Japan's Kaori Sakamoto captured the Skate Canada International title with a first-place finish in the Free Skating in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Two-time ISU World Champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan started her ISU Grand Prix season in style, celebrating a clear victory at Skate Canada International on Saturday.
Skating to “Feeling Good”, Sakamoto made sure she felt good indeed, reeling off seven perfect triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe in the second half of her Free Skating program. Sakamoto produced two level-four spins and a level four step sequence to achieve a season’s best score of 151.00 points. She finished with 226.13 points overall, 25 points ahead of 16-year-old Chaeyeon Kim (KOR), who was making her ISU Grand Prix debut. Rino Matsuike (JPN) earned bronze, her first Grand Prix medal.
Sakamoto said she performed exactly as hoped, even if she did leave some room for improvement.
“I feel very much relieved and serene about the performance. I was very calm, I had a good tension and felt really comfortable out there. It’s a great feeling seeing this score. This is my seventh season, but so far I have won only four Grand Prix events, so I still have a long way to go. I was able to score 151 points, and I went to look at the score and figured that I left some points on the table in my spins and in the GOE (grade of execution). I feel I have a lot to improve.”
Kim’s program to “Le Bal des Folles” included five clean triples, but two triple flips were underrotated.
Chaeyeon Kim (KOR) finished fourth in the Free Skating and second overall at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
The 2022 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist was ranked fourth in the Free Skating with 130.84 points, but remained in second place overall at 201.15 points.
“I made some mistakes, but I am still very happy to be second. I had an ankle injury last week, so I was worried, and even though the program wasn’t perfect, it was still good. (This medal) means I need to work more on my spins, jumps and everything.”
Matsuike delivered another nice performance, to “Nella Fantasia”, landing a triple loop, triple Salchow and difficult spins. She underrotated a few jumps, however, to earn 132.33 points for 198.62 points overall.
A third-place finish in the Free Skating secured third overall for Japan's Rino Matsuike at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Matsuike said she couldn’t be happier with the result.
“I can’t believe I’m here and won a medal. I was very nervous, but after the first (triple) loop I felt comfortable. There were some small mistakes, such as underrotations, but overall I put it all together. I wasn’t even supposed to be at an event like this and I was just happy to be here and be in good health. On top of that being at the press conference and having finished third, I couldn’t be happier.”
Canadian champion Madeline Schizas bounced back from a fault-filled Short Program to rank second in the Free Skating segment with her program to “Summertime”. Overall, she climbed to fourth place from eighth, with 189.91 points.
Madeline Schizas (CAN) moved up to fourth overall with a second-place finish in the Free Skating at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Lindsay Thorngren (USA) was fifth on 189.52 points, while 2022 Skate Canada Champion Rinka Watanabe (JPN) was sixth (182.08 points).
Sakamoto collected 15 points for the ISU Grand Prix standings and will compete next at the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN). She will be joined in Finland by Kim, who earned 13 points. Both skaters have an excellent chance to make the ISU Grand Prix Final. Matsuike received 11 points, but so far has not been assigned to another ISU Grand Prix event.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN). Skaters collect points to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN).
The General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here on the ISU website. The individual announcements are published on the ISU Event section under each dedicated Grand Prix event (filter with the relevant Event Series).
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.
All Media Accreditation details and deadlines for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series can be found here.
Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed on the official ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out Where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
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ISU Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
20 - 22 Oct, 2023 Skate America, Allen, Texas (USA)
27 – 29 Oct, 2023 Skate Canada International, Vancouver (CAN)
3 - 5 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)
10 - 12 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Cup of China, Chongqing (CHN)
17 - 19 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)
24 - 26 Nov, 2023 NHK Trophy, Osaka (JPN)
7 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known as the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline qualify for the Final.
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