Madison Chock, Evan Bates lead Grand Prix Final, seek undefeated 2023
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates lead after the rhythm dance at the Grand Prix Final, seeking their first Final title and to completed an undefeated 2023.
Chock and Bates tallied 89.15 points, the world's top rhythm dance score this season, in Beijing on Friday. They lead Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri by 3.33 going into Saturday's free dance, live on Peacock.
Chock, 31, and Bates, 34, entered the Final ranked fourth in the world by best total score this season, but won both of their fall Grand Prix Series starts. The Final is the first event of the 2023-24 season to gather all of the world's top couples.
Last March, Chock and Bates won their first world title and became the oldest ice dance world champions in history. The Final is the most prestigious annual event they've yet to win. In six previous Final appearances, they won four silver medals.
GRAND PRIX FINAL: Results | Broadcast Schedule
The Grand Prix Final ends Saturday. The free dance is followed by the women's and men's free skates. In the men's free skate, American Ilia Malinin will go last as the leader from Thursday's short program.
Earlier Friday, two-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan topped the women's short with 77.25 points, the world's top score this season. She leads Belgian Loena Hendrickx by 4.1.
American Isabeau Levito, last year's silver medalist, erred on all three jumping passes and placed sixth in the six-skater field.
Germans Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin held on to win the pairs' title by 55 hundredths of a point over world bronze medalists Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii of Italy. It was the smallest Grand Prix Final pairs' margin of victory in 12 years.
In their first season together, Hase and Volodin won both of their fall Grand Prix starts going into the Final, yet they almost withdrew from the Final after Volodin got sick after their last event two weeks ago, according to the International Skating Union.
Volodin formerly skated for his native Russia. He and Hase met in June 2022 and trained together during the 2022-23 season while not competing, according to Germany’s skating federation. Volodin's nationality change was approved this past May, and the 24-year-olds made their competition debut in September.
The top two pairs from last year were not at the Final. Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara missed the Grand Prix Series due to Kihara’s back injury. Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier didn’t enter the Grand Prix Series after saying during the 2022-23 season that it would probably be their last.
