TORINO, Italy (December 7, 2019) – American Nathan Chen won his third consecutive Grand Prix Final title, highlighting a four-medal performance for Team USA on Saturday at the Torino Palavela. The United States won five medals throughout the competition.
Chen, who led by over ten points entering Saturday’s free skate, scored 224.92 points in his free skate to total 335.30 overall points. Both are new records.
“It felt amazing,” Chen said. “I was gassed at the end of the program so need to work on my stamina a little bit, but overall I’m happy to be here and thrilled with the score. It’s an awesome experience and exposure for me to get to compete against these amazing guys. Every time I get to, it’s a lot of fun. I’m really happy to be here and excited to keep moving forward.”
Chen is the first American man to win the Grand Prix Final title three times.
Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu finished second (291.43), while France’s Kevin Aymoz (275.63) took third place.
The Americans took home a pair of medals in the senior ice dance competition.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned the silver medal after a 129.01-point free dance to earn 210.68 overall points
“I think it went very well,” Chock said. “It was so fun. I was so present and enjoyed the skate so much.”
“I have very vivid memories watching the [2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino],” Bates said of skating in Torino. “I was in high school and [the Torino Games] were one the biggest inspirations for me wanting to become an Olympian. It lit the fire for me. It clicked and I realized [the Olympics] were the ultimate goal.”
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue earned 125.21 points for 207.93 points overall and a bronze medal.
“We’ve been working to change our program a lot and there’s definitely more work to do,” Hubbell said. “We want to be fighting to be on the Worlds podium and there’s a lot of competition as you can see. Nothing changes after today. We have a much better program now than we did at the beginning of the Grand Prix Series. We’ll just keep building.”
In the junior ice dance competition, Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik just missed out on the title and took second place after earning 106.02 points in their free dance. The duo scored 174.74 total points.
“We’re still going to keep working when we get home,” Nguyen said. “We’re even more motivated to just keep pushing and improving on everything. It’s not the end of the season yet. We will continue to work and improve.”
The Georgian duo of Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya finished first with 174.90 points. Russians Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy took third (164.22).
In the ladies competition, Bradie Tennell finished fifth overall. She scored 139.98 points on Saturday to total 212.18 points for the competition. Tennell was the first American lady to appear in the event since 2015.
“It really feels good,” Tennell said. “I felt like I went out there and put everything I had on the line and I’m really proud of that skate. There was some great energy in the arena. It’s really great when the crowd is into it because then you can feed off that energy and put it into the performance. For my first Grand Prix Final, I think it was very good.”
The Russians swept the podium. Alena Kostornaia (247.59) won the title, followed by Anna Shcherbakova (240.92) and Alexandra Trusova (233.18).
The Grand Prix Series, which just completed its 25th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Each athlete is eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline qualified to compete in the event.
The entire senior competition can be seen on-demand with the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold. Additionally, NBCSN will televise parts of the event on Saturday and Sunday. A full recap show on NBC will air on Dec. 22 from 4-6 p.m. A full television schedule is available here.
