FIGURE SKATING
Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) continue winning ways at ISU Grand Prix de France
02 Nov 2024
Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) continued their winning ways by striking gold at the ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA) on Saturday.
The reigning ISU World bronze medalists continued their golden ISU Grand Prix streak in Angers by taking their third consecutive ISU Grand Prix event title. The 2023 ISU European Champions Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii of Italy skated off with the silver medal while their teammates Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini climbed from sixth to third place.
Skating last, Hase/Volodin put out an excellent performance of their program to “The Four Seasons” telling the story of Summer overcoming Winter. The reigning ISU Grand Prix Final Champions produced a triple twist, triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, throw triple loop and Salchow as well as difficult lifts. The only glitch came when Volodin stumbled on the triple Salchow. The couple from Berlin scored 137.97 points and racked up 211.69 points.
Hase/Volodin (GER) won their third consecutive ISU Grand Prix title with an excellent performance of their 'Four Seasons' Free Skate © ISU
“We knew that it's possible to win but we are happier that we could show our performance again and show everyone that it was not a one -time thing at Nebelhorn Trophy,” Hase commented.
The couple is competing in only their second season as a team, but the improvement is there for all to see.
“I think we've grown a lot since last season,” Hase noted.
“Last season when we started with the first Grand Prix there were a lot of mistakes, we were a lot more nervous. Now we are more consistent in our elements and in showing the programs.
“We also gelled much more as a team much better and we know now how to work with each other and to work together. So it's a lot easier to go together on the ice and skate the performance.”
Conti/Macii’s lyrical program to “Papa Can You Hear Me?” was highlighted by triple throws, a triple toe-single Axel-double Axel sequence as well as by level-four lifts. The 2022 ISU World bronze medalists earned 132.60 points for a total of 203.39 points.
Level-four lifts featured in Conti/Macii's lyrical Free Skate which saw the Italians retain second place and the silver medal © ISU
“The tension is a little bit higher, the public is incredible, the arena is incredible, but I'm happy because we come on the ice with our feeling,” Conti shared.
“This is not the best program we’ve done, we have to work a lot on the all the elements, we can do better, but I'm super happy.”
Macii agreed: “It is a very good start for our first Grand Prix. I'm especially happy because I really had to fight for the jumps. In the six minutes [warm up] the triple toe was not in a good mood actually, so I had to reset my mind. In the end I did the triple toe but I didn't do the triple Salchow.”
Ghilardi/Ambrosini impressed with their dramatic “Dracula” program, completing excellent lifts as well as a throw triple Lutz and loop. The two-time ISU European bronze medalists scored 115.88 points and skated onto the podium with a total of 176.26 points.
Ghilardi/Ambrosini's mid-season switch to a twist on last year's 'Dracula' program paid off for the Italians as they climbed from sixth to third place © ISU
“For us it was a little bit hard today, also yesterday,” Ambrosini acknowledged.
“Yesterday I did one mistake on the jump and it was hard to make today a new day. We have many things to improve, but it's the first Grand Prix, so it's okay, yes, it's a good start.”
The Italians had switched back to their “Dracula” program after starting the season with a different routine.
“We have done two competitions with the Phantom of the Opera but when you don't really feel what you're skating to, it's hard to make the public and the judges feel something too,” Ghilardi explained.
“So we just moved back to Dracula. We say it's a Dracula 2.0 but we changed a lot of the music and the costumes. It's not the same as last season but at least we really feel the program and we hope to give a lot to the audience.”
The 2024 Skate America bronze medalists Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov (USA) remained in fourth place with 171.92 points while defending Grand Prix de France Champions Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) dropped to fifth (170.67 points).
Hase/Seegert bagged 15 points and head next to the Cup of China, together with Conti/Macii on 13 points. Both teams have a good chance of qualifying for the Final. Ghilardi/Ambrosini (11 points) will compete again in two weeks at the Finlandia Trophy Grand Prix. The 2024 Skate Canada silver medalists Ekaterina Geynish/Dmitrii Chigirev (UZB) now have 18 points from their two events and will have to wait and see if that is enough to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble.
For full entries, schedules & results, see the ISU Grand Prix series page, ISU Grand Prix de France event page and the official Grand Prix de France website.
Check out the ISU Grand Prix Standings to find out who is on their way to qualify for the Final:
Men Women Pair Skating Ice Dance
What & When
The schedule of the Grand Prix de France is as follows:
Friday, Nov 1: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs, Rhythm Dance, Men’s Short Program
Saturday, Nov 2: Women’s & Men’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Pairs Free Skating
Sunday, Nov 3: Exhibition Gala
Follow the ISU Grand Prix events:
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:
- 18 - 20 Oct 2024 Skate America in Allen, TX (USA)
- 25 - 27 Oct 2024 Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN)
- 01 - 03 Nov 2024 Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
- 08 - 10 Nov 2024 NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN)
- 15- 17 Nov 2024 Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN)
- 22 - 24 Nov 2024 Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final:
- 05 - 08 Dec 2024 Grenoble (FRA)
About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known a s the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.
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