The US figure skater Isabeau Levito has taken the lead in the figure skating short program at Thee Grand Prix de France 2023. Levito wowed audiences with her performance named “Yearning” on Friday, with only her opening jump being marked down.
According to AP News, The Grand Prix de France is a part of the ISU Grand Prix series, the third of six events. Competitors that qualify will meet at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing from December 7 to 10. The Grand Prix de France competition ends on Saturday.
Levito scored perfect marks, a total of 71.83 points and according to the Olympic’s report, the score was a massive improvement from her mark at Skate America earlier this year where she won silver.
“I felt like it was a much better program than I skated at Skate America. I’m happy with the improvement, and there’s still room to improve for my next competitions,” the 16-year-old said.
Running alongside her is Anastasia Gubanova from Georgia, who scored 66.73 points, and Lee Hae-in from South Korea, who scored 66.30 points.
In the men’s category, U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin is in the slim lead with 101.58 points, just ahead of France’s Adam Siao Him Fa and Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.
“There’s a couple of small mistakes, but it happens. I was just too excited from what I did, and I just got a little bit ahead of myself,” said Malinin. “It taught me that sometimes you just have to still be focused until the end of the program.”
