The Trophée Lalique in Paris, France, continued Saturday night with the Pairs, Ladies, Men Free Programs and the Free Dance. In Paris, more skaters were able to secure their place for the Final to be held in Tokyo next February (full list of final results and standings attached).

Pairs

On Saturday the competition opened with the Pairs event. Sarah Abitbol/Stéphane Bernadis (FRA) were first to skate in the second to last flight. The World bronze medallists were fourth after the Short Program and wanted to pull up to reach the podium. They opened their version of "Tristan and Isolde" (music by Maxim Rodriguez) with side by side triple toeloops. But their hopes to medal shattered, when Bernadis stepped out of the axel in the double axel-step-double toeloop. Later in the program, Abitbol two-footed the triple throw loop. The couple impressed with difficult lifts, but overall they're performance was not as polished as it had been at the Sparkassen Cup in Germany two weeks ago. This time, Abitbol/Bernadis had to settle for fourth place. Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek of Poland landed side-by-side triple toeloops and a double axel-steps-double toeloop sequence, but Zagorska touched down on the triple throw salchow. The husband and wife team remained fifth.

Overnight leaders Jamie Sale/David Pelletier of Canada opened the final flight. The Four Continents Champions landed a beautiful triple throw loop at the beginning of their emotional "Tristan and Isolde" by Richard Wagner (arranged by Franz Waxman), but then they seemed to loose confidence. Sale stumbled on the side by side triple toeloop and touched down with both hands on the double axel. The triple throw salchow was fine, but overall the Canadians did not seem "on" tonight. Their marks went up to 5,8 for technique and up to 5,9 for presentation, and they had to wait and see if that would be enough to win. Right after them, two-time World Champions Berezhnaya/Anton Sikhuralidze (RUS) took to the ice. The Russians had to overcome a shaky start as Berezhnaya had a wobbly landing on the side by side triple toeloop and Sikhuralidze caught her too late on the triple twist. They recovered and produced a side by side double axel-steps-double toeloop sequence, an impressive triple throw loop and strong lifts, but Berezhnaya put her hand down on the ice on the triple throw salchow towards the end of the "Charlie Chaplin" routine. However, the Russian Champions managed to combine the funny and entertaining choreography of their program with difficult elements. It was a close decision, as four judges gave Berezhnaya/Sikhuralidze first place ordinals while three put Sale/Pelletier in first. Thus, the Russian team won their second Grand Prix competition and beat the Canadians, who had placed ahead of them at Skate Canada.

Kyoko Ina/Johns Zimmerman (USA) skated last. They put together a good performance that included side by side triple toeloops and double axels, a triple twist and nice connecting moves. Ina touched down on the two triple throws - loop and salchow. The judges were divided between the US Champions and Abitbol/Bernadis, but the Americans came out on top. They claimed the bronze medal, their first one of this season's Grand Prix series. "We only had a half good program at Cup of Russia, but we had a pretty decent performance here", commented Ina. Sikhuralidze was happy with how the competition went for them, although they did not feel that they skated their best. "It has been a difficult competition for us, because we just came from Cup of Russia. There, we had two great programs we put everything in there, all emotions. Here, I felt empty", he admitted. "We could have been better. We did a few mistakes", said Pelletier. "Overall I cannot complain, we had a good result."

Trophée Lalique was a non-scoring event for Berezhnaya/Sikhuralidze, Sale/Pelletier and Abitbol/Bernadis. The Canadians are leading the overall standings after their two wins at Skate America and Skate Canada (24 points), the Russians are second with 21 points. Abitbol/Bernadis currently have 12 points from their win at Sparkassen Cup and aim to secure their spot in the Final next week at the NHK Trophy in Japan. Ina/Zimmerman collected 7 points in Paris and now have 12 points overall, which will most likely not be enough for them to make the Final.

Ladies

Russia's Viktoria Volchkova, in second place after the Short Program, opened her Free Program to music by Saint-Preux with a double axel and a spectacular triple lutz-double toeloop combination. The 18-year-old from Moscow completed five clean triples altogether. She doubled a salchow, but then she repeated it. Her marks ranged from 5.5 to 5.7 for technique and from 5.4 to 5.7 for presentation. Volchkova remained second and claimed the silver medal. "I made some mistakes, but it is a happy end for me, and I'm glad to be second. I'll work on my mistakes and hopefully I'll do better next time", Volchkova commented.

Up next was reigning World Junior Champion Jennifer Kirk (USA). The American delivered a strong performance that included a triple toeloop-triple toeloop combination and five more triples as well as nice spins. However, in comparison to the top skaters, the 16-year-old lacked speed and ice coverage. Although she did not manage to completely land backwards her two lutz jumps, Kirk did leaped onto the podium, capturing the bronze medal in her first senior Grand Prix event. "I feel very good about my performances" smiled Kirk. "I skated both programs very well. I think I could have skated a little bit faster. I'm happy that I got a medal!"

Overnight leader Maria Butyrskaya (RUS) made a strong impression in her practices and started well into her Long Program with a triple lutz-double toeloop combination. The 1999 World Champion then fell on a high triple flip but recovered to complete her triple toeloop-half loop-triple salchow combination, a triple loop and a double axel. Butyrskaya also showed flow and elegance in her romantic routine to music out of the Russian movie "17 Moments in spring". The superior choreography and her high jumps gave her the edge over her competitors, and she scored marks up to 5,7 for technique and up to 5,9 for presentation. All the judges placed the two-time European Champion in first. "To be honest, I had expected a bit more of myself today", said Butyrskaya. "I skated better in Germany (at the Sparkassen Cup) shortly before this competition. Now I'm glad that it's over and that I'm first!"

Vanessa Gusmeroli from France sat in third after the Short Program but she faltered in her "Jeanne d'Arc" Free Program. Gusmeroli landed only two triples and dropped to fourth.

Butyrskaya scored 12 points and now leads the Grand Prix standings with 24 points. She is qualified for the Final. Volchkova has 13 points from two events and will have to wait and see if this is enough to qualify. Kirk gained 7 points and will compete again next week in Japan.

Men

Roman Serov (RUS), second after the Short Program, was first to skate of the last warm up group. The Muscovite seemed to be nervous and doubled his opening loop, which he had planned to be a quadruple. He pulled himself together to produce a triple axel-triple toeloop combination but struggled during the rest of the program, as he doubled the lutz, as well as two more loop attempts and stepped out of his second axel. The 24-year-old was third in the Free Program and won the bronze medal, his first in a Grand Prix event. "I was nervous, but I don't know why", he said.

Vincent Restencourt (FRA) ran into trouble right from the beginning when he popped his intended quadruple toeloop and his axel. Later in his program, Restencourt pulled off a triple axel and a wonky triple axel-double toeloop combination, but doubled three more jumps. His spins and steps in his "Mummy" program seemed to lack confidence. The 19-year-old dropped from third to fourth.

Although Alexei Yagudin (RUS) felt it would be an "relatively easy competition" for him (as he stated yesterday), he did not hold back at all in his Free Program to the "Gladiator" soundtrack. The three-time World Champion reeled off a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop, a triple axel-triple toeloop combination and five more triples. The powerful performance with fast footwork brought the audience to their feet. Yagudin raised his arms in triumph at the end and then, overwhelmed, he buried his face in his hands. The judges awarded him all 5,8s and 5,9s for technique and three 6,0s for presentation. "One thing was to do the jumps, but the other thing was to present the music well and to show why I chose this music", Yagudin explained. Stanick Jeannette of France had the difficult task to skate right after the Russian. He fell on his triple axel, a few seconds into this routine, but was able to recover in the second half of his original program set to a new arrangement of Camille Saint-Saens' "Rondo Capriccioso". The performance of the French Champion featured interesting spin positions and six clean triples. Jeannette surged from fourth to second and won his first medal in the ISU Grand Prix series.

At the Trophée Lalique, Yagudin won another 12 points securing for himself a spot in the Final. Jeannette scored 9 points, while Serov got 7. As both competitors did not win enough points in their first Grand Prix events, they are probably not qualified for the Final.

Ice Dance

The ice dance event was focused on the battle between World Champions Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat (FRA) and Russia's Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh. The Russian team had overtaken the French in the Original Dance. From the two top contenders, Lobacheva/Averbukh skated first. The husband-and-wife team presented a dynamic program to "Toccata and Fugue" by Johann Sebastian Bach. The dance featured interesting lifts and good footwork. During some parts of their performance, the Russians skated just a bit far away from each other. Their marks ranged from 5.5 to 5.8 for technical merit and from 5.7 to 5.9 for presentation. Anissina/Peizerat took the ice right after the Russian couple, and saw the marks of their competitors. They knew that any mistake would cost them dearly. Peizerat looked nervous at the beginning, but as soon as the music from "Beethoven's Last Night" started, the couple was right on. Their routine contained intricate footwork at high speed, many turns and innovative lifts, including a new variation of an inverse lift. When the program ended, Peizerat hugged his partner tightly. The French scored marks from 5.6 to 5.8 for technique and from 5.8 to one perfect 6.0 for presentation. Thus, Anissina/Peizerat took the gold. "We skated better than at Skate Canada", said Peizerat. "We are glad that we got a good response from the audience, but also from the judges and from the French Federation. Our program still has room left for improvement, and it will be perfect at the World Championships." Lobacheva/Averbukh were equally pleased with their performance. "We did better than in St. Petersburg (at the Cup of Russia last week), and we are happy to be second. In our dance, I'm meeting fate - Irina is the fate. I want to cheat fate, to overcome it, but it prevails in the end."

The bronze medal went to Germany's Kati Winkler/René Lohse. Although Lohse was suffering from a cold and didn't feel well, they put in a convincing performance to Gospel songs. The dance featured nice moves and strong footwork. "I felt like my legs would explode at the end of the program", commented Lohse. "It was hard." They were happy to have won the bronze, but are looking forward to progress further. "We still need to work a lot on that program", explained Winkler. "We'll think of what we can do better." US Champions Naomi Lang/Peter Tchernyshev stayed fourth. They presented a flowing and soft Free Dance that contained a great variation of lifts.

Anissina/Peizeat took another 12 points and have qualified for the Grand Prix Final. Lobacheva/ Averbukh scored 9 points securing their place in Tokyo. The Trophée Lalique was the first scoring event for Winkler/Lohse, who will be competing again next week at the NHK Trophy at which they hope to score enough points to make the Final. The NHK Trophy in Asahikawa, Japan, is the last qualifying competition for the Final, and quite a few skaters will be battling for the last open spots.

The Trophée Lalique concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala.

For further information please contact:
Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final				Trophée Lalique
Aline Bussat Ingwersen, ISU Media Coordinator		Sylvie Fourcade, Press Officer
+41 21 612 66 66						+33 1 44 68 44 35
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch 					E-mail: presse@bercy.fr

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