It was a tale of two medals for Team USA at Grand Prix Espoo, but two completely different journeys.
One of a steady win as
Madison Chock and Evan Bates won gold to remain undefeated in the 2023 calendar year and clinch their place at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023 in December. The other of a remarkable comeback as
Amber Glenn rebounded from an 11th-place finish in the short program to secure bronze with a new international personal best in the free skate and her second career Grand Prix medal.
The win marks the 18th Grand Prix medal of Chock and Bates' career as they topped the podium with a total score of 209.46 and won the free dance score with a score of 123.85, edging out Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada by 0.15.
Skating to trio of Pink Floyd Songs: "Time," "Breathe" and "Eclipse", the reigning World champions' highest-scoring element came near the end of the program as their diagonal step sequence scored more than 11 points.
When Chock and Bates take the ice at the Grand Prix Final, which will be their seventh time competing at the event, they will become the team or athlete with the most-ever appearances at the Grand Prix Final in U.S. Figure Skating history.
Chock and Bates' teammates,
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko and
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, both earned top-five results.
Carreira and Ponomarenko just missed the podium for the second time at a Grand Prix this season, finishing fourth. Their free dance to
Perfume - The Story of A Murderer as well as "Strictly Taboo" and "Deceit And Betrayal" by Audiomachine was highlighted by their circular step sequence, and received 114.18 points. They tallied a two-day total of 188.76.
Right behind was Zingas and Kolesnik, who wrapped up their first Grand Prix season with 183.78 points to claim fifth. Performing to music from
Beauty and the Beast, they secured 111.65 points for their free dance.
Sitting in 11th after the women's short program, Glenn needed the performance of her career to give herself a shot at a medal, and she did exactly that, setting a new international personal best with a score of 133.78 to take second in the free skate.
Although Glenn only performed a single Axel instead of the planned triple, it would be the only mistake in her performance to "Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3: Redemption Song" by Muse as she earned positive grades of execution on every element. The 2023 U.S. bronze medalist came back with a triple flip-triple toe loop combination that scored more than 10 points before the highlight of the performance, a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence in the second half of the routine that was awarded nearly 13 points from the judges.
Glenn totaled 185.39 points and has now won a medal in the Grand Prix Series in each of the last two seasons.
Starr Andrews also represented Team USA in the women's event, earning a 10th-place result with a two-day total of 154.42.
In the pairs event,
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea concluded their first season in the Grand Prix Series with a total score of 152.16. Maintaining their sixth-place standing, the 2023 World Team members recorded 96.17 points for their free skate set to music from the
Nocturnal Animals soundtrack.
Liam Kapeikis and
Jimmy Ma placed ninth and 11th, respectively, in the men's event. Kapeikis finished with 196.94 points while Ma concluded his second Grand Prix event in two weekends with a score of 191.26.
For full results, visit the
Grand Prix Series Competition Central.
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