This week’s competition in Osaka is one for the books. Wenjing Sui / Cong Han took the gold medal, and with a world-record-breaking performance to boot. Most of our favorites to be on the top five also delivered, making it one memorable competition for us.
GOLD: Wenjing Sui / Cong Han (CHN)
No surprises here. Sui / Han delivered better performances in Osaka than they did in Beijing, securing the top spot in NHK Trophy and securing a ticket to the Grand Prix Final. The short program was as solid as ever, and all side-by-side jump issues were obviously worked on come free skate. The world record score in the free skate was truly well-deserved, and we can’t wait to see them skate better in Nagoya.
SILVER: Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov (RUS)
Despite settling for silver, Stolbova / Klimov should be proud of their performance in this competition. A solid short program was no surprise, while the free skate had only two mistakes. They are slowly picking themselves up competition after competition, and they hope to finish on the podium for the Grand Prix Final.
BRONZE: Kristina Astakhova / Alexei Rogonov (RUS)
Astakhova / Rogonov claimed their second bronze medal in the Grand Prix series, as well as a chance to be on the Final. The team continues to be more solid than ever, proving that they are on on the running to be in Russia’s Olympic team. Let’s see if they can keep that up for the rest of the season.
They may not be on the running to be on their third trip to the Grand Prix Final, but their performance in NHK Trophy after countless injuries is something Julianne Seguin / Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) should be proud of. Struggles in their triple twist and side-by-side triple salchow pulled the team town in fifth, but they rose with a better performance in the free skate. They have enough time to recuperate and prepare for a more crucial competition, which is Nationals.
Also finishing just off the podium are Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Chris Knierim (USA), who placed fifth, just less than two points than Seguin / Bilodeau. It was just a matter of the Knierims making more errors in the free skate than the Canadian team. They will need to work on that mistakes if they want to make an impact on their next Grand Prix competition, Skate America.
You Only Lutz Once 