Grand Prix Final: What we learned from figure skating's elite mid-season event
Marking the halfway point of the post-Olympic season, the Final had four first-time winners, including reigning world champ Uno Shoma. Here's what we learned from the weekend in Turin.
Figure Skating
Grand Prix Final, we missed thee!
Figure skating’s exclusive, mid-season event returned for the first time in three seasons after a pair of pandemic-related cancellations in 2020 and 2021, with Turin, Italy, the host of the 2019 Final, the site of proceedings once again.
Just as they did three years ago, the skaters delivered the drama, but this time with four first-time champions emerging, most notably reigning world champion Uno Shoma, who is showing no signs of slowing down even with three Olympic medals to his name.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (pictured above), won the biggest title of their careers, the Canadian ice dancers perhaps competing for the final season of their decade-plus career together.
The season turns a corner come later this month into January, with skaters heading to their national competitions before Europeans and the Four Continents Championships prior to Worlds in March in Saitama, Japan.
Here, some takeaways from three intriguing days of skating at the Torinto Palavela, the site of skating at the Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006.
Men: Supreme Shoma shines
Happy early birthday, Shoma. The reigning world champ and three-time Olympic medallist will turn 25 on 17 December and gifted himself quite the present: His first Grand Prix gold – not to mention ninth GP title and third just this season.
In a post-Olympic year, Uno appears focused on the how – and not necessarily the what: If he can improve his ways in practice, he said, the results will come. He proved that theory right in Turin.
“At this moment, I'm not seeking to do more than I do in training,” Uno said via an interpreter. “I just want to make sure that the solid training ends in a good performance in competition. ... I asked myself, ‘How can I train a lot? How can I do a good training to serve my purpose?’ That has led to the stability of my jumps and my performance.”
His free skate score (204.47) was a career-best, and he heads to Japanese nationals later this month where he’ll try to win a fifth national title.
Countryman Yamamoto Sota proved he could be standing in Uno’s way there, however, the 22-year-old continuing his breakout international season with a third GP silver this year.
And how about the buoyancy of American 17-year-old Ilia Malinin? He appeared dejected after placing fifth in the short program, only then to soar in the free. He landed his fourth quad Axel of the season – and fourth in history, mind you – fighting through a left foot injury to place second in the segment and win the bronze medal.
"I was definitely not expecting that,” an honest Malinin said of his free. “I am very impressed by what I was able to pull off today."
Women: Mihara strikes gold as Sakamoto falters
Mihara Mai is having the season of her dreams.
In her sixth year on the Grand Prix, the 23-year-old Japanese skater has captured a trio of gold medals, capped by a come-from-behind victory as Olympic bronze medallist at Beijing 2022 and reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori fell from first after the short program to fifth overall after an error-strewn free skate.
Mihara was mesmerising in her free aside from one stumble late in it, on a triple loop attempt. She scored a 208.17 to win by over 10 points.
Fifteen-year-old American Isabeau Levito climbed from fifth to second for the silver medal at 197.23, while Loena Hendrickx won the bronze with a 196.35.
Mihara had been the only woman this season to win both of her Grand Prix assignments and will head to Japanese nationals in 10 days' time as one of the favourites alongside Sakamoto.
"The result is so surprising for me. Just now, it's so unbelievable," Mihara said, via an interpreter. "But I'm so happy to be able to skate here and I'm so grateful to the audience, my coach and my family and all my fans. I was so nervous but I tried to do my best."
Pairs: Miura/Kihara emerge as top team – so far
The pair discipline is shaping into a two-team race without the powerhouse Russian program (which remains banned internationally by the ISU) so far this season.
It’s Japan’s Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi who have emerged on top after the first half of the season, the duo beating world champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier for gold in Turin after both teams won each of their Grand Prix assignments prior.
They did so by just 1.3 points (214.58 to 213.28), though neither team was at its absolute best. That flips the script on the World Championships in 2022, when the Americans won the title and the Japanese were second.
We could see two more meetings between them in the second half of the season: Four Continents in February and the World Championships in March, with the two events set for their respective nationals (USA and Japan).
Miura/Kihara were struck with emotion after their victory, becoming the first Japanese pair to win a Grand Prix Final gold. They have fought through a shoulder injury for Miura early in the season and said – even with an imperfect free skate – they’re enjoying the process:
“Thinking about the first half of the season, what was really good for us was that even if we made mistakes... we were able to maintain a smile and keep that going until the very end,” explained Miura.
Dance: Gilles/Poirier win biggest title
In ice dance, Canada's Gilles and Poirier scored the biggest title of their careers, winning with a compelling Evita free dance that helped them to a four-point triumph over Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S.
The duo is unsure if they will continue past this season - and they are making a most of the present moment because of it.
After their first-ever double gold Grand Prix season, they fended off a resurgent Chock and Bates, who said they were chasing the top step of the podium here after losing focus at NHK Trophy and claiming silver.
"We're so proud of the work that we've done," Gilles told the fans at the Torino Palavela. "And we're so proud to tell the story for a few more competitions this season."
Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri earned the bronze medal in front of their home crowd.
Juniors: Memola, Shimada capture crowns
Who are the up-and-coming skaters to watch in the new Olympic cycle? Nikolaj Memola and Shimada Mao highlighted their respective names on that list, the duo winning singles titles in the Torino Palavela.
Shimada hit both a triple Axel and quad toe in her winning free skate, earning a third gold on the Grand Prix this season. The 14-year-old Japanese skater is named, in fact, for Vancouver 2010 silver medallist Asada Mao, and said she looks up to the multi-time world champ.
Shin Ji-a of the Republic of Korea won the silver.
Memola gave the Turin fans something to cheer about Saturday afternoon, the 19-year-old Italian becoming the first from his country to win a Junior GPF title. He leaped from second to first thanks to a near-clean free skate in which he landed eight triple jumps, slapping his hands on the ice at the end in celebration.
The 19-year-old didn’t hesitate saying he has dreams of a home Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026, having grown up in the outskirts of Milan.