Grand Prix Final Final Competition
Barcelona, Spain
The top six skaters we'll see today have survived the brutal GP Series.
Here they come, on their way to the number one spot.
Men's Singles Top 6
In sixth place, Katsuki Yuri was the last qualifier.
GP Series, 6th Place Katsuki Yuri (24)
Will he redeem himself in his second Final?
Cup of China: 2nd Place Rostelecom Cup: 4th Place
With Victor Nikiforov as his coach this season,
he'll try to prove the power of love by winning gold in the Final.
GP Series, 5th Place Phichit Chulanont (20)
Phichit Chulanont finished fifth in the Grand Prix Series.
He's on a roll after becoming the first Thai skater to win gold at the Cup of China.
Skate America: 4th Place Cup of China: Gold
In his first Final, he'll rewrite history for Southeast Asian figure skating.
GP Series, 4th Place Yuri Plisetsky (15)
Yuri Plisetsky finished fourth in the Series.
Last year's junior champion, this is his senior debut.
Skate Canada: 2nd Place Rostelecom Cup: 2nd Place
He's been allowed to jump quads this season,
and he's done brilliantly, placing second in both qualifying events.
As the youngest skater at this Final,
he seeks to defend Russia's prestige by securing his first victory.
GP Series, 3rd Place Christophe Giacometti (25)
Christophe Giacometti finished third in the Series.
His mature skating and giant quadruple Lutz have bewitched the entire world.
Cup of China: 3rd Place Trophée de France: Gold
He'll aim for his first victory at the Final.
GP Series, 2nd Place Otabek Altin (18)
Otabek Altin finished second in the Series.
Kazakhstan's hero won bronze at the World Championship,
Skate America: 2nd Place NHK Trophy: Gold
before his first GP victory in the NHK Trophy.
His first Final qualification is another upset.
GP Series, 1st Place Jean-Jacques Leroy (19)
Finishing first in the Series is Jean-Jacques Leroy,
Skate Canada: Gold Rostelecom Cup: Gold
the man of the hour and the only qualifier to win both his events.
Short Program + Free Program Six Quadruple Jumps
In both his short program and free skate, he jumped six quads.
JJ sets the rules for the rest of the world!
The final round is about to begin here in Barcelona!
Grand Prix Final to Begin Battle of the World's Top 6 Skaters
Barcelona Spain
Eleventh Skate Gotta Super-Supercharge It!! Grand Prix Final Short Program
Gotta Super-Supercharge It!!
Grand Prix Final Short Program.
Grand Prix Final Skating Order Katsuki Yuri Phichit Chulanont Yuri Plisetsky Christophe Giacometti Otabek Altin Jean-Jacques Leroy
Barcelona, Spain Official Warm-up Before the Event
And now, Katsuki Yuri is the last skater remaining on the ice.
Yuri.
Yes?
His coach is empowering their matching rings in a prayer for victory.
Why matching rings?
Yuri, good luck!
Lucky... I wish I had one with Sala!
Sure. I'll say something you won't even have to think about.
Tomorrow, show me the skating that you can honestly say you liked best.
I'm off!
He's greeted by a roaring crowd as he takes the ice.
Yuri!
Katsuki Yuri of Japan.
You can do it!
Yuri-kun!
One year after he finished the Final in last place,
Katsuki Yuri is about to start his short program.
He is skating to "On Love: Eros."
So, Oda-san, he's supposedly changed his jump composition in this program.
Yes, after the Rostelecom Cup, it was changed for even higher marks.
Even if I top my personal best again, I can't beat JJ.
His program has 5.22 points on mine in the jumps' base value alone.
If I don't change my program...
You want to change the jump to a quad flip in your short program?
You've barely even landed that jump cleanly in practice.
Yeah.
But I still have time to improve the execution.
Finding out how far I can push my limits to win
will motivate me to fight through the Final!
Don't you want to see it, Victor?
To see me land a quadruple flip with a +3 GOE?
I do!
Right?
Since then, I've focused practice time on the quadruple flip,
but my success rate is still low.
I've decided to go for it, though.
Yuri doesn't doubt his decisions anymore.
And yet, I feel like my own heart is about to explode.
A triple axel.
That jump has a difficult entry, so it will get higher marks.
Next up is a quadruple jump combination.
Quadruple Salchow, triple toe loop.
Yes!
Another success!
Excitement courses through the body, down to the toes,
and is released!
Now, the highly anticipated quadruple flip.
Good, just use that speed to...
A quadruple flip,
but one hand on the ice.
That spin received a level four rating again this season.
That was close!
That flip had enough rotation, right?
It was fine!
Yuri-kun's sit spin position is so beautiful!
Dad, what would the base value be?
I'm calculating that now!
What do you have in mind for next season?
When I approached every program like a new beginning,
I could always surprise everyone.
But that also held me back...
"I can only find new strength on my own."
That's what I always thought.
Here comes the score for Katsuki Yuri.
RK: 1 Katsuki Yuri Total
His score is 97.83.
It didn't break the 100 mark, but it's still a high score.
Now I can feel new emotions flowing into me through Yuri.
What should I give Yuri now?
Next is Thailand's Phichit Chulanont.
He is skating to "Shall We Skate?"
He has a lot of supporters here from Thailand.
Here comes the first jump...
A triple axel.
Phichit Chulanont is the first Thai skater to advance to a Grand Prix Final.
His career began when his talent was discovered
as he skated at a rink in a Bangkok commercial district.
He moved to Detroit by himself to train under Coach Celestino.
Last year, he made Thailand his home rink again.
Triple Lutz, triple toe loop.
My only quad is the toe loop.
It'll be hard to earn higher scores than the others.
A quadruple toe loop.
I have no past accomplishments to defend.
This is my new beginning!
It's a waste if I'm not as excited as a child
Massimo!
drawing art no one's ever seen before on a blank canvas!
Yuri...
I want to skate to "Shall We Skate?"
Even though it stars a Thai actor,
no Thai skater has ever used the music in a program.
Someday, I'll skate to it at a major competition.
You'll be there, too, Yuri!
That was a flawless performance from Phichit Chulanont!
Bravo!
He seems to be feeling a release from the immense pressure.
Really, that was amazing.
Phichit-kun... You were a perfect entertainer until the very end!
How long are you idiots gonna sit in the kiss and cry?!
Yurio...
Davai.
RK: 2 Phichit Chulanont Total
Phichit Chulanont's score is 95.73!
Ciao Ciao!
That's a new personal best!
Yeah!
He's currently in second!
Here's Russia's next generation, Yuri Plisetsky.
Yurio!
Davai! Davai!
He is skating to "On Love: Agape."
The program was choreographed by Victor Nikiforov.
Yuri Plisetsky has said that his relative lack of experience
kept him from skating to his full potential at the Rostelecom Cup due to nerves.
Here comes the first jump.
A triple axel.
He used a raised arm with the jump, earning higher marks for a greater degree of difficulty.
A flying sit spin.
He won at the Golden Spin, held right before the Final.
All Yuri lacks in the senior division is experience.
Yuri has sought help to address that,
and we have provided the resources.
His short program will have "agape" as its theme.
I believe he's found an entrance to "love" through his many encounters with others.
People shine brightest when they
seek to understand what kind of love sustains them.
Vitya...
Now, in the second half of his program,
we'll see a quadruple-triple combination.
Quadruple Salchow, triple toe loop.
That was mind-blowing!
He did the jump with one arm raised. It was perfect.
The last jump is also a quad.
A quadruple toe loop.
He did it!
This time, he had both arms raised.
All of his jumps were flawless!
Here comes the step sequence.
Huh? Victor's not here.
He's attempting difficult elements with the highest possible execution.
A beautiful monster continues to evolve to even greater heights!
Oh... My mind went blank in the middle of it.
Victor—
What score will we see here?
Yuri Plisetsky's score is 118.56!
RK: 1 Yuri Plisetsky Total
He's surpassed the world record set by Victor Nikiforov!
I've got this!
That's my Yuratchka!
I got curious about how it was going, too.
Chris is about to take the ice. Let's find a seat.
Okay.
The next skater is Christophe Giacometti of Switzerland, age 25.
The audience is still awestruck by Yuri Plisetsky's new world record,
Chris!
but the arena is filling with Swiss flags!
He is skating to "Intoxicated."
He's changing the mood 180 degrees, from agape to adult sex appeal.
He's planned a quad for his first jump.
A quadruple Lutz.
Look at the flow of that jump!
Combination spin.
Though he's advanced to the Final each year,
Christophe Giacometti has never won the event.
How does longtime rival Victor Nikiforov feel
as he watches him perform from the audience?
Yuri, you're not the only skater
who's always watched Victor climb the podium until now.
Given my age, I won't be able to qualify for the Final much longer.
To tell the truth, the first season without Victor is boring...
Chris, we're here.
You always come too early.
But that's why I'll make this Final extra special!
A triple axel.
That was perfect.
The jump's height and distance were flawless.
Victor, watch this from the audience.
Victor...
I thought the same thing when he watched Yurio earlier, but...
Oops, that quad was just a bit under-rotated.
His last jump had a flaw, but of course, it's still Chris.
Everything in his program has great execution.
He may outscore me.
I don't give up that easily, you know.
Christophe Giacometti's score is 102.37!
Chris!
He's passed Katsuki Yuri and is currently in second place.
Davai!
Now we have Otabek Altin of Kazakhstan.
This is his very first Final, after finishing the Grand Prix Series in second.
Davai!
He is skating to "Samarkand Overture."
Altin is a dark horse in this year's Grand Prix Series.
He was telling us that he'd like to bring gold back to his country.
Here's the first jump.
Quadruple toe loop, triple toe loop!
Success!
Otabek wasn't very memorable in the past.
He's completely different now.
He wasn't known at all until the junior division.
Otabek, why are you embarrassed?
I have fewer resources, and the other talent is overwhelming.
If I can't demonstrate something they can't do,
I'll never win.
I haven't done ballet ever since.
There is no right path.
The ice is a battlefield.
I am going to survive!
A triple axel.
Look at that height and distance!
That's Otabek Altin's triple axel!
The last jump...
A quadruple Salchow.
That had great flow!
Otabek's jumps were flawless, too.
His skating shows no hesitation.
That determination is very much his trademark.
Another score higher than the pig's.
He's great.
That was very exotic!
It felt so fresh!
Come on, go.
JJ, show them! Show them good!
Otabek Altin's score is 112.38!
Wow!
He beat his personal best again, and he's currently in second!
RK: 2 Otabek Altin Total
It's like a "new personal best" party!
Yuri Plisetsky remains in first place as we welcome the last skater,
Yeah!
Jean-Jacques Leroy.
He has a huge group of supporters here from Canada.
Just listen to all the "JJ" shouts in the arena.
He's the only skater here who won both his qualifying events
with flawless performances.
He is skating to "Theme of King JJ."
What I'm after isn't just
complete supremacy over the Grand Prix Series,
but also a grand slam of the Canadian Nationals,
the Four Continents, and World Championship.
Right now, it's totally within my reach—
Hmm, the quadruple toe loop...
He'd planned a combination, but there was only one jump.
I'll just turn the quad in the second half into a combination!
No problem!
The triple axel turned into a single...
Oops.
JJ...
Damn it.
He let himself be swallowed by the Grand Prix Final pressure.
Once I win the World Championship, let's get married.
JJ!
I bet you can win every single title.
Yes, JJ... You can do it.
JJ, you can win the grand slam.
So this is... the pressure of the Grand Prix Final...
JJ...
never...
gives up!
Thank you.
I can hear all of you!
Last up is his giant quadruple Lutz.
How will it go?
Of course I'll choose to take risks!
It turned into a single.
It's like seeing myself from last year.
No, this is different.
JJ just can't stay stuck in one place.
No one has the right to mock the challenge he's taken on.
I have no regrets for taking on my own challenge this time, either!
After all, I've managed to become one of the final six.
We have Jean-Jacques Leroy's score.
RK: 6 Jean-Jacques Leroy Total
It's 86.71, his lowest score thus far in his senior division career.
I don't understand what's happening.
JJ! JJ! JJ!
Stop!
It's JJ Style!
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
To Be Continued!!!
The short program standings are:
Yuri Plisetsky in first place,
Otabek Altin in second place,
and Christophe Giacometti in third place,
with the remaining rankings as seen.
Yuri of Russia earns a world record score! Japan's Katsuki Yuri vows to turn the tables
Grand Prix Final Tomorrow: The Free Skate
I'll go for the gold in my free skate.
Katsuki Yuri will enter the free skate in fourth place.
Apparently, Minako-sensei's drinking with Celestino at a bar.
Wow, best to keep our distance.
By the way, Yuri... What did you want to talk to me about?
Right.
After the Final, let's end this.
The final event Victor and I will face together is about to begin.
The eight months I spent with Victor
was the most intense time in my competitive figure skating career.
I'll be sure to skate my and Victor's love, laid bare to the world!
Next time, Final Skate:
Final Skate Gotta Super-Super-Supercharge It!! Grand Prix Final Free Skate
Gotta Super-Super-Supercharge It!!!
Grand Prix Final Free Skate.