Sota Yamamoto (JPN) did just enough to hold onto first place at Skate Canada International Saturday in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Japan’s Sota Yamamoto skated to his first ISU Grand Prix gold medal Saturday, in what was a turbulent Men’s final at Skate Canada International.
Kao Miura moved up from fourth in the Short Program to make it 1-2 for Japan, while Matteo Rizzo (ITA) rose from eighth to capture the bronze medal.
Yamamoto, the leader after the Short Program, was the last to skate and opened his performance with three solid quadruple jumps: quad Salchow, quad toe-triple toe and a solo quad toe. Skating to “Exogenesis Symphony Part 3” by Muse, the ISU Grand Prix silver medalist then crashed on his triple Axel, but recovered to land three more clean triple jumps and level-four spins.
Yamamoto posted a season’s best score of 168.68 points, third in the Free Skating.
With a total of 258.42 points, Yamamoto held on to first to capture the title, just half a point ahead of Miura.
“I knew this competition would be very important as it leads to the Grand Prix Final. I was nervous, but once I got on the ice and during the performance I was able to enjoy the skating and I think that led to this result today. I still got a lot of things to improve before I get to my next event, which is the Cup of China.”
Miura, skating to “Attack on Titan”, delivered a great fight, producing two quad toes, a quad Salchow and a triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow combination. The only glitch came when he missed his second triple Axel. The 2023 ISU Four Continents Champion achieved a season best 177.09 points to win the Free Skating segment. He finished with 257.89 total points.
Kao Miura (JPN) finished first in the Free Skating to climb to second overall at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Miura was happy to improve on his showing in the Short Program.
“I was able to put together a pretty good performance and I am satisfied with my second place. Coming back from fourth in the Short Program I was able to recover. The Grand Prix Finland in Espoo is my next event. I skated at that venue one month ago at Finlandia Trophy and I know how the ice feels like. I want to use it to my advantage and win there to get to the Grand Prix Final.”
Rizzo sat in eighth place after his Short Program and had nothing to lose.
Matteo Rizzo (ITA) jumped from eighth to third after the Free Skating at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Skating to “Fix You” by Coldplay, the 2023 ISU European silver medalist nailed a quad toe and a quad loop, then followed up with five clean triple jumps. He only stumbled on a triple Axel. Rizzo scored 171.02 points to rank second in the Free Skating. He jumped on to the podium with a combined 246.01 points to claim his fourth ISU Grand Prix bronze medal.
“It’s always nice to be on the podium. I was third last year at Skate Canada, it is getting a bit boring. Hopefully soon I will get another color of the medal. You have to believe in something. I knew I could go on the podium. Everything is possible in Men’s skating. I was 15 points behind Sota. That is not so much for us, it is one element.”
Kazuki Tomono (JPN) completed the strong showing from Japan by finishing fourth (245.12 points). The 2022 ISU World Junior silver medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ), was fifth with 241.65 points, while Mark Gorodnitsky (ISR) climbed from 11th to sixth (225.35). Junhwan Cha (KOR), the 2023 ISU World silver medalist, faded from second in the Short Program to ninth ( 216.61 points) after making serval errors.
Kazuki Tomono (JAP) dropped to fourth from third after the Free Skating at Skate Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. © ISU
Yamamoto earned 15 points for the Grand Prix standings and will try to secure his spot in the Final at the Cup of China. Miura (13 points) and Rizzo (11 points) will compete together again at the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN).
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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