Above: Photo credit Getty Images
By Kristen Henneman
Team USA stood on the podium in each of the six events on the final day of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2024 in Grenoble, France.
Amber Glenn, Ilia Malinin, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates all won gold in the three senior events, marking the first time Team USA has secured gold in three senior disciplines at the Grand Prix Final.
All three also made history along the way. Glenn became the first U.S. woman to claim gold at the Grand Prix Final since Alissa Czisny in 2010 while Malinin became the first skater ever to attempt seven quadruple jumps as well as each of the six types of quad jumps in one program. With six Grand Prix Final medals, Chock and Bates tied the record for the most medals all-time at the event in ice dance.
Team USA also clinched three Junior Grand Prix Final medals as Jacob Sanchez won the men’s gold and Olivia Flores and Luke Wang and Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski earned silver in the pairs and ice dance events, respectively.
Malinin Continues to Earn His Quad God Name
By attempting quads for the six types of jumps – the flip, Axel, loop, Lutz, toe loop and Salchow – Malinin made jumping history once again.
“I think going into Grand Prix Final, I wanted to challenge myself with my technical ability as well as try to incorporate the artistry that I've been working through the past few seasons to really perfect,” Malinin said. “It was a challenge for me to want to come out and try to put everything into one program and see how it goes.”
The reigning World champion defended his Grand Prix Final title to become the second U.S. man to win back-to-back golds and three straight medals at the event. Nathan Chen earned gold from 2017-19 and four straight medals from 2016-19.
With a free skate score of 186.69 for his program to "I'm Not a Vampire" by Falling in Reverse, Malinin totaled 292.12 points. Winning in dominant fashion once again, he stood atop the standings by more than 10 points.
Malinin, who turned 20 earlier this week, won his seventh straight competition - a streak that began at last year’s Grand Prix Final.
Chock and Bates Cement Their Grand Prix Final Legacy
Chock and Bates continue to write their names the record books.
With their sixth medal at the Grand Prix Final, they tied Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat for the most ice dance medals all-time at the event.
Bringing home gold for the second straight year, the reigning and two-time World champions also became the first ice dancers to secure back-to-back golds since Kaitlin Weaver and Andrew Poje in 2014 and 2015.
“It's incredible to hear those kinds of stats. We just love skating,” Bates said. “We have been passionate about skating with one another, dancing with one another throughout the years. That has always been the motivation for us. As long as we're healthy and we're still motivated and we still have the passion, we want to continue.”
Chock and Bates generated 132.12 points for their free dance to "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck and "Take Five" by Juju, which included five Level 4 elements, for a total score of 219.85. Dominating the competition by margin of 13.74 points, both Chock and Bates’ free dance and total score are the highest in the world so far this season.
“I think the progression that we've had from Skate America to here has been really positive,” Bates said. “I think the takeaway for us is that a lot of the work that we've been doing at home is the right kind of work that we need to be doing. It’s about staying the course, listening to our bodies. … We have been doing this a long time, so I think we kind of know what to expect. But at the same time, we never know what's around the corner, so we want to just make sure we're as prepared as possible – always relying on our team at Ice Academy in Montreal to keep us centered and to keep us as prepared as can be going into the second half of the season.”
Team USA has now medaled at the Grand Prix Final in ice dance every year the event has been held since 2007.
Glenn Take Top Spot in Grand Prix Final Debut
At the beginning of 2024, Glenn had just one senior gold to her name. Then she won the 2024 U.S. title, and now to start the 2024-25 season, she has kept that momentum and gone undefeated, winning her four events, including the Grand Prix Final in her debut at the event.
“It's still not real to me yet. I earned my first international gold this year in Bergamo. It was my first gold and I've been competing internationally since I was 13, so now being 25 and having all the experience that I do, it means a lot.”
Scoring the highest free skate score of 142.03 in a field of five Japanese skaters, including three-time and reigning World champion Kaori Sakamoto, Glenn tallied a two-day total of 212.07 and became the third U.S. woman in history to go undefeated in the Grand Prix Series and the Grand Prix Final in the same season, following Michelle Kwan (1995-96) and Sasha Cohen (2002-03).
Skating to “I Will Find You” by Audiomachine and “The Return” by CLANN, Glenn was awarded positive grades of execution on 11 of her 12 elements. She started with the triple Axel, which she has landed at each of her events this season, and earned more than 13 points for her triple loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence in the second half of the routine.
Jacob Sanchez Continues His Junior Grand Prix Winning Streak
Unlike at the first two Grand Prix events this season where he went into the free skate in first, Sanchez had to come from behind at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Trailing by just 0.15 after day one, Sanchez scored 148.14 in the free skate to take the lead and clinch gold in his Junior Grand Prix Final debut. He finished with 227.38 points.
He becomes the first U.S. man to win the event since Alex Krasnozhon in 2017 and the first U.S. skater of Hispanic descent to win gold at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
“This feels pretty crazy. I definitely was not expecting this outcome at this event,” Sanchez said. “I really didn't know that I was going to make it this season here, because my first Grand Prix was the only assigned one. … It was amazing to share the venue with amazing skaters and all these juniors and seniors. It's such an inspiring atmosphere and it’s something that I think we all should appreciate, and I really appreciate this whole week that I’ve had with all of them.”
Performing to "Io Ci Saró" by Andrea Bocelli, Sanchez’s highest-scoring element was a triple Lutz-double Axel-double Axel sequence that garnered 15.44 points. He also earned Level 4 marks on each of his three spins.
Experience Pays Off for Flores and Wang
In their second appearance at the Junior Grand Prix Final, Flores and Wang claimed their first medal at the event – a silver – marking the second time in the last three years a Team USA pairs team has stood on the podium after Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev and Cayla Smith and Andy Deng earned silver and bronze, respectively, in 2022.
The 2024 World Junior silver medalists secured 155.82 total points, including 103.78 for their free skate.
Skating to music from The Lion King by Hans Zimmer, highlights of their performance included their Level 4 reverse lasso lift, throw triple loop and Level 3 triple twist lift.
“Last season was our First Grand Prix Final experience, and that one was so new for us that we weren't really able to kind of take it all in,” Wang said. “We learned a lot from last year [in the Junior Grand Prix Series], especially the one in Beijing, and we were able to apply it here today, so we’re really happy about what we were able to do today.”
Wolfkostin and Tsarevski Take Advantage of Opportunity in France
With separate partners, both Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final but watched the event be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, they finally got the opportunity to compete – this time as partners – and earned silver, their first Grand Prix Final medal. Wolfkostin and Tsarevski secured 164.98 points overall.
Their skate to "One Day I'll Fly Away" and "The Show Must Go On" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack started with two of their strongest elements, their one foot turns sequence and synchronized twizzles, going on to tally 99.41 points in the free dance.
“We went out there and did what we worked on and what we prepared for everyone,” Wolfkostin said. “There's always room for improvement, which we know is going to be there, and it's just something we can focus on and work harder to get better and better.”
Team USA has now medaled in ice dance at the Junior Grand Prix Final for the second straight year after Leah Neset and Artem Markelov won the event last year.
Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal also represented Team USA in the junior ice dance event, scoring 82.89 points in the free dance for 143.08 points overall.
They performed their Pearl Harbor-themed free skate dedicated to their grandfather on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
For full results from France, visit the 2024 Grand Prix Final Competition Central.
