Kaetlyn Osmond leads after short program at Grand Prix Final
Canadian holds a slim 0.77-point advantage over Russia's Alina Zagitova
Canadian figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond holds a slim lead over her competition after the ladies short program on Friday at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya, Japan.
Judges gave Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., a score of 77.04 for her routine, just 0.77 ahead of world junior champion Alina Zagitova of Russia, who stepped out of the landing on her triple flip.
Satoko Miyahara of Japan sits third with 74.61.
The score is an international personal best for the 22-year-old Osmond.
"It felt really good and I felt really controlled," she said. "I wasn't happy with how my short program went at the Grand Prix in France and I didn't want that to happen here."
The ladies free program is set for Saturday at 5:20 a.m. ET — after the ice dance free skate, which goes at 4 a.m. ET. Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are in second place heading into the free dance. Both events will be live streamed on CBCSports.ca.
Chen takes men's title
Nathan Chen held on to his lead from the short program to edge Shoma Uno and win the men's event.
Skating to Mao's Last Dancer, the American landed three of five attempted quad jumps in his free program.
Uno, two points behind Chen after the short program on Thursday, won the free skate but it wasn't enough to overtake Chen, who finished a half point ahead with a total of 286.51 points.
Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada was third with 282.00.
The gold was an upgrade on the silver Chen won last year in his debut senior season.
"Last year, I wasn't event expecting to be at the Grand Prix Final so it's an honor to win it this year," he said.
Last year's winner and Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, didn't compete because he's recovering from a leg injury in practice last month. He's the favorite two months out from the Pyeongchang Olympics, which Chen still has to qualify for. To go to South Korea, he has to place in the top three in the U.S. championships in the first week of January.
With files from the Associated Press