Rochette strikes gold at Skate Canada, American Czisny second

Joannie Rochette (CAN) captures her first
Grand Prix gold of the season.
Photo: AP/The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson

In a turnaround from her bronze medal performance at Cup of China, five-time Canadian champion Joannie Rochette won both the short and the free and took the ladies’ event easily at Skate Canada, the final event in the Grand Prix series before the Final. But as has been commonplace this season, the ladies’ free skate was a messy affair, with no skater skating a clean program.

Skating in her home Grand Prix event, Rochette had some problems with a few jumps but was credited with five triples, including her triple toe-triple salchow jump sequence, en route to a 112.90. The score was far from her best, but it was still good enough for a win of almost 20 points. Rochette’s free skate is well-constructed and intricate, but for her to be competitive for the Olympic gold, she will have to show the form that she had earlier in the season at the Japan Open.  Nevertheless, her win qualified her for the Grand Prix Final in December and a showdown with World champion Yu-Na Kim.

Hanging onto the silver medal was U.S. champion Alissa Czisny, who ran into jump problems in her free skate. She was strong in the opening, hitting her lutz and flip with ease. But three downgraded triples and two falls later, she was left wondering whether or not she would event stay on the podium. Her strong short program saved her, however, and she was able to capture her second Skate Canada medal in a row with a total score of 163.53. With this silver, Czisny completes her collection of all three medals at Skate Canada, having won the gold in 2006 and the bronze last year.

European champion Laura Lepisto pulled up from fourth to stand on the podium with Rochette and Czisny, giving her a second career Grand Prix medal. Her three-triple program did not feature her triple toe-triple toe combination, both of which she popped into doubles. But her effort was stronger than the one she had at NHK Trophy, especially with a successful triple lutz in this free skate. Second in the free skate, Lepisto’s total of 158.52 put her in third just ahead of American Mirai Nagasu.

Nagasu showed improvements from her skate three weeks ago at Cup of China, where she had downgrades on multiple triple jumps. Her free skate last night was not clean, but she must have been pleased that all five of the triples that she attempted were given full credit. She did, however, receive downgrades on two double jumps that were part of two jump combinations, but those are errors that can be addressed much more quickly. The full-rotated triples were a good sign for the 2008 U.S. champion. She finished just off the podium in fourth with a 156.83.

Although she was unable to repeat her success at Cup of China, Japan’s Akiko Suzuki pulled up to fifth place to secure the final spot in the Grand Prix Final. The second American entry, U.S. bronze medalist Caroline Zhang, had problems with her triple flip and finished in eighth.