American Isabeau Levito, 16, Wins First Major International Figure Skating Championship
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Levito's win makes her the first U.S. female figure skater to claim a Grand Prix title in seven years
EBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS/AFP via Getty
American figure skater Isabeau Levito performs in the Gala Exhibition at the ISU 2023 figure skating Grand Prix de France in Angers on Nov. 5, 2023.U.S. figure skater Isabeau Levito is the 2023 Grand Prix de France women’s singles champion!
The 16-year-old secured her win with a total of 203.22 points in Saturday’s short program after placing third in Friday’s free skate program with a score of 131.39, per CNN.
"I guess we'll call screwing up the second half of my routine a dramatic finish," Levito said, per Olympics.com, of the mistakes she made in her routine on Friday.
"I'm very happy with the execution of the first half of my program, but I'm glad I got through this and I will definitely be working on this a lot more once I get back to training,” she added.
Levito topped second-place finisher Nina Pinzarrone’s score of 198.80 by 4.42 points. Rion Sumiyoshi of Japan came in third place with a score of 197.76, according to the International Skating Union (ISU).
Per NBC Sports, Levito also had the highest artistic score of the competition by 2.72 points.
Levito’s win marks her first Grand Prix gold medal in her career, as she nabbed the silver in last year’s Grand Prix Final, per US Figure Skating FanZone.
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According to NBC Sports, Levito’s victory also makes her the first U.S. female skater to achieve a Grand Prix title since Ashley Wagner did at Skate America in 2016.
The achievement also makes her the youngest U.S. female figure skater since Sarah Hughes won at age 16 in 2001, the outlet reported.
Having won the Grand Prix de France in Angers — the third of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series — Levito earned her spot to compete in next month’s Grand Prix Final in Beijing.
"I'm very proud I was able to improve from last season result-wise,” Levito said, per Olympics.com. “It was my goal to win one of my Grands Prix at least to really secure that I would make it to the Final. I'm really happy I improved in this aspect."
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