Ghilardi and Ambrosini end nine-year dry spell
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy took their first Grand Prix gold medal in Espoo, Finland, on November 26, 2022.
2022 Grand Prix Espoo – Pairs
Italy’s Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini won the gold to end a nine-year dry spell for the Pairs discipline at the grand prix event in Espoo. Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert of Germany rose from fourth place to capture the silver, while Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman earned the bronze—the first grand prix medal for a Georgian pairs team.
Ghilardi and Ambrosini end nine-year dry spell
Ghilardi and Ambrosini scored a new personal best in the short program (67.31) coming into the free skate. The team produced a level-two triple twist, double Salchows and three level-four lifts in their long program to “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” The only errors came when Ambrosini put a foot down on the back end of the double Axel-double Axel sequence, while Ghilardi slightly touched down with her foot on the throw triple loop. However, the throw triple Lutz was clean and the pair combination spin earned a level four. The 2022 U.S. International Classic Champions scored 122.43 for first place in the free skate and maintained first place overall (189.74).
With this achievement, Ghilardi and Ambrosini became the second pairs team from Italy to win a gold medal at a Grand Prix event since Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek won the title at 2013 Skate Canada.
The Italian national silver medalists have now qualified for the 2022-23 Grand Prix Final and will compete alongside teammates Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii on home ice next month.
“We were in our performance from the beginning to the end,” Ghilardi said. “We worked in the last months to feel like one person, one movement, and today we had that feeling,” added Ambrosini.
The team is looking forward to competing at the Grand Prix Final which was a big goal for them. They plan to train at home over the next two weeks for the event.
#GhilardiAmbrosini
189.74: “We are very happy about our performance today. We were in our program from the beginning to the end. We want to feel like moving together as one and achieved that today! We are very happy to have qualified for the final.”#GPFigure #GPEspoo pic.twitter.com/X2emEAIDeo
— Golden Skate (@goldenskate) November 26, 2022
Efimova and Blommaert win first grand prix medal
Despite two falls, Efimova and Blommaert finished second in the free skate (108.29). Blommaert fell on the triple Salchows, while Efimova fell on the triple toes. The team, who took silver at both challenger series events earlier this season, otherwise produced two level-four lifts, a throw triple flip and throw triple loop. Their total score of 170.75 was enough to move them up to spots onto the podium for their first grand prix medal.
“This is our second Grand Prix event and the first one we can skate to the end,” noted Efimova. “For us, this competition showed that it is important to communicate during the competition and to always fight until the end.”
The team had to withdraw from their first event at Skate Canada after the short program due to injury. They are currently looking ahead to the 2023 European Figure Skating Championships in December.
It’s the first GP medal for #EfimovaBlommaert
170.75
: “It was a new situation for us as we weren’t sure about our technical content until right before our skate. During the warm up we decided to go for both triple jumps.”#GPEspoo #GPFigure pic.twitter.com/G7BPhll3Dh
— Golden Skate (@goldenskate) November 26, 2022
Metelkina and Parkman struggled on both jumping passes in their free skate to “Lamentations” by Marimuz. Metelkina doubled her triple Salchow and slightly underrotated the triple toe, but she managed to hang on to the throw triple flip and the throw triple loop was clean. The 2021 Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalists finished third overall with 166.56 points.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t show our best,” Parkman admitted. “We always have the one goal to show the best and to progress. Today we made one big mistake and it cost a lot of points, so we cannot say we are happy. Our next competition will be Europeans, and the goal is to fix all the mistakes we made here and to improve and be better.”
#MetelkinaParkman
166.56: “I cannot say we are happy, as we had a very huge mistake and we haven’t reached our goals.
The next competiton will be Europeans and there we want to improve on everything.” #GPEspoo #GPFigure pic.twitter.com/mohQ7O4DmA— Golden Skate (@goldenskate) November 26, 2022
USA’s Anastasiia Smirnova and Danylo Siianytsia slipped to fourth overall (165.12), followed by Netherland’s Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba (146.15) and Nika Osipova and Dmitry Epstein (138.10).
The top Pair team at #GPEspoo #GPFigure:
#GhilardiAmbrosini
#MetelkinaParkman
— Golden Skate (@goldenskate) November 26, 2022
Related Info
- Full Results
- GS Forum Competition Threads
- 2022-23 Grand Prix Standings
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