Favorites Ashley Wagner and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir held on to win the Trophee Bompard in Paris on Saturday, but both are looking up at Olympic silver medalists.
Wagner, the two-time reigning U.S. champion, totaled 194.37 points after a slightly flawed free skate, topping Russian teens Adelina Sotnikova (189.81) and Anna Pogorilaya (184.69).
Virtue and Moir, the Olympic ice dance champions, tallied 180.96 to win by a more comfortable nine points over a field lacking rivals and training partners Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
NBC and NBC Live Extra will air Trophee Bompard on Sunday from 4:30-6 p.m. ET.
Wagner, who led by six points after the short program Friday, took second to Mao Asada at Skate America in her other Grand Prix appearance.
They’ll be medal favorites at the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, Japan, from Dec. 5-8, but Asada will be the clear favorite.
On Saturday, Wagner, 22, two-footed a landing on her opening triple-triple jump combination and stepped out of a later jump skating to “Romeo and Juliet.”
Still, she solidified her status as the unquestioned top American woman. Three will make the Olympic Team, named after the U.S. Championships in Boston in January.
Gracie Gold, the silver medalist to Wagner at the U.S. Championships last January, has also been better than the rest of the U.S. women during the Grand Prix season.
Harvard’s Christina Gao fell twice and popped another jump during her free skate in Paris on Saturday and finished eighth of nine skaters.
Samantha Cesario bettered Gao by 20 points and took fourth Saturday. The door is also open for Agnes Zawadzki and Mirai Nagasu, who were unimpressive in their Grand Prix season debuts. They skate next week at the Rostelecom Cup.
Here are the top Grand Prix season women’s scores so far:
1. Mao Asada (NHK Trophy) — 207.59
2. Mao Asada (Skate America) — 204.55
3. Yulia Lipnitskaya (Skate Canada) — 198.23
4. Ashley Wagner (Trophee Bompard) — 194.37
5. Ashley Wagner (Skate America) — 193.81
6. Akiko Suzuki (Skate Canada) — 193.75
7. Yelena Radyonova (NHK Trophy) — 191.81 (too young for Olympics)
8. Adelina Sotnikova (Trophee Bompard) 189.81
9. Gracie Gold (Skate Canada) — 186.75
10. Anna Pogorilaya (Trophee Bompard) 184.69
The reigning Olympic champion, Yuna Kim, has yet to compete this season due to a foot injury. She’s scheduled to compete in a lower-level competition in Zagreb, Croatia, in early December.
In ice dance, Virtue and Moir went two for two in Grand Prix events this season, following their Skate Canada win by beating Russians Yelena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov by nine points.
Virtue and Moir scored lower than they did at Skate Canada, barely, and haven’t been within five points of rivals and training partners Davis and White this Grand Prix season.
Virtue and Moir are the reigning Olympic champions, but Davis and White haven’t lost in nearly two years. They should go head to head for the first time since the World Championships in March at the Grand Prix Final.
Here are the top Grand Prix season ice dance scores so far:
1. Davis/White (Skate America) — 188.23
2. Davis/White (NHK Trophy) — 186.65
3. Virtue/Moir (Skate Canada) — 181.03
4. Virtue/Moir (Trophee Bompard) — 180.96
5. Weaver/Poje (Skate Canada) — 175.23
6. Ilinykh/Katsalapov (Trophee Bompard) — 171.89
7. Pechalat/Bourzat (Trophee Bompard) 171.08
8. Cappellini/Lanotte (Skate America) — 168.49
9. Pechalat/Bourzat (Cup of China) — 165.68
10. Bobrova/Soloviev (Cup of China) — 163.42
Trophee Eric Bompard
Women’s
1. Ashley Wagner (USA) 194.37
2. Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) 189.81
3. Anna Pogorilaya (RUS) 184.69
4. Samantha Cesario (USA) 172.70
5. Mae Berenice Meite (FRA) 166.11
6. Amelie Lacoste (CAN) 158.11
7. Viktoria Helgesson (SWE) 153.27
8. Christina Gao (USA) 152.85
9. Natalia Popova (UKR) 136.43
Ice Dance
1. Virtue/Moir (CAN) 180.96
2. Ilinykh/Katsalapov (RUS) 171.89
3. Pechalat/Bourzat (FRA) 171.08
4. Zhiganshina/Gazsi (GER) 147.27
5. Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA) 143.26
6. Monko/Khaliavin (RUS) 139.96
7. Coomes/Buckland (GBR) 128.59
8. Orford/Williams (CAN) 119.60
