Top stars and newcomers are starting at the first Grand Prix this season, the Grand Prix de France 2025 in Angers (FRA).
Ami Nakai is taking the lead in Women’s Short Program on her way to the top
In the Women’s SP the Japanese skater Ami Nakai surprised everyone but not herself with a new personal best score of 78.00 points. She showed a clean program including a clean triple-Axel and a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination in her routine to “La Strada”. Nakai is taking the lead in front of the 3-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) and Isabeau Levito (USA).
“Having moved up from juniors to seniors, I was looking forward to skating with many great skaters on this very big stage,” Nakai said.
“Today I was able to skate a clean Short Program, land my triple Axel and exceed my personal best. After I finished my performance, I was very happy. I was not surprised with how I did, but when my score came up, I was so happy that I jumped up,” she added.
When asked about the focus of the preseason, Nakai replied: “The focus was on consistent execution of the triple Axel.”
Performing to “Time to Say Goodbye”, Kaori Sakamoto scored 76.20 points, a new season’s best. Her highlights were a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, the triple Lutz and her excellent footwork.
“During my performance, there were some moments where I came close to making a mistake,” Sakamoto said. "But overall, my performance is getting better. I still got a very high score of 76 points and I am pretty pleased with it,” she added.
Levito, the 2024 World silver medalist achieved a season's best of 73.37 points. Levito came up with a new program to music from Sophia Loren movies “The Houseboat” and “The Millionaires”. “I did it as exhibition program in Oberstdorf,” she said. “I Iove it,” she added.
The reigning World Champions Miura/Kihara take the lead in the Pairs Short Program in Angers
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) took the lead in front of Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) and Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN).
Miura/Kihara sizzled in their program to “Paint It Black” with a high triple twist, a throw triple flip and a level-four lift as highlights. They earned a score of 79.44 points.
“Last year when we got this program, it was close to perfection,” Miura said. “Shae-Lynn (Bourne, choreographer) made this program for us. From start to finish it is packed with elements and transitions and we thought it couldn’t get any better than that,” she added. “But last summer we had a camp with her, we had a week to brush up the program, and she made it even better,” she continued.
Stellato-Dudek/ Deschamps earned for her “Carmina Burana” program a season’s best score of 74.26 points. The highlight of the program was when Stellato-Dudek did a backflip from her partner’s chest – and the crowd went wild.
Pavlova/Sviatchenko are returning from injury. They were happy to achieve a new personal best of 70.15 points in their first competition of the season.
“We feel amazing and very happy. It was my little dream to get over 70 points in the Short Program and that dream came true today" Pavlova said.
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) win the Rhythm Dance
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) took the lead in the Ice Dance event. On second place came in Allison Read/Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU). The new French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Guillaume Cizeron achieved a third place in its Grand Prix debut.
Wearing the Union Jack Fear/Gibson earned in their “Spice Girls” routine a confidential lead.
“We really worked hard on the technical side this season as the foundation,” Fear said. “But then for us, it's always perform, perform, perform. It's what we love to do the most and it’s our strength. Combining those two and making it one cohesive product has been a huge goal of ours. It really showed up for us today and that's very gratifying,” She added.
Allison Read/Saulius Ambrulevicius are already in the middle of the season. In order to secure their quota place for the Olympic Games in Milan, they began their season preparations earlier than ever before.
“The summer was pretty jam-packed, a little stressful, but achieving that goal (Olympic qualification) in Beijing was a weight off our shoulders and a relief,” Reed shared. “So we come into our Grand Prix series enjoying the experience more, enjoying being on the ice together. We are just very happy with the performance today. It was great,” she added.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Guillaume Cizeron thrilled the French crowed in their Grand Prix debut with her dance to “Vogue”.
“We had a good moment on the ice; this is our first international competition,” Cizeron, the 2022 Olympic Champion, said. “I think it was not far from perfect, except that I put down my knee in the choreo step, the last element. In Ice Dance nowadays, this costs lot of points. So we are happy with the performance, but a bit disappointed about the error.”
The reigning European Champions Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) placed fifth with their Backstreet Boys medley. They have got for their pattern dance type sequence only a level one.
Ami Nakai (JPN) wins her Grand Prix debut in Angers
The second place went to Kari Sakamoto, followed by Rion Sumiyoshi on third place.
Ami Nakai took the second step. In a women's event with spectacular performances, she withstood the pressure and won in her first year as a senior.
“I came here aiming for a podium, so when I saw the score and realized I was first, my brain froze and stopped working and then the tears came flowing,” Nakai said. “My coach was sitting beside me and patted my back and then I realized everything that was going on. “I never thought I would be able to win, so am happy about the result,” she continued. “But I want to make sure it will not put pressure on me. I want to enjoy myself and prepare for the next event.”
Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) thrilled the audience with her program to Edith Piaf. The three-time ISU World Champion reeled off seven triple jumps, but lost a few points in her spins.
“Every event that I came second feels had a big significance,” Sakamoto commented. “This event itself was significant for me – there are a lot of things to take as a lesson and to grow. I am not going to leave it at this, and I plan to get better and better throughout the season.”
Rion Sumiyoshi finished third again at the Grand Prix de France. She was able to land a triple toe, but only under-rotated. She finally earned a personal best of 216.06 points.