Deniss Vasiljevs techno-dances to first in men's short program while Elyce Lin-Gracey takes women's top spot with personal best
Latvia's Vasiljevs got the crowds clapping to his new techno program, while the USA teenager improved on her personal best mark from last month to top the women's short.
Figure Skating
Deniss Vasiljevs claimed a suprise top spot in the men's short program at the ISU Challenger Series Nebelhorn Trophy 2024 in Oberstdorf, Germany on Thursday (19 September).
Skating in the second group, the two-time Olympian was not counted among the favourites in the fourth Challenger Series event of the 2024-25 season, but finished the afternoon ahead of the other 21 figure skaters with a total score of 83.78. He also had the highest technical and program component scores across the field.
“I really enjoyed it a lot. Actually so much that I kind of have a blank for the three minutes on the ice. I don’t really know what happened but I had a lot of fun," Vasiljevs told Golden Skate after his performance. "This ice rink is maybe the best in the world. I enjoy skating here so much."
Vasiljevs did indeed seem to have a great time on the ice, smiling throughout his techno short program, which he debuted at a show in Japan in July. Set to "Helix" by Justice, his skate was packed with spins, intricate footwork, and triple jumps.
The Latvian skater started off with a triple Axel, followed by a triple Lutz-toe loop combination, and finished with the triple flip.
Vasiljevs later shared that he considered adding a quad into the mix as well, and while he landed the jump in the warm-up, he ultimately opted to keep it out of the short program in Oberstdorf.
"It was the start into the season, I feel physically ready but maybe not all the way ready to go for everything," he explained to Golden Skate. "It was decided already before that I won’t go for the quad in the SP and I sticked to it.”
Italy's Gabriele Frangipani finished second, 4.6 points behind Vasiljevs, while Japans's Yamamoto Sota was in third, a mere 0.18 points behind the Italian.
It was Yamamoto's first competition of the season and he later spoke about feeling some stiffness in the execution of his elements, particularly when going for the quadruple Salchow. Skating to a melancholic "Split, Postcards from Far Away", the Japanese skater landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop to start, but doubled his Salchow attempt.
He tried to recover with a triple Axel, but was shaky on the landing and finished with 79.00 points overall.
The men's singles event will conclude with the free program on Friday (20 September), starting at 13:15 local time.
Elyce Lin-Gracey dazzles in women's short program with personal best
Later in the evening, USA's Elyce Lin-Gracey set a personal best to top the women's short program.
It was the second Top 3 finish in the Challenger Series this season for the 17-year-old who also finished second in the season's opener in August. That performance was a personal best mark for Lin-Gracey as well, 67.88 points, but she managed to improve on it by more than three points in Oberstdorf with a clean and smooth delivery of Drew Meekins' choreography.
Looking ethereal as she slid across the ice to Lara Fabian's poignant ballad "Broken Vow", the USA skater opened the program with a seemingly effortless triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, followed by a double Axel and a triple flip to earn a total score of 71.16.
“I felt very nervous going into today because I really wanted to do even better than at Cranberry Cup, but when I stepped on the ice it felt very comfortable," she told Golden Skate after. "I am very happy that I could skate another strong SP. My goal for the LP is to maybe also achive a PB.”
Japan's Chiba Mone is heading into the free program on Saturday (21 September) in second place, with 67.95 points, while Switzerland's Livia Kaiser is in third with 62.87 points.
Results from men's short program at the ISU Challenger Series Nebelhorn Trophy 2024 (top 10):
- Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) 83.78
- Gabriele Frangipani (ITA) 79.18
- Yamamoto Sota (JPN) 79.00
- Mark Gorodnitsky (ISR) 74.04
- Edward Appleby (GBR) 74.02
- Wesley Chiu (CAN) 73.46
- Georgii Reshtenko (CZE) 72.86
- Roman Sadovsky (CAN) 71.99
- Lev Vinokur (ISR) 70.61
- Cha Junhwan (KOR) 69.81
Results from women's short program at the ISU Challenger Series Nebelhorn Trophy 2024 (top 10):
- Elyce Lin-Gracey (USA) 71.16
- Chiba Mone (JPN) 67.95
- Livia Kaiser (SUI) 62.87
- Sara-Maude Dupuis (CAN) 62.20
- Isabeau Levito (USA) 61.30
- Madeline Schizas (CAN) 60.61
- Yoshida Hana (JPN) 59.65
- Janna Jyrkinen (FIN) 57.24
- Olga Mikutina (AUT) 56.47
- Kimmy Repond (SUI) 53.45