Isabeau Levito (USA) in the Women's Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in France at Angers © ISU
Isabeau Levito (USA) celebrated her first ISU Grand Prix win and qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final as theGrand Prix de France in Angers (FRA) continued Saturday with the Women’s Free Skating. The Grand Prix de France is the third of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series where the best Figure Skaters of the World compete and collect points towards the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN) on December 7-10.
Isabeau Levito (USA) claims gold, Grand Prix Final berth
Isabeau Levito (USA) skated off with her first ISU Grand Prix gold medal and qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. In what was an exciting competition with many ups and downs, Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone came from fourth to seize the silver medal while Rion Sumiyoshi of Japan repeated as the bronze medalist at this event.
Levito had a strong start into her balletic program to “The White Crow”, nailing a triple Lutz-triple toe as well as four more clean triple jumps. However, the 2023 Skate America silver medalist stepped out of a triple Salchow in a combination and stumbled on her final spin. She scored 131.39 points and was ranked third in the Free Skating, but overall remained in first place at 203.22 points.
“I guess we'll call this screwing up the second half of my spin a dramatic finish. I'm just glad that I did the first half very nicely,” the US Champion noted. I'm glad I got through this, and I will definitely be working on this (second half of the program) a lot more once I get back to training.
“I'm very proud that I was able to improve from last season’s result on the Grand Prix circuit. It was my goal to win one of my Grand Prix at least, to secure that I make it to the final,” she said.
Skating to “Spartacus”, Pinzarrone produced seven flawless triple jumps, as well as level-four spins to post a new personal best with 133.06 points.
Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) in the Women's Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in France at Angers © ISU
The 16-year-old totaled 198.80 points to earn the silver medal in her debut in the ISU Grand Prix series.
“I didn't expect it. It actually doesn't feel real, but I'm standing here, so I'm super happy and I will also be happy to go back to training,” Pinzarrone said.
“My first competition of the season was really not me. I don't know what happened there, but then I completely forgot about that competition. And I just went back to training and I knew that I could do it. I just needed to do it at this right moment,” she said.
She came in at ninth place in the Lombardia Trophy earlier this season.
After a fall on the double Axel in the Short Program, Sumiyoshi stood in fifth place.
Rion Sumiyoshi (JPN) in the Women's Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in France at Angers © ISU
The Japanese Skater landed her first clean quadruple toeloop in competition and added five clean triple jumps to it in her program to “Enchantress”. She only doubled a Salchow and slightly underrotated a triple Lutz.
Sumiyoshi won the Free Skating segment with a personal best score of 136.04 points and accumulated 197.76 points to reach the podium.
“Yesterday I made a mistake due to my mental status. But today I fixed the problems I had yesterday and performed as I wanted,” Sumiyoshi said.
She has been working on the quadruple toeloop for about two years now. “I landed it well, but at the time I got the q mark (for slight underrotation). But today I'm really happy I landed it so cleanly. I'm trying to make it more consistent so that it will be my weapon to win competitions.”
ISU World silver medalist Haein Lee (KOR) slipped from third to fourth at 190.96 points after popping a Lutz jump. 2018 ISU World silver medalist Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) came fifth with a solid performance on 190.02 points while ISU European Champion Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) dropped from second to sixth with 187.77 points, following a few small errors.
Levito is the first woman to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final this season after her win in Angers and silver at Skate America. Pinzarrone will compete again at the NHK Trophy, while Sumiyoshi will go to Finland for the Grand Prix Espoo for her second 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).
ISU Grand Prix Standings
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.
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Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed with English commentary 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)
03 - 05 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)
07 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
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