Amber Glenn triumphed over neck discomfort to outshine her fellow U.S. teammate Alysa Liu, securing victory at the figure skating Cup of China in Chongqing for the second consecutive year on Saturday. Glenn, the reigning U.S. national champion, visibly showed signs of neck strain after completing her free skate routine, where she successfully recovered from a shaky landing on a triple toeloop early on.
Initially positioned in third place after Friday’s short program, Glenn had to await Liu and Japan’s Rinka Watanabe’s free skate performances to determine her final placement. Liu slipped to second with a total score of 212.07 points, while Glenn clinched the top spot with 214.78 points after Liu encountered challenges with a triple flip landing. Watanabe managed to secure a podium finish despite slipping to third due to a subpar performance in the free skate.
Expressing her elation, Glenn described her feelings as “incredible” and expressed excitement for both herself and her teammate for claiming the top two spots on the podium. Notably, although Liu is a two-time world championship medalist, this marks her first podium finish in a Grand Prix event.
In the men’s competition, Japan’s Shun Sato successfully defended his Cup of China title by executing three quadruple jumps flawlessly in his free skate, amassing a total score of 278.12. Sato maintained his lead over Italy’s Daniel Grassl, who scored 269.43, and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, who finished on 262.67 after stumbling on his final jump.
In the ice dance category, reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured their first Cup of China victory after six attempts, scoring a total of 208.25 to surpass their U.S. counterparts Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who scored 202.27. The third spot was claimed by Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud from France with a total score of 196.60.
Georgian pair Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava clinched the pairs gold with a score of 217.24, followed by Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii in second place, and China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, the 2022 Olympic champions who recently returned from retirement, in third place.
The Cup of China serves as the second event of the six-part regular season Grand Prix series leading up to the final in December, acting as a crucial test for skaters aiming for success at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February. The ISU Grand Prix series will now move to Saskatoon for the Skate Canada International event starting on October 31.