Russia

16-year-old Medvedeva wins Grand Prix Final

Published Dec. 12, 2015 3:17 p.m. ET

foxsports

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) One year after winning the junior Grand Prix Final, 16-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia was crowned the senior women's champion following her masterful free skate on Saturday.

Skating on the same rink in Barcelona, this year's junior world champion coasted through her routine to Rene Aubry's ''Allegro'' before receiving a shower of flowers from the cheering crowd.

She added to her leading short program with 147.96 points for a total score of 222.54.

''I didn't really expect this result here, but I worked really hard for it,'' Medvedeva said through a translator. ''I am very pleased with my first senior season and that I got to the Grand Prix Final. The main difference (this year) is the huge ovation I got from the crowd. It was great to give that kind of happiness with my skating.''

Satoko Miyahara of Japan was second with 201.13, followed by another Russian 16-year-old, Elena Radionova, with 201.13.

Earlier, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje successfully defended their ice dance title.

The Canadian couple earned a season-best 109.91 points from a free dance to ''On the Nature of Daylight'' by Max Richter and ''Run'' by Ludovico Einaudi.

''We were so shocked to win the title last year,'' Weaver said. ''And we knew this year it was going to be a battle with so many teams so close. It feels amazing.''

Their winning total of 182.66 points left Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States runners-up with 177.55 for the second straight year in Barcelona. Their silver meant the U.S. has medaled at nine straight Grand Prix Finals dating back to 2007 in ice dance.

Bates said they struggled with their free skate because they had ''changed about 50 percent'' of the routine in the last month.

Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte were third with 176.37 points.

The men's free skate takes place later.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia won the pair's title on Friday.

Get more from Russia Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Russia

Japan