Four in Medal Position for U.S. to Open Grand Prix Espoo

Four American entries are in podium position after the short program and rhythm dance events at Grand Prix Espoo, the final stop on the six-event series. Skate America champion Ilia Malinin is within striking distance of the top spot of the podium in Finland, less than four points from leader Kevin Aymoz of France. Olympians Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker are in second in the ice dance competition, followed by teammates Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko in third. Grand Prix newbies Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia finished in second place in a tightly contested pairs competition, while World Junior championships bronze medalist Lindsay Thorngren sits just outside the top three in fourth place in the women's competition.
 
Malinin, the reigning World Junior champion, fought through his "I Put A Spell on You" (Garou) routine, opening with a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination that was judged on the quarter. Malinin's next move, a quadruple Salchow, was the highest scoring element in the competition (12.19 points), but lost Levels on his spins and a hand down on the triple Axel kept the top spot just out of his reach. The 17-year-old will earn a berth in next month's Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy, with a podium finish here.
 
Making his return to the series after an injury kept him out of Grand Prix France earlier this fall, Aymoz came out on top with 88.96 points. Despite the lack of a quadruple jump in his program, the five-time national champion was able to hold off Malinin by earning level 4 on each of his spins and receiving high grades of execution for the quality of his elements. Shun Sato, the MK John Wilson bronze medalist, sits in third place with 81.59 points.
 
Camden Pulkinen finished in seventh place with 72.45 points. Fifth at the World Championships earlier this year, Pulkinen had a rough opening to his Chris Mann "Fly Me to the Moon" program. After a flawed quadruple toe loop attempt, the Columbia University student popped his triple Axel into a single, receiving no points for the element. Pulkinen finished strong, landing a  well-executed triple Lutz-triple toe loop before closing out the program with two strong spins.
 
Hawayek and Baker continued their upward trajectory this season, earning another career best in the rhythm dance, and finished the segment with 80.93 points. The U.S. bronze medalists earned Level 4s on the twizzle sequence and their straight-line lift in their Desi Arnaz inspired program but left points on the table with a Level 2 pattern dance and Hawayek's Level 2 midline step sequence. A silver medal tomorrow will earn the duo an invitation in next month's Final.
 
Carreira and Ponomarenko earned a season's best 76.20 points, keeping them in the hunt for a third career Grand Prix podium finish. Similar to their teammates, Carreira and Ponomarenko received Level 4 on their twizzle sequence and on the curve lift in their Samba/Rhumba program.
 
Canadian's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier continue to lead the international dance field by earning a world's best 87.80 points with their Cha-cha/Rhumba program. The 2021 World bronze medalists earned the highest levels of the competition, including Level 4 on their twizzle sequence, rotational lift, and pattern dance.
 
Oona Brown and Gage Brown finished in ninth place. The current World Junior champions made a mistake on the twizzle sequence in their Cha-cha program and finished with 65.71 points.
 
In the pairs discipline, 2021 U.S. junior champions Smirnova and Siianytsia made quite a splash in their Grand Prix debut, finishing in second place in a tight battle for the podium. The duo shook off a small error on their opening triple Salchows to skate a solid program to Disturbed's version of Paul Simon's "Sound of Silence". Smirnova and Siianytsia earned Level 4 for their high-flying triple twist lift and their step sequence, propelling them to a career-best short program total of 63.01 points.
 
Leading the competition is Italy's Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini with a career-best 67.31 points. Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman are third with 62.59 points.
 
In the women's competition, Thorngren improved her season's best by more than 10 points and finds herself within reach of the podium for the first time in her career. Other than a small under rotation on the back half of her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, Thorngren's "Concierto de Aranjuez" program was clean as a whistle. She heads into tomorrow's free skate with 65.75 points.
 
Loena Hendrickx, the reigning World Championship silver medalist from Belgium leads the way with 74.88 points while a pair of Japanese women, Mai Mihara (73.58) and Mana Kawabe (67.03) sit in second and third place, respectively.
 
American Bradie Tennell finished in seventh with a much-improved performance after her season's debut at the MK John Wilson Trophy two weeks ago in Sheffield, Great Britain. The two-time U.S. champion opened with an under rotated triple Lutz-double toe loop combination but fought through the rest of her "Restrictus" (Mario Matjovic) program and earned a season's best 60.64 points.
 
The series closes out tomorrow with medals awarded after the free dance and the men's, pairs, and women's free skates. The Grand Prix Final roster will be set following tomorrow's results.
 
Follow all the action on the Competition Central page on usfigureskatingfanzone.org.