After five Grand Prix events, two ice dance teams from Team USA have already qualified for the Grand Prix Finals. 2014 Olympians Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Maia and Alex Shibutani, will compete at the finals next month in Barcelona. This weekend, 10 members of Team USA competed at Trophée Eric Bompard at Bordeaux, France. Here is a quick recap of how Team USA did.
Men
After not placing at Rostelecom Cup, the men of Team USA are looking to reach the podium at Trophée Eric Bompard. After a third place finish at Cup of China, Richard Dornbush was hoping to take home his second Grand Prix medal and possibly earn a trip to Barcelona for the Grand Prix Final. After the short program, he found himself in medal contention, sitting in fourth place. However, Dornbush had some difficults in free skate, doubling both of his planned triple axels. He ended up finishing in 7th place. Dornbush also battled some food poisoning while he was in France, which affected his skating. Fellow Team USA teammate, Adam Rippon, was looking to redeem himself after a disappointing showing at Skate Canada, where he finished in 10th place. In France, Rippon posted a season high short program score of 76.98 and was in 7th place heading into the free skate. In the free skate, Rippon posted a 148.44 and finished overall with a 225.42, which was enough to finish in 5th place. Douglas Razzano also competed in Bordeaux. Razzano came to France after just winning a gold medal at Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria last weekend. After the short program, Razzano was sitting in 11th place. He would finish the event in 10th place.
Ladies
In France, Ashley Wagner, who won silver at Skate Canada, was looking to qualify for her third consecutive Grand Prix Final. Wagner was the two-time reigning gold medalist at this event. After the short program, Wagner found herself in third place, behind Russia’s Elena Radionova and Julia Lipnitskata. With some mistakes in the free skate, Wagner was unable to pull ahead of Radionova and Lipnitskata and would end up taking home the bronze. With a silver at Skate Canada and bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard, Wagner has 24 points in the Grand Prix standings. She will now have to wait and see if that will be enough for her to qualify for the Grand Prix Finals in Barcelona. Fellow Team USA teammate Courtney Hicks, who just missed the podium at Skate Canada, had two solid skates in Bordeaux. She would just miss the bronze medal and finish in fourth place once again. Samantha Cesario, who also just missed the podium at Skate America last month, finished in seventh place in France.
Pairs
Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim represented Team USA in the pairs event in Bordeaux. The pair was looking for their first Grand Prix medal. They missed the podium at Skate America last month and finished in 4th place. In France, the pair had their best free skate of the season and finished in 4th place.
Ice Dance
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue represented Team USA in the ice dance team at Trophée Eric Bompard. Hubbell and Donohue won bronze at Skate Canada and were looking for another Grand Prix medal. They last competed at this event in 2012 where they just missed the podium, finishing in 4th place. This time around, they were able to get on the podium, finishing in third place and taking home their second bronze of the Grand Prix season. For more on the ice dance competition, visit Ice-Dance.com.
