happy to be here. This is our first competition and the first time for us to compete our program in front of an audience. We know there is still a lot to improve, but we’re glad to be here at the first Grand Prix,” Stepanova said.

Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen’s dance to 'Bonnie and Clyde' featured a level-four rotational lift and Finnstep pattern while the partial step sequence was graded a level three. The Nebelhorn Trophy Champions received 79.17 points.

The couple had to sit out the Grand Prix series in the past season as they switched flags from Denmark to Canada.

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After a one-year Grand Prix hiatus, Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen danced to 'Bonnie and Clyde' © International Skating Union

“We enjoyed our first Grand Prix after being one season out of the Grand Prix. We had no expectations, we just wanted to have a good experience and I think this is what we did,” Fournier Beaudry said.

Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz (ESP) placed fourth with a dance to 'Grease' (76.62 points) ahead of ISU Grand Prix Finalists Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro (RUS) who got 71.18 points.

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit: https://isu.org/GrandPrix. Follow the discussion on social media by using #FigureSkating #GPFigure.

Where to watch and follow the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019?

Viewers will be able to watch the Series either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel as of season 2019/20. You will find the full list in the Where to watch news here.

Subscribe to the ISU Newsletter to receive the latest information and the “Where to Watch” news and you can also subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive notifications when live streams start or new videos are published.

Due to a calculation error on the element “Pattern Dance Type Step Sequence” (PSt), the Rhythm Dance (RD) scores had to be re-calculated for all skaters. The revised results and details are published with the corrected scores. The overall RD standing did not change.