The image of Nakai Ami upon receiving her scores after the free skate at the 2025 Grand Prix de France said it all. The 17-year-old clutched a hand over her mouth in delighted shock as 149.08 flashed up on the board on Saturday, 18 October.
Not only had she just won her career’s first senior Grand Prix, but she did so by winning both short and free programs, surpassing figure skating world champions and medallists in the process. Nakai earned 227.08 points overall.
Olympic silver medallist and three-time world champion Sakamoto Kaori was by the boards to watch her teammate skate at the Angers Iceparc. Just a few minutes before she had delivered a superb free skate of her own, earning 148.03 points and 224.23 overall. It put her second overall.
Fellow Japanese skater Sumiyoshi Rion was also in a celebratory mood, having scored a personal best of 145.03. It boosted her total to 216.06 and helped her to climb from fourth place after the short to third.
This result in Angers makes the fourth consecutive time that the Sumiyoshi finished third at the Grand Prix de France.
More to follow…
AloJapan.com