Kostornaia clinches figure skating GP Final crown with stellar performance & new WR as Russians sweep ladies’ podium
![Kostornaia clinches figure skating GP Final crown with stellar performance & new WR as Russians sweep ladies’ podium](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2019.12/xxs/5dec615e20302718391e9439.jpg)
Russian figure skating rising star Alena Kostornaia has won her maiden ISU Grand Prix Final in Turin, captivating the audiences with a flawless routine, and finishing well ahead of her teammates and fellow Russian teen sensations.
Kostornaia, 16-year-old disciple of renowned Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze, gave a stunning performance at her first ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Turin, Italy, to smash a word record in the short program and in the combined total.
🥇 Alena Kostornaia 🇷🇺 wins the Ladies at the Grand Prix Final in Torino! Full results: https://t.co/UPhbKSchyn#GPFigure#FigureSkatingpic.twitter.com/IrxORO8vnh
— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) December 7, 2019
With a comfortable lead after Friday’s short skate, Kostornaia opened her free skate with two triple Axels, one in combination with a double toeloop, and breezed through the rest of her routine without much of an error, earning the record-breaking 247,59 overall score.
![Kostornaia clinches figure skating GP Final crown with stellar performance & new WR as Russians sweep ladies’ podium](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2019.12/xxs/5dec60a685f54046166bde08.jpg)
On the podium, Kostornaia was joined by fellow members of #TeamTutberidze, Anna Shcherbakova, who won silver, and Alexandra Trusova, who had to content with bronze despite making history and becoming the first woman to land a quad flip in the competition, that is in addition to a quad lutz and a quad toeloop in combination with a triple Salchow.
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2019.12/original/5dec622c85f5404b810e0adc.jpg)
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2019.12/original/5dec62b92030271806544799.jpg)
Another Tutberidze star pupil, reigning Olympic and world champion Alina Zagitova was in for a disappointing day two of the Grand Prix Final on Saturday, finishing at the bottom of the table after an error-ridden free skate dashed her hopes for a podium despite a near-perfect short program, that propelled her to the second spot on Friday.
![RT](https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2019.12/original/5dec6500203027180654479c.jpg)
Defending Grand Prix Final champ Rika Kihira also failed to cope with the pressure, and landed in forth overall, unable to recover from a disastrous short program.
The top three Ladies of the Grand Prix Final 🥇🥈🥉Full results: https://t.co/UPhbKSchyn#GPFigure#FigureSkatingpic.twitter.com/w3XIlQ5hJV
— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) December 7, 2019
American Bradie Tennell, the only other non-Russian skater in the final, finished fifth.
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