Planet Figure Skating

The last stop on the Grand Prix series is always one of the most anticipated. No matter who's participating, it determines the remaining Grand Prix Final entries, and in Grenoble this weekend there is an especially nail-biting lineup. Two-time World champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist, Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia, will be looking forward to shrug off the bronze medal she earned at Skate Canada earlier this season. While a good result for almost anyone else in the world, Medvedeva must have felt disappointed with the third-place finish given that she's previously never placed lower than second in her entire senior career. Bradie Tennell, the US National champion and the only American lady at this event, is also looking to grab a medal in France after finishing a disappointing fourth at Skate America. Tennell made an uncharacteristic mistake in her short program when she failed to complete a triple Lutz-triple loop combination and only performed a single loop inste

The house was full on Friday and Saturday for the ladies' event at the Rostelecom Cup, the penultimate stop on the Grand Prix circuit this season. Alina Zagitova, Russia's darling Olympic Champion, ran away with the victory last weekend with a world record score in the short program as well as winning the free skate. Fans of Zagitova and of figure skating filled the Megasport arena in Moscow to the rafters. Dozens of Zagitova flags were passed out by spectators, who showered the 17-year-old with giant stuffed teddy bears, bouquets, and other gifts. If the pressure of the fans got to Zagitova, she didn't show it. She took a commanding lead of over 13 points in the short program, skated to Phantom of the Opera  by Andrew Lloyd Weber. She landed a gorgeous triple Lutz-triple loop combination, a triple flip, and a double Axel. In the entire short program, Zagitova received only one grade of execution (GOE) mark under 3 (out of 5): one judge scored her a 2 (out of 5) on he

The field is deep at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, but perhaps not for gold: Alina Zagitova of Russia, the Olympic Champion, looks poised for another runaway win here at home. Zagitova won her earlier Grand Prix Assignment, Grand Prix Helsinki, with wins in both segments of the competition despite uncharacteristic mistakes. She is still the holder of all three world records: the short program, the free skate, and the combined total, all achieved earlier this year at the Nebelhorn Trophy. She will skate her short program to Phantom of the Opera  and her free skate to Carmen Suite . Mako Yamashita of Japan has medaled at eight out of her last nine international events. The cool-headed teenager grabbed the surprise silver medal in her Grand Prix debut at Skate Canada this year. Her short program is set to Gioachino Rossini's Una voce poco fa , and her free program is set to Puccini's Madama Butterfly . Sofia Samodurova of Russia is likewise hoping to make her mark in her senior

The Olympic Champion, Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, will make his second Grand Prix appearance at the Rostelecom Cup this week. He won his previous event, Grand Prix Helsinki, in decisive fashion, with world records in both segments of the competition. This is Hanyu's fourth appearance at the Rostelecom Cup and the second year in a row. He won the silver medal last year to American Nathan Chen. He also won the event back in 2011 as well. Hanyu is set to skate his short program to "Otoñal" by Raul DiBlasio and his free skate Origin  to "Art on Ice" and "Magic Stradivarius" by Edvin Marton. Hoping to improve upon his previous Grand Prix performance is the reigning World bronze medalist, Mikhael Kolyada from Russia. He had error-filled skates at his first event, including two falls in the free skate, to end up in fourth place overall. Kolyada is set to skate to Muse in the short program and the Carmen Suite  in the free skate. Keegan Messing of Canada

Rika Kihira of Japan stunned the figure skating world by capturing the NHK Trophy, her debut Grand Prix event, in commanding style. Satoko Miyahara, also of Japan, skated with unending poise and elegance to capture silver, and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia drops her lead from the short program to settle for bronze. The 16-year-old Kihira from Nishinomiya, Japan landed two clean triple Axels en route to winning the title by almost five points. Kihira was in fifth place after a disappointing short program, where she under-rotated and fell on her triple Axel attempt. However, she was less than one point away from the podium and less than seven points from first place, which she more than made up for with her 11-point lead in the free skate. Kihira skated to Clair de Lune by Debussy in the short program and Beautiful Storm by Jennifer Thomas in the free skate. She received high grades of execution points for every single element in the free skate, including a triple Axel-triple to

Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan finishes his second Grand Prix event with another win, this time in front of a home crowd at the NHK Trophy. The defending champion, Sergei Voronov of Russia, continues his winning streak in Japan by taking the silver, and Italian teenager Matteo Rizzo captures the surprise bronze. In the short program, Uno skated to Stairway to Heavy by Led Zeppelin. He captured the highest score of the night, including the highest PCS (program component score), despite falling on a quadruple toe loop and missing out on a jump combination. Uno successfully landed the quadruple flip and the triple Axel, which was given the highest grade of execution for a triple Axel this season. Voronov skated his short program to Prelude No. 5 in G minor by Sergei Rachmaninov. He landed all of his jumps with positive grades of execution, including a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a triple Lutz, and a triple Axel. He scored almost 10 points higher than