HELSINKI — U.S. figure skating champion Amber Glenn took another step forward ahead of the Olympics by taking the lead in the short program at the Finlandia Trophy on Friday.
Skating to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” Glenn started with a triple axel on her way to a season-best score of 75.72 points to lead ahead of Saturday’s free skate. It was an improvement on her last Grand Prix at the Cup of China last month, when she placed third in the short program before surging back for the overall win.
Japan’s Mone Chiba, last season’s world championship bronze medalist, was second with 72.89 points, and Canada’s Madeline Schizas was third with 65.16.
Adam Siao Him Fa of France landed two high-scoring quadruple jumps and took the lead in the men’s short program with a 92.50, while Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama had a heavy fall.
Siao Him Fa is off to a better start than his last competition, his home Grand Prix de France, where he was fifth in the short program and recovered to finish second overall, though 40 points behind winner Ilia Malinin.
Canada’s Stephen Gogolev, chasing a first career Grand Prix medal, was second with 89.35 and Japan’s Kagiyama third with 88.16 after a fall on a quad salchow left him sprawled across the ice early in his program.
The top four pairs were separated by 0.27 of a point as Germany’s Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin lead with 70.40 after an exceptionally close short program.
Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea were second with 70.24, another U.S. pair of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov third with 70.19 and Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trent Michaud fourth with 70.13.
France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron led the ice dance as they aim to continue their winning start as a partnership this season. They scored 79.89 in the rhythm dance to be ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier with 79.56. Third place went to Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik with 78.51.
The Finlandia Trophy is the last of six Grand Prix events where skaters can qualify for next month’s finals, a key competitive test for would-be medal contenders ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
