Gracie Gold finishes second at Skate America behind Russian teen
MILWAUKEE — With some smart thinking on her feet, Russian Evgenia Medvedeva won Skate America, edging out U.S. Olympian Gracie Gold for first place.
Japan’s Satoko Miyahara took third, while American Karen Chen came in fifth.
Skating to “Firebird,” Gold executed textbook spins and jumps, but doubled a planned triple Salchow late in the program. She finished with a higher score than Medvedeva in the free skate, earning a 137.41, her best free skate score ever. She made the same mistake Saturday as she made the previous night — doubling a planned triple jump. If she had landed either triple cleanly, it could have pushed her into first.
“On the last jumping pass, the takeoff was a little slippy on the toepick. I didn’t come in enough to get in and save it. It’s a silly thing, but it kind of felt like the double flip yesterday,” Gold said. “I need to start putting together solid performances so no matter what the takeoff is, I’ll feel confident to land it.”
Still, she was happy with the overall skate and that she was able to put together two clean programs. Inconsistency has plagued her in the past, and she said she had worked throughout the summer to improve.
“I had a really good short program and a really solid long program, which has been harder for me in the past to put two together. One usually burns really bright, and the other fizzles out,” Gold said.
Medvedeva, who was in first after the short program, started with a strong triple-triple combination, but fell on a double Axel that was supposed to be the start of a combination. Instead of losing the points, she added the planned jumps later in the program and finished with seven triple jumps. Gold had only five.
It was an astute move for a skater who will turn 16 in November, and the judges awarded her a score of 135.09. Overall, she scored a 206.01, less than four points ahead of Gold.
“You always have to think of what to do when something goes wrong. You always have to think a step ahead,” Medvedeva said through a translator. “With my coaches, we are always discussing what to do in case something doesn’t work. This happens many times, and then you have to change your program so I know what to do, and I do it.”
Medvedeva and Gold’s strong finishes improved what had been a messy event. Out of 12 women skating, nine received deductions for at least one fall.
Earlier Saturday, Chinese skaters Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won the pairs competition. Americans Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim each fell in their free skate, knocking them down into second place after winning the short program.