The pairs competition at the Grand Prix de France showcased a fierce battle for the top spot between two sets of reigning world champions. Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who claimed world championship titles in 2023 and the current year, took the lead in the short program on Friday. They skated to a rendition of “Paint It Black” and scored 79.44 points, narrowly surpassing Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, the 2024 world champions, who earned a score of 74.26 with their impressive performance.
Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko secured the third position with a score of 70.15, followed by two American pairs, Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman with 63.31 points, and Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy with 61.79 points.
In the women’s category, a surprising turn of events unfolded as Ami Nakai outperformed three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto in the short program. Nakai, a former world junior bronze medalist, showcased a remarkable triple axel jump at the beginning of her program, earning a total of 78 points on her Grand Prix debut.
Nakai led the standings with Sakamoto trailing at 76.20 points, while Isabeau Levito of the United States, the 2024 world silver medalist, secured the third spot with 73.37 points heading into the free skate on Saturday.
The competition will resume on Saturday with the ice dance rhythm dance event. The Grand Prix de France marks the commencement of the regular season Grand Prix series, consisting of six events leading up to the final in December. This series serves as a crucial competitive platform for elite skaters vying for medals at the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
For comprehensive streaming information on the Grand Prix of France, viewers can refer to the CBC Sports broadcast schedule.
