Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps clinched the silver medal in the pairs competition at the figure skating Grand Prix de France held on Saturday. The pair achieved a total score of 197.66, garnering 123.40 points in the free skate. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, who are the reigning 2024 world champions, received a score of 73.26 in the short program during Friday’s event.
In contrast, the Japanese duo of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara secured the gold medal in the pairs event with a substantial 21-point lead, despite Miura making some errors in the initial jump combination of their free skate. They obtained a total score of 219.15. Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko from Hungary claimed the bronze medal with a score of 192.76.
Meanwhile, Canadian ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac finished in sixth place in the rhythm dance event, scoring 73.75. The free dance segment is scheduled for Sunday. Leading the ice dance competition are Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson with a score of 84.38, followed by Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius in second place with 80.98 points, and France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron in third with 78.00 points.
Fournier Beaudry, originally from Montreal, partnered with two-time Olympic medalist Cizeron in January. This collaboration followed the suspension of her former partner, Nikolaj Sorensen, due to allegations of sexual misconduct in October 2024. However, an arbitrator overturned the suspension in June.
In the men’s event, American figure skater Ilia Malinin demonstrated a remarkable performance, securing a significant lead in the short program of his first Grand Prix event of the season. Known as the “quad god,” Malinin executed difficult jumps, including a quadruple flip and a quadruple lutz-triple toeloop combination, ending with a backflip. He scored 105.22 points, leading over Nika Egadze of Georgia with 95.67 points and Kao Miura of Japan with 87.25 points ahead of the free skate on Sunday.
Lastly, Ami Nakai of Japan caused an upset by outperforming three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto and leading a Japanese women’s podium sweep. Nakai, competing in her debut senior Grand Prix, achieved a score of 227.08, claiming the women’s skating title. Her standout performance included a successful attempt at a triple axel jump, despite needing to steady herself on the landing. Sakamoto secured the second position with a score of 224.23, while Rion Sumiyoshi took the bronze with 216.06, surpassing Isabeau Levito of the United States in the free skate.
The Grand Prix de France marks the beginning of the series of six regular season Grand Prix events leading up to the final in December. These events serve as a crucial test for top skaters aiming for success at the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
