FIGURE SKATING: Hanyu overwhelms field in sensational Skate Canada Int’l victory

Skate Canada International winner Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) (Photo: ISU)

Two-time Olympic champ Yuzuru Hanyu scored a lifetime best of 212.99 in the Free Skate and put up the second-highest score ever under the current scoring system to win Skate Canada International.

Hanyu had four quadruple jumps in his Free Skate program and had the crowd in a frenzy as he scored 322.59 points to win by 59.82 points over Canada’s Nam Nguyen (262.77). Only American Nathan Chen scored more – 323.42 – to win the 2019 World Championships.

Russian Alexandra Trusova, 17, hit four quadruple jumps and won the women’s division convincingly over Japan’s Rika Kihira, 241.02-230.33, after being third in the Short Program. Russia scored another win from Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovski in Pairs, who won both the Short Program and Free Skate.

The home crowd loved the Ice Dance upset win by Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier in Ice Dance, coming from second after the Rhythm Dance to win the Free Dance and their first Grand Prix gold medal. The favored American duo Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished second, 209.01-206.31.

The show continues next week in Europe, with the Internationaux de France in Paris. Summaries:

ISU Grand Prix/Skate Canada Int’l
Kelowna, B.C. (CAN) ~ 25-27 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), 322.59 (1st in Short Program + 1st in Free Skate); 2. Nam Nguyen (CAN), 262.77 (3+2); 3. Keiji Tanaka (JPN), 250.02 (5+3); 4. Camden Pulkinen (USA), 244.78 (2+4); 5. Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT), 227.40 (4+7).

Women: 1. Alexandra Trusova (RUS), 241.02 (3+1); 2. Rika Kihira (JPN), 230.33 (1+2); 3. Young You (KOR), 217.49 (2+4); 4. Bradie Tennell (USA), 211.31 (4+5); 5. Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), 209.62 (6+3).

Pairs: 1. Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii (RUS), 216.71 (1+1); 2. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (CAN), 208.49 (2+2); 3. Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 202.29 (3+3); 4. Alexa Scimera Knierim/Chris Knierim (USA), 199.57 (4+4); 5. Liubov Ilyushechkina/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN), 192.47 (5+5). Also: 6. Jessica Calalang/Brian Johnson (USA), 181.54 (6+6).

Ice Dance: 1. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN), 209.01 (2+1); 2. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA), 206.31 (1+2); 3. Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR), 195.35 (4+3); 4. Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA), 194.77 (3+4); 5. Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin (ESP), 180.64 (5+5). Also: 7. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons (USA), 173.82 (8+7).