Jin Boyang on track to end four-year drought on Grand Prix podium as top seeds topple; Hase and Volodin soar over pairs field
The veteran skater made a surprise leap from the first group to put himself in the lead while last season's Finals winners Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin started their Grand Prix season with a top score in the pairs short program – and a bit of help from a ballet dancer.
Figure Skating
Jin Boyang emerged the unlikely hero on a night of upsets in the men's singles at the 2024 Grand Prix de France, as he put himself on course to win a first medal at this level of competition in four years.
A world bronze medallist in 2016 and 2017, he let his music's lyrics speak for him in an emotional skate that saw him leap from the first group of skaters, over top-seeded competition, to the top of the leaderboard and get a step closer to regaining his former spotlight.
"And everybody falls, but some of us are born to fight, and fight, and fight some more," Sam Ryder sang as Jin delivered a spotless short skate on Friday, 1 November.
The lyrics would prove prophetic as the People's Republic of China figure skater saw his toughest competition drop off, one by one, some falling on their jumps, others grazing the ice with their hands. As the night progressed, Jin's result still remained top of the table.
"Fortune favours those who ride the storm and make it through," the lyrics continued, as if echoing the skater's mind game. Jin later revealed that this was exactly his reason for selecting Ryder's "Fought & Lost" track for his short program.
"I liked the music very much and I was invovled in (choosing) the music," Jin said. "The lyrics represent my situation, so I liked it very much."
The figure skater looked relaxed as he took to the ice in Angers, landing a quad toeloop to start. He was also clean on the triple Axe and wrapped up with an impressive triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination to earn 88.12 points.
It was a suprising showing from the man who finished 39th at the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships seven months ago and last climbed onto a Grand Prix podium four years ago, at the 2020 Cup of China.
"Tonight I feel unveliebable," Jin said after his skate. "It kind of surprises me because when I arrived two days before, I didn't feel very well, and I relaxed during the preformance so that's why the performance is good tonight.
"I love to train and compete so I just feel happy."
Aleksandr Selevko and Tomono Kazuki in top three as Adam Siao Him Fa falters
Reigning European silver medallist Aleksandr Selevko also managed to jump into the top three from the first group. While he touched the ice on his quad toeloop, the Estonian skater was clean in his following triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, to put himself in second with 85.73 points.
Selevko's best previous result at a Grand Prix event was eighth, and he is eager to break into the medals, even pledging to attempt two quad toeloops in his free skate – something he has never done before – to increase the chances of getting on the podium in Angers.
Tomono Kazuki is also eager to reach the podium after finishing fourth in his two assignments last season. The Japanese skater is recovering from a recent hip injury and was thrilled to score 83.45 points, which put him into third place heading into Saturday's free skate.
"Today, I was in the best condition since I got injured," Tomono said. "I still feel something is wrong with my foot, but the pain is milder. I couldn’t practice Axel and Salchow jumps (before), but today I landed my favourite jump, Axel, after a while, even though it wasn’t high enough. I was able to enjoy skating today."
In addition to the triple Axel, Tomono landed a quad Salchow-double toeloop, but lost points on stepping out in his quad toeloop.
The fortunes were very different for top seed and local favourite Adam Siao Him Fa who fell on his quad toeloop and triple Axel, closing the door on a possible third-consecutive title at the Grand Prix de France. Never one to let disappointment get the best of him, Siao Him Fa finished off his skate with a backflip to the delight of the French crowds. The International Skating Union (ISU) lifted the ban on the previously illegal move ahead of this season.
Switzerland's Lukas Britschgi was another top-ranked casualty of the night. The world No.5 fell on his opening quad toeloop and doubled the toe on the combination. The mistakes dropped him down to seventh place, one spot above Siao Him Fa.
Pairs: Weekly ballet lesson helps Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin take short program lead
One of the freshest pairs on the block, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, continued to prove that their last year's win at the Grand Prix Finals was no fluke as they took the highest marks again in the short program in Angers, scoring 73.72 points.
The German duo are competing in their second season together, but while they have less experience than most of their rivals, that did not show on the ice as they dazzled the spectators with their program, set to “You Were Mine” by Tami Neilson. This program continues to evolve as Hase and Volodin make adjustments to it and is already looking more polished than their winning 2024 Nebelhorn Trophy skate in September.
The secret may be in the newest addition Hase and Volodin got on their team – a ballet dancer from Leipzig, Sidnei Brandao, who travels to Berlin every Saturday to give them lessons.
"We work three to four hours with him on the programs, just on the choreo, on the ice and off the ice, and he really helps us to look on the details and develop the choreo side, which we still have a lot of room to improve," Hase said. "We still feel that in competitions, we save a little bit from that choreo, which we worked on so there is still a lot of room to improve and we're trying to do that Saturday by Saturday."
Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, 2023 European champions and world medallists, also marked their Grand Prix season start in Angers, skating to Georges Bizet classic "Carmen", which was a last-minute change for the experienced pair.
"We chose another music at the beginning. We wanted to skate (to Queen's) 'Love of My Life'," Macii said. "But after one month and a half, we didn't really enjoy it, and we didn't like to skate it so I changed it because I think Sara is a volcano. She has a lot of passion so I saw that she was not feeling that music.
"So I chose the Carmen and everybody said, 'Yes, but...But remember that there are (several) 'Carmens' that are in the history of the sport, so you need to do it properly'," he continued. "So we're trying to do our version, and we would like that our version stays in the mind of the people."
The "Carmen" skate earned the Italian duo 70.79 points and got them a seizable lead over last year's Grand Prix de France winners, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud. The Canadians collected 64.38 for their effort to inch three tenths ahead of USA's Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov going into the final day of competition.