Amber Glenn "empowered" by Janet Jackson as she dominates short program at Grand Prix de France 2024; Guignard/Fabbri top rhythm dance
The U.S. national champion channeled the pop icon as she blazed ahead of the field with 78.14 points, with Kim Chaeyeon and Japan's Higuchi Wakaba wrapping up the top three.
Figure Skating
Both hands up in the air, an elated cheer, and a heart formed with the hands – Amber Glenn’s gestures following her short program at the 2024 Grand Prix de France on Friday, 1 November said it all. And the Team USA figure skater had a special someone to thank for it.
Janet Jackson – a national pop icon and the inspiration behind Glenn's personal best skate.
“It is explosive. It's fun," Glenn told Olympics.com of her short program, which scored 78.14 points of the nearest competition by more than seven points. “I'm strong, physically and mentally. I'm a strong woman. And so is she, so it's really empowering.”
The U.S. national champion was nearly faultless in her first Grand Prix skate of the season, set to Jackson's "This Time". She opened with a triple Axel, followed it up by a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, and finished off with a triple loop.
While she knew the program would earn her a high score as she came off the ice, already elated at having delivered a clean skate, Glenn later said she was taken aback by how high the score was. She credited mental preparation and positive self-talk for her ability to stay composed while skating under one of the biggest spotlights at the event, which is held in Angers from 1-3 November.
“This is the first time that I've come into an event as one of the top. I've always kind of been there. It's like, 'Oh, she might, she might'. And here it was like, 'Oh, she can be one of the top!'," Glenn said. “I've been training so hard to try and get that mental side. I wish found out about what I do now sooner because I mean, knock on something, but it seems to be working pretty well, so I'm really happy.”
The oldest in the women's singles field at age 25, Glenn arrived to the rink two hours before te competition to get ready. That included an elaborate warm-up routine in the hallway ahead of her skate – hitting herself with both arms to get the blood going, bouncing a plastic ball and going over all her movements off the ice.
Glenn also took a moment to rewatch her routine from the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy, which she won in September, on her cell phone seconds before heading out to the ice.
“I was just watching my program from Lombardia, just thinking of it. I like to look at old videos to remember, this is what I was thinking. This is what I did. Just more that mental training," Glenn said. "Seeing where I did what. 'OK, this is what I was thinking. Do it again'."
Kim Chaeyeon continues to surprise, Higuchi Wakaba continues on comeback road
Youngster Kim Chaeyeon, the suprise bronze medallist at the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships, also had a nearly clean skate, but the lower difficulty of her technical elements made it hard for her to overtake Glenn in the rankings table.
Skating to a "Tron: Legacy" soundtrack medley by Daft Punk, the Republic of Korea skater landed a double Axel, but was shaky on her triple Lutz-triple toeloop sequence and triple flip to score 70.90 points behind the USA leader.
Kim, who turns 18 in December, made her senior Grand Prix debut in October 2023 and has enjoyed a series of outsdtanding results since, including winning the ISU Challenger event Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur two weeks ago and the Shanghai Trophy at the start of the season.
"I was very happy," Kim said. "I was very nervous today so I think I am a little bit slow in my program but the score was good."
On the opposite side of the spectrum, figure skating veteran Higuchi Wakaba continued her return into the top ranks of figure skating after falling out of love for the sport post-Beijing 2022.
The Japanese skater followed up her unexpected 2024 Skate America victory – the first in 14 Grand Prix appearances – with a solid short program at Grand Prix de France, which put her third in the rankings heading into Saturday's free skate.
"Last season, since I came back, I found motivation in skating different programs and also wondering what I could do as a skater," Higuchi told Olympics.com. "Of course the results are part of my objective, but more than that I really tried to see how I can enjoy skating and I think that's my motivation."
Higuchi was all smiles as she came onto the ice in Angers for her "Dune" short program, delivering a moving skate that earned her 66.98 points.
Ice Dance: Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri get one step closer to triple title
The posters waving at the Angers Iceparc proclaimed "Italians skate it better" and it was hard to argue with the bold statement as Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri slid into the top spot with an energetic rhythm dance that earned them 82.20 points.
The two-time European champions and two-time world medallists are on the hunt for a third consecutive win at the Grand Prix de Angers where they skated on Friday with their family and friends in the stands for support.
"Charlene is originally from France so it's always nice to come here because there are lot of people she knows or I got to know when I skated in France for a while with her, so it's always a good opportunity to come here," Fabbri said. "It**'**s always nice for us. The atmosphere is always very warm."
Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud also got the spectators dancing along with their Boney M "Rasputin" number and finished the rhythm dance trailing the Italians by 4.45 points. The French duo finished third at Skate Canada less than a week ago and had a short turnaround before stepping onto the ice again, this time at a home rink.
Lopareva, who lists "existential crises" as her hobbies on the ISU website, was stoic about her and Brissaud's 20-hour journey from Halifax and the lack of rest time in between their season's two most important skates, so far.
"C'est la vie," she summed up, spreading out her hands with a smile.
"It's OK, for now. We are young, so we can do this," an equally joyful Brissaud added.
Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius wrapped up the top three with 74.49 points.