Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Amber Glenn powered to a third straight US figure skating title on Friday, holding off world champion Alysa Liu as America’s women promised a formidable challenge at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. US selectors will officially name the team for next month’s Games on Sunday.
But after bravura free-skate performances in St. Louis, Glenn, Liu, and third-placed Isabeau Levito look set to take Italy by storm in a bid for the United States’ first women’s individual figure skating medal since Sasha Cohen won silver in 2006. Glenn, the leader after the short program, said it was “thrilling and terrifying” to skate after Levito and Liu had each brought the Enterprise Center crowd to its feet.
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She didn’t disappoint, opening with a triple axel and powering through a bevy of triple jumps to top the free skate with a score of 150.50 points for a total of 233.55. “I had to skate after these two incredible ladies brought the house down,” said the 26-year-old, who missed out on the Beijing Winter Games four years ago. “So I’m glad that I didn’t disappoint too much.”
Liu, the 20-year-old who walked away from the sport for two years, was second after the short program. She unveiled a revamped version of the Lady Gaga-inspired free skate she had shelved earlier this season, her effervescent performance giving her third place in the free skate and second overall on 228.91 points. Levito was second in the free skate with an ethereal performance to the music of “Cinema Paradiso” that put her third overall on 224.45 points.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov won their second straight pairs title, becoming the first duo to win back-to-back US pairs gold in more than 10 years. First after the short program, they topped the free skate with a score of 132.40 for a total of 207.71 points, with Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea second on 197.12 points. “This is very hard to believe,” Efimova told the crowd. “It’s very hard to believe how far we’ve got in just three years.”
But whether that progress will carry the Boston-based married couple to the Olympics remains to be seen since the Finland-born Efimova — who has also skated for Russia and Germany in the past — was still awaiting citizenship confirmation as of Friday. Two pairs duos will be named to represent the United States when the team is named on Sunday.
© 2024 AFP
