Kazuki Tomono (JPN) snatched the lead in an interesting Men’s Short Program at Saatva Skate America in Lake Placid, NY (USA) Friday. With the competitors being close, the Free Skating will be decisive. 

Kazuki Tomono (JPN) leads Short Program

Tomono skated to the lead ahead of France’s Kevin Aymoz, while top seed Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan settled for third place in the first day of competition. 

Tomono got the crowd at the Herb Brooks Arena going with his upbeat performance to “That’s It, I’m Crazy”. They especially liked his expressive step sequence. The 2022 ISU Four Continents silver medalist nailed a quad toe-triple toe, quad Salchow and triple Axel to achieve a seasons best of 95.77 points. 

“Today I was very calm and got confidence, but the audience was so excited. In the step sequence they got even more excited and I was shaky,” Tomono said and stood up to demonstrate how shaky his legs were. “I was really happy that the audience was fired up, but the more that happens, it kind of backfires and makes me more nervous. I want to make sure that doesn't happen in the Free Skating.” 

Kazuki Tomono (JPN) is feeling nervous about the chance of winning his first ISU Grand Prix in Lake Placid © ISU

Tomono hopes not to repeat what happened at Skate Canada when he dropped out of the medal after a coming second in the Short Program: “I'm sure I'll be nervous. There's no doubt about that. And I've never won a Grand Prix up till now. So there is a kind of expectation and maybe some hope for myself. I'm here to fight and to make a comeback from all of the frustrations that I've had in the past, but that's not the only thing. I feel like there's something I can give. That's also something I'm really looking forward to and I think is really important.”

Aymoz battles a painful foot injury and comes off disappointment at Skate Canada but all that seemed forgotten when he lit up the ice with his emotional performance to “Le Lac” by Jean-Michel Blais and “Judas” by Lady Gaga. The Frenchman produced a quad toe-triple toe, triple Axel and triple Lutz and netted a season's best with 93.56 points. 

“That was a really stressful event for me because I came back from injury, I'm still injured and after my first Grand Prix, I did not have a lot of time to recover and practice,” Aymoz commented. “The six minutes (warm-up) today were really difficult for me, so it took me a lot of energy and power to come back and deliver the performance, so I'm really proud of myself tonight.

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) was thrilled with his performance in Lake Placid after returning from injury © ISU

“I was really a egoist today when I skated,” he continued. “I didn't want to skate for the audience. I didn't want to skate for the judges. I didn't want to skate for my family, for my coaches, for my friends. I wanted to skate for myself, because it's my skating journey.”

Shaidorov’s dynamic performance to “In the Air Tonight” and “No Good” was highlighted by a quad Lutz-triple toe, quad toe and triple Axel. However, the quad Lutz was slightly under-rotated and the step sequence was rated a level two, which cost some points. The ISU World silver medalist earned 89.67 points. He knows that he needs to move up in the Free Skating if he wants to keep his chance to get into the ISU Grand Prix Final. 

Third-placed Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ) knows his Free Skate has to be good if he wants to make the ISU Grand Final © ISU

“I liked my performance today, I was happy and I did everything but maybe I made some mistakes. I will work on that. Tomorrow I will fight in my free skate,” the 2025 ISU Four Continents Champion said. “I’m very happy to be here again. I was here in 2023 at the University Games.” 

Cup of China silver medalist Daniel Grassl (ITA) stumbled on his quad Lutz to finish fourth at 83.68 points. Jason Brown (USA) follows in fifth place (82.69 points), while Tatsuya Tsuboi (JPN) rounds up the top six (77.68). 

The schedule of the ISU Grand Prix Saatva Skate America is as follows:

Friday, November 14: Pairs & Men’s Short Programs
Saturday, November 15: Rhythm Dance, Pairs Free Skating, Women’s Short Program, Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, November 16: Free Dance, Women’s Free Skating

ISU Grand Prix Standings

Check out who is on their way to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final:

Men                 Women        Pairs       Ice Dance

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.

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The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:

• 17 - 19 Oct 2025                       Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
• 24 - 26 Oct 2025                       Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)
• 31 Oct-2 Nov 2025                   Skate Canada International in Saskatoon (CAN)
• 07 - 9 Nov 2025                        NHK Trophy in Osaka (JPN)
• 14- 16 Nov 2025                       Skate America in Lake Placid (USA)  
• 21 - 23 Nov 2025                      Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN) 
  
  The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final: 
  04 - 07 Dec 2025                        Nagoya (JPN)