American figure skater Ava Ziegler scored one of the wildest and controversial breakthrough victories in the history of the Grand Prix series on Saturday.
Ziegler, a 17-year-old from New Jersey, jumped from fifth place to Japan’s NHK Trophy free skate title after Friday’s short program, finishing just 1.77 points ahead of compatriot Lindsay Thorngren ).
Short program leader Thorngren ran out of time in each program, losing a total of two points, which made an impact.
Ziegler, who finished ninth in her debut at the U.S. Senior Championships last January in just her second Grand Prix appearance, broke the record for the fastest U.S. woman to win a Grand Prix title.
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Ziegler’s mother, Tricia, finished fifth at the 1995 U.S. Championships, and Ziegler became the first American woman to win a Grand Prix without finishing on the podium.
On Saturday, Ziegler completed seven triple jumps to become the top scorer in the American free skate this season.
According to SkatingScores.com, her best overall finish of the season after entering NHK was No. 2 in the U.S. behind national champion Isabeau Levito and No. 6 in the U.S.
Two women will be named to the World Championship squad after the national competition in January. Levito, the only American woman to qualify for the six-person Grand Prix final in two weeks, is the clear favorite to be one of them.
Ziggler and Torngren stand out from the rest of the pack this weekend. This is the first time the U.S. Women’s One and Two Grand Prix has been competed since the 2016 Skate America Grand Prix (Ashley Wagner, Maria Bell) and the first time the Grand Prix has been contested outside of Skate America since the 2016 Skate America Grand Prix. The March 1997 Grand Prix Final (Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan) was played in the event.
Thorngren, also 17 years old from New Jersey, was making her fourth career Grand Prix start and her first Grand Prix podium finish.
She comes into NHK with a better resume than Ziegler, winning the 2020 U.S. Junior Championship, a bronze medal at the 2022 Junior World Championship, and finishing fifth or sixth at her last three senior national championships.
She said Saturday that she sprained her ankle in practice before Friday’s short skate, according to the International Skating Union.
Also on Saturday, Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won for the second consecutive week in their first two Grand Prix races as a team. Won the tag team title.
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson overtake world silver medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri to win any title for Great Britain The first Grand Prix winner in the project. Italy In the ice dance competition, both pairs qualified for the Grand Prix final by a margin of 0.63.
They defeated Italy’s Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guaris by 12.2 points and currently have a best result of the season ranking second in the world behind Canada’s Deanna Stratto – Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.
The Grand Prix series will conclude in two weeks with the Grand Prix Final, broadcast live Peacock.
