Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps clinched the silver medal in the pairs event at the figure skating Grand Prix de France, securing a total score of 197.66, with 123.40 in the free skate. The duo, reigning world champions from 2024, received a score of 73.26 in the short program the previous day.
The gold in the pairs event went to Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who scored 219.15, despite Miura making some errors in their free skate. Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko claimed the bronze with a total score of 192.76.
In another event, Canadian ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac landed in sixth place after scoring 73.75 in the rhythm dance. British pair Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson led the ice dance competition with a score of 84.38, followed by Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius in second place (80.98), and France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron in third (78.00).
Fournier Beaudry, originally from Montreal, partnered with two-time Olympic medalist Cizeron after her previous partner, Nikolaj Sorensen, faced a six-year suspension for misconduct in October 2024, which was later overturned in June.
Meanwhile, American figure skater Ilia Malinin dominated the men’s short program, earning a commanding lead with 105.22 points, followed by Nika Egadze of Georgia (95.67) and Kao Miura of Japan (87.25). French skater Adam Siao Him Fa, who has won the French Grand Prix for three consecutive years, faced a setback with a fifth-place finish in the short program.
In a surprising turn of events, Japanese skater Ami Nakai secured her first career victory by outperforming three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, leading a Japanese women’s podium sweep. Nakai’s score of 227.08, including a personal best of 149.08 in the free skate, was enough to claim the Grand Prix de France women’s title.
The Grand Prix de France marks the beginning of the season’s six regular Grand Prix events leading up to the final in December, serving as a crucial test for skaters aiming for success at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in February.
