In a women’s field stacked with triple Axels, comebacks, and Olympic contenders, Alysa Liu put the U.S. contingent squarely in the medal hunt at the Grand Prix Final, while Japan’s Mone Chiba seized the lead — and reigning champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara edged a razor-thin pairs battle to claim the title in Nagoya.

World champion Alysa Liu delivered exactly what the U.S. needed: a composed, high-quality skate that left her just behind the leader, even without the triple Axel she has teased will make an appearance.

Skating to “Promise,” Liu opened with a clean triple flip that drew strong grades of execution, then followed with a double Axel and a triple Lutz–triple loop combination in the bonus half of the program. The loop was called a quarter under rotated, but she still earned 75.79 points, backed by a 40.64 technical score and 35.15 in components, good for 2nd place and a prime starting position for the free skate.

It’s a continuation of Liu’s resurgence: the 2025 world champion is skating her first Grand Prix Final and has already collected a win at Skate America and silver at Grand Prix China this season. With a strong free skate, she has a legitimate shot to add a Grand Prix Final medal to her resume — and further strengthen her candidacy for a second Olympic team in 2026.

Out front, Mone Chiba made her case as the skater to beat. The 2025 world bronze medalist and two-time Grand Prix winner this season opened with a textbook 3F–3T combination, followed by a high, flowing double Axel and a late triple Lutz that earned over seven points with bonus and GOE. She posted 77.27 points, including 41.35 in elements and 35.92 in program components.

Chiba’s performance in her “Last Dance” short program underscored why she’s the only woman this season to win both of her Grand Prix assignments. After defeating three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto at domestic events and edging Amber Glenn at Grand Prix Finland, the Sendai native — who once looked up to Yuzuru Hanyu “like a big brother” — now has a real chance at her first Grand Prix Final title in just her second appearance.

Japan’s next wave was right behind. Ami Nakai, the 17-year-old Grand Prix France champion, went all-in on difficulty, attempting a triple Axel to open. She landed the jump but with heavy negative GOE, then bounced back with a 3Lz–3T combination and a strong triple loop, scoring 73.91 points for 3rd place.

Teammate Rinka Watanabe — known for some of the most ambitious technical layouts in the field — landed a clean 3A with positive GOE, but a heavily under-rotated 3Lz–3T held her back. She finished 4th with 70.68, still very much in contention for the podium.

Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto took 5th (69.40) after an uncharacteristic opening mistake: she singled her planned Lutz, receiving zero points for the element. Even so, she reminded everyone why she’s been the sport’s standard-bearer for years, posting the highest component marks of the night (36.28 PCS) to stay in striking distance.

For defending Grand Prix Final champion Amber Glenn, the night was about damage control. Known for one of the best triple Axels in the sport, Glenn went for her trademark 3A and instead “popped” it to a single Axel — an invalid element that scored 0.00. She quickly regrouped with a strong 3F–3T combination jump, level-four spins and step sequence, and components over 33 points to finish 6th with 66.85.

Glenn’s path to the podium isn’t out of the question though: she has come back from short-program mistakes many times, including earlier this season at Grand Prix events where she stormed back in the free skate. With a high-scoring free skate that features her triple Axel and big second-half content, a climb up the standings is still very much in play.

Heading into the free skate, Chiba owns the lead, but Liu has positioned the United States squarely in the fight for gold, with Nakai, Watanabe, Sakamoto and Glenn all lurking in what could be one of the most volatile women’s showdowns of the Olympic cycle.

In one of the tightest Grand Prix Final pairs battles in recent memory, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara turned a short-program lead into overall gold, holding off Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, while Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin surged from fifth after the short to win the free skate and claim bronze.

After topping the short program, Miura and Kihara closed the event with a flowing free skate that scored 147.89, highlighted by a big triple twist and trademark amplitude on their throws and lifts. Their combined total of 225.21 was just enough to secure 1st overall and another major title on home ice.

Italy’s Conti and Macii kept the pressure on from start to finish. Sitting second after the short, they delivered a confident free skate worth 146.06, maintaining their technical difficulty and detailed choreography under intense pressure. Their two-program total of 223.28 earned them silver, reaffirming their status as one of the most reliable podium threats in the world.

The biggest climb of the night came from Hase and Volodin. Fifth after the short, they attacked the free skate with clean side-by-side jumping passes, powerful throws and secure lifts to post the highest free skate score of the event, 149.57. That performance rocketed them to 221.25 total points and 3rd overall, turning what had looked like an outside-medal chance into a Grand Prix Final podium.

Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava finished 4th overall with 211.53 after a strong but slightly less explosive free skate (136.49), while Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko were close behind in 5th with 208.33 , continuing their quiet, steady rise on the international stage.

Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps rounded out the standings in 6th with 194.36; their free skate score of 123.29 (including a one-point deduction) reflected costly errors that kept them from challenging the tightly bunched top five.

When the math was done, just under four points separated gold from bronze, underscoring how little margin there is at the top of the pairs field heading toward Milan — and how every element, from opening twist to final spin, can decide a championship.