Ashley Wagner, 21, of the United States and Takahito Mura of Japan were
the lucky champs who bagged gold medals at the Trophee Bompard on Saturday. Their ambitious performances in free boarding helped them past the leaders of the night. Wagner nailed 14-year-old Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia, while Mura beat American Jeremy Abbott. Wagner and Mura will now be representing their countries in next month’s Grand Prix finals in Sochi, Russia.
After the huge success at the Bompard, Wagner said: 'Today was a huge
accomplishment for me. To be able to accomplish that program not at my best was great to mentally show myself that I don't always have to be at the top of my game.'
Tuktamysheva, who drew a standing ovation from the crowd at the Bercy arena, was tearful at the end of her program and fell into the arms of her coach. I was really overwhelmed by my emotions,' she said. 'I was in shock and I was just ecstatic.'
Mura, who finished eighth at Skate Canada last month, was second overnight and
started his free skate confidently with clean landings on his quad toeloop and his triple lutz-triple toeloop.
Mura’s remarks after the breathtaking performance are: “A year ago I couldn't
even imagine I could win the competition here. I'm very surprised. The challenge for me is to keep the consistency and keep at a certain level. Even if I fail on the quad, I have to nail the triple axel for sure ... keep the quality high overall.'
A technically strong free skate by Frenchman Florent Amodio produced the best score of 154.12 in the free and moved him from seventh overnight to third place. He said: “My goal was to fight like I do every day in practice. It shows me that everything is possible and you should never give up, anytime, anywhere. I'm proud of myself.'
Later Saturday, European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France looked to remain first in the ice dance.
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