ANGERS, France (AP) — Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title Saturday at the Grand Prix de France.
The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps.
“I didn’t feel that great out there today but I really tried and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn said. “The audience was really strong and really encouraging, so I really fought for everything I could.”
Glenn posted the day’s third-best score in the free skate but it was enough to win overall with a total of 210.44 points, ahead of Japanese skaters Wakaba Higuchi, who won at Skate America last month, and Rion Sumiyoshi.
South Korea’s Kim Chaeyeon had been second in the short program but dropped Saturday to fourth overall, one place ahead of 17-year-old U.S. skater Sarah Everhardt, who was on her Grand Prix debut.
Home favorite Adam Siao Him Fa made an astonishing comeback to win the men’s event as overnight leader Jin Boyang of China tumbled down the standings.
Siao Him Fa, whose off-season was hit by an ankle injury, had been in eighth place after Friday’s short program but top-scored by nearly 13 points with his “Dune”-themed free skate to take the overall win.
It was the third year in a row Siao Him Fa had won his home Grand Prix and he did it with a score of 246.58, ahead of Japan’s Koshiro Shimada and U.S. skater Andrew Torgashev.
As skaters struggled for consistency, Torgashev made the podium despite only having the fourth-highest scores in the short program and free skate, and he was only .2 of a point off second place overall.
Short-program leader Jin was aiming for his first Grand Prix win in four years but dropped to eighth overall after a free skate which started with a heavy fall.
There was another surprise French win as Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud took first place in ice dance on 195.27 after short-dance leaders Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy could only manage the fifth-best score in Saturday’s free dance. Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were third for the U.S. after a strong showing Saturday.
Germany’s Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin won the pairs event with a total score of 211.69, winning by just over eight points from Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii. Another Italian pair, Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini, were third after improving on sixth in the short program.
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