Nakai edges Sakamoto and Levito at figure skating Grand Prix de France

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ANGERS, France (AP) — The figure skating Grand Prix season started with a surprise when Ami Nakai took the lead ahead of three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto in the women's short program at the Grand Prix de France on Friday.

On her Grand Prix debut, former world junior bronze medalist Nakai landed the competition's only triple axel jump at the start of her program on her way to a score of 78 points.

Nakai's fellow Japanese skater Sakamoto could manage only 76.20, while 2024 world silver medalist Isabeau Levito of the United States was third on 73.37 ahead of Saturday's free skate.

The pairs event was set for a fight for the Grand Prix gold between two sets of world champions after Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, world champions in 2023 and this year, led the short program ahead of Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won world gold in 2024.

Both pairs delivered near-flawless short programs but Miura and Kihara, skating to a cover of “Paint It Black” on strings, edged ahead on 79.44. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 74.26.

Hungary's Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko were third on 70.15 ahead of two U.S. pairs, Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman on 63.31 and Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy on 61.79.

The Grand Prix de France is the first of six regular season Grand Prix events building to a final in December. The series is a key competitive test for top-level skaters eyeing medals at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.

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