For a second straight year, a first-year senior skater swept through the Grand Prix season, knocking off a Russian star in the process. This time, it’s Japanese 16-year-old Rika Kihira, who handed Olympic champion Alina Zagitova defeat at the Grand Prix Final on Saturday.
Kihira landed triple Axels in both programs in Vancouver, totaling 233.12 points to relegate Zagitova to silver by 6.59. Zagitova lost for the second time in her two-year senior career. Another Russian, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, took bronze, stepping out of her triple Axel landing.
Kihira, eighth at last season’s junior world championships, joined Mao Asada and Fumie Suguri as Japanese women to win the Grand Prix Final, the second-biggest annual international competition.