Yevgenia Medvedeva missed the podium for the first time in her senior international career and failed to qualify for December’s Grand Prix Final, placing fourth at Internationaux de France on Saturday.
The Olympic silver medalist’s struggles continued as she nearly fell twice spinning out of jump landings in the free skate. Medvedeva dropped from third place after Friday’s short program to fourth, 13.11 points behind Japanese winner Rika Kihira.
“It’s 100 percent a mental issue,” Medvedeva said, according to the Olympic Channel. “I just wanted it so much. I pushed too hard.”
GP FRANCE: Full Results | TV/Stream Schedule
Medvedeva went undefeated for two years from 2015 to 2017 but hasn’t won in more than a year, placing second, third or fourth at her last five events since missing last season’s Grand Prix Final with a broken bone in her foot.
Training partner Alina Zagitova edged Medvedeva for gold in PyeongChang by 1.31 points, after which Medvedeva moved from Moscow to Toronto to train under Brian Orser.
Kihira, a 16-year-old in her senior international debut season, is headed to her first Grand Prix Final after landing a triple Axel at a second straight Grand Prix, though this one was under-rotated. She could be the top threat to Zagitova, who is undefeated in three events this season.
Medvedeva, after placing third at Skate Canada last month, needed to finish second in France to make the Grand Prix Final. The Final will be an all-Russian and Japanese affair, also including two-time world medalist Satoko Miyahara and 2015 World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.
The Final will not include an American woman for a third straight year. U.S. champion Bradie Tennell needed to win this week to get in, and she ended up third, jumping from sixth after the short program.
Later Saturday, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres routed the pairs’ field, beating 2016 U.S. champions Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea by 14.34 points. Kayne and O’Shea’s silver medal marked the best U.S. pairs’ finish at a Grand Prix outside the U.S. in a decade.
While James and Cipres lead the Grand Prix Final qualifiers, the U.S. failed to put a pair into the Final for a third straight year. None of the PyeongChang Olympic pairs’ medalists are competing in the Grand Prix Series.
Grand Prix Final Qualifiers
Women
1. Alina Zagitova (RUS) — 30 points
2. Rika Kihira (JPN) -- 30 points
3. Satoko Miyahara (JPN) — 28 points
4. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) — 26 points
5. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 24 points
6. Sofia Samodurova (RUS) — 24 points
Pairs
1. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres (FRA) -- 30 points
2. Yevgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS) — 30 points
3. Natalya Zabiyako/Alexander Enbert (RUS) — 30 points
4. Peng Cheng/Jin Yang (CHN) — 26 points
5. Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA) — 26 points
6. Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) — 22 points
As a reminder, you can watch the ISU Grand Prix Series live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. GO HERE to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season…NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.
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