Grand Prix de Rion Sumiyoshi: Grand Prix de France Recap

     Hello!! Today I am writing up a little recap of the first grand prix event of the 2025/26 figure skating season. Grand Prix de France was a highly competitive event, especially within women and dance. We had many front runners present -- Ilia Malinin, Kaori Sakamoto, Miura/Kihara, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps, and Fear/Gibson, which made the event much more lively. I feel sometimes the first grand prix can be a little lower scored in comparison to others (like skate america last season) but this year did not disappoint!

    In the men's event, Ilia Malinin easily ran home with the gold, albeit with an easier layout than in previous competitions, he still got a monstrous score that will be hard to beat, regardless of how terrific someone like Yuma Kagiyama skates.

     In the silver, we saw Adam Siao Him Fa defy the odds and land some jumps and end up with the 2nd place finish. Adam has been suffering with a list of injuries since his big breakout season a few years back. It's great to see him showcasing a similar form, even if we know he's still pretty injured. 

    In the bronze, we saw Nika Egadze score a new personal best in the short program and land his first grand prix podium placement. Nika has been on a steady incline for the last couple of seasons, placing fourth in both of his grand prix events the last two seasons and at Europeans last year. If Nika stays this consistent, he is a definite podium threat for Europeans, and might be a contender for the grand prix final. It still gives me some whiplash to see his coach, Eteri Tutberidze at the boards and knc... 

    As for some other notable mentions, Lukas Britschgi, notable feminist and cultural appreciator (and appropriator) landed in the fourth place after having a great comeback in the free skate. We also saw a good skate from Andrew Torgashev in the free & two solid skates for Francois Pitot of France! This men's event was no short of menning, which isn't really surprising seeing this crowd, but I think the top three skates were deserved!

    Moving onto the women, we had a fiery upset with Ami Nakai beating the three-time world champion, Kaori Sakamoto!! Ami landed two triple axels between her two programs, and had a relatively clean program (outside of her first 3A in the free skate). While Ami is still growing and can have her inconsistency, this shake up and MASSIVE score is going to give her some momentum and newfound confidence going into the later half of the grand prix series. 

    Kaori Sakamoto ended up in the second place with two solid programs. I felt as though her landings were a little tentative in the short program, but her free skate was much more solid. A few minor spin problems cost her the gold here, and it's a testament to the internal strength of the Japanese team. Kaori's programs are a wonderful showcase of her skills, and are some of the best material she's had this quad. Going back to Benoit was a good choice, and I'm going to be so so emotional seeing her skate this season.

    Rion Sumiyoshi is the queen of Grand Prix de France after winning the bronze medal 4 consecutive times. This time though, she skated the best I think I've seen her skate. While I wish she debuted a new free skate, I can't lie when I say that she is one of the highlights of the Japanese women's field for me. She has such great emotion on the ice, and I want her to succeed so bad. I'm wishing her the best of luck with her next grand prix event. If she keeps up scores like this, she very well has a chance to make the Olympic team!!

    As for notable mentions, Livia Kaiser is back after her collision-injury in January. While she did compete at Worlds, it's clear she was injured then and still is now. She gave a good fight and landed a really difficult 3Lz+2T+2Lo in the second half. I hope we see her come back to form in time for the Olympic games, and I hope to see her back at her best because she's a lovely skater when conditioned and healthy. The french battle between Lea Serna and Lorine Schild continues with results favoring Schild. While Lea is my personal favorite over Lorine, Lorine knows how to lay it DOWN, and she doesn't faulter under pressure. Lea has such great interpretation and a better axis in the air, but her inconsistency has plagued her over her entire career. The internal battle between the koreans also looks like a toss-up. While Chaeyeon Kim looked much better here than at Nepela Memorial last month, she is still not at her peak form. Jia Shin also looked nervous and rocky this week, but we will see her in China this week so fingers crossed. Isabeau Levito was also here this week, showing exactly what she needs to maintain a top spot in the US. She fumbled a little on her opening combination in the free skate, but was wonderful outside of that.