Kevin Aymoz (FRA) grabbed his career-first ISU Grand Prix title in an eventful Men’s Free Skating at Saatva Skate America in Lake Placid, NY (USA) on Saturday. 

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) rises from the ashes to take gold

The Men’s Free Skating in Lake Placid  had it all – drama, excitement, disappointment and surprise when France’s Aymoz skated off with his first ISU Grand Prix victory since starting to compete on the circuit in 2017. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan climbed one spot to claim the silver medal, while overnight leader Kazuki Tomono of Japan dropped to third. 

Aymoz impressed with his passionate performance to “Bolero”. While some jumps were shaky, he held it together and landed two quad toes (the second one got a q for a slight under-rotation) and a good triple Axel-double Axel sequence. The difficult step sequence and expressive choreo sequence boosted his score. The Frenchman ranked second in the Free Skating with 159.97 points but overall moved up to first place at 253.53 points, rising from the ashes at Skate Canada where he finished a distant 10^th. 

“When I woke up this morning I was going for the win,” said Aymoz, who is battling a foot injury. “I said go big or go home. I have no chance to go to the final. I thought - try your best, just try and practice. The competition was really difficult because honestly the last full program with music I did was at Skate Canada.”  

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) was emotional after winning his first ISU Grand Prix title at Skate America © ISU

“It's really challenging when you come from a Grand Prix, where you can qualify for a final and you fail. It's really difficult in the Olympic season because I want to give my best in every competition until the Olympics. So I'm happy today. I stole 15 points from the Grand Prix standings and shake it up a bit.”

Since Aymoz was 10^th in his first ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada he only has 15 points and will not make the ISU Grand Prix Final. 

Skating to “Confessa” and “Diva Dance”, Shaidorov nailed his trademark triple Axel-Euler-quad Salchow and his quad Lutz right out of the gate. However, he missed the quad flip and the first quad toe. The 2025 ISU World silver medalist nevertheless won the Free Skating with 161.42 points and pulled up to second place at 251.09 points. 

“Skate America was really difficult for me, but I fought,” the 2025 ISU Four Continents Champion said. 

Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ) was proud of how he fought back in the Free Skate to claim second place © ISU

“For me, it's quite difficult to get into the season and I think these mistakes were more a mental thing. They were not that major, even though I fell. For me, the most important thing is that I fought until the very end. It was a difficult day but I managed and I will continue to strive for improvement and I got a lot of experience from this competition.”

Shaidorov collected 24 points with his bronze and silver medal from his Grand Prix events and most likely qualified for the Final. 

Overnight leader Tomono had to overcome two falls right at the beginning of his performance to “Halston” and while he recovered to land a quad Salchow and three clean triple jumps, it was not enough to win. The 2022 ISU Four Continents silver medalist was eighth in Free Skating with 149.80 points but still took bronze. 

“It was a bit of a challenging competition, but I was able to be aggressive and push towards the end,” Tomono noted. “Although there were some regrets, it was a bit frustrating, I'm glad I never gave up. And I'm also very glad to compete with all of these amazing skaters.”

Kazuki Tomono (JPN) suffered two falls but recovered to take the bronze medal in Lake Placid © ISU

Jason Brown (USA) moved up one spot to fourth place at 239.59 points, while Cup of China silver medalist Daniel Grassl (ITA) finished fifth on 236.44 points. Vladimir Litvintsev (AZE) came in sixth (231.84 points).

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)