Abbott Soars to Gold with Record Performance at Cup of China

Beijing, China (November 8, 2008) - At the third competition in the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series, Team USA claimed one gold and two silvers, bringing the American's medal total to 12 with three events remaining.

Jeremy Abbott won the men's title with the highest score ever recorded by an American man in an International Skating Union event. Stephen Carriere was second while Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto also won a silver medal.

Ladies, Free Skate

Ashley Wagner, the national bronze medalist, finished fourth overall at Cup of China with 155.59 points. She finished fourth in both the short program (55.40) and the free skate (100.19) to start her season, her first under coach Priscilla Hill.

In her free skate, Wagner started with a triple lutz-double loop combination, although the lutz earned one of the two edge deductions she received. She also landed a triple Salchow, double axel, triple toe, triple loop-double loop, triple flip and another triple lutz with an edge deduction.

Her spins, spirals and step sequences were also valued at Level 3 and Level 4.

Fellow American Katrina Hacker (134.95) dropped from fifth after the short program to eighth overall. In her eighth place free skate, Hacker under rotated a triple Salchow and the double toe in her double axel-double toe combination. Her program started with a triple toe-double toe-double loop combination and a triple Salchow-double loop.

Her spins and spirals received Level 3 and Level 4 marks while her footwork was valued at Level 2.

The medalists were Korea's Yu-Na Kim (191.75), Japan's Miki Ando (170.88) and Finland's Laura Lepisto (159.42). They finished one-two-three in both the short program and the free skate.

Hacker and Wagner are slated to compete at the NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan, at the end of the month.

Ice Dance, Free Dance

America's Belbin and Agosto were second in the free dance, only one-hundredth of a point behind Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. The Russians edged out the five-time U.S. Champions by 0.36 overall, 186.77 to 186.41.

Belbin and Agosto won the total element score by 0.10 points. But judges preferred the style of Domnina and Shabalin's Spartacus free dance and they won the program components mark by 0.11.

Domnina and Shabalin also won Thursday's compulsory dance. On Friday, Belbin and Agosto came close to eclipsing their training mates by taking the top spot in the original dance.

Russians Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski were third overall with 179.50. They finished third, fourth and third in the compulsory, original and free dances.

Belbin and Agosto are finished with Grand Prix events but their silver medal performances at Skate America and Cup of China could qualify them for the Final.

Men, Free Skate

Abbott won his first career Grand Prix medal, a gold, with a spectacular performance in Beijing. He scored a total 233.44 points, the highest score ever awarded to an American man.

He won the competition by more than 16 points.

Carriere (217.25) moved up from third place after the short program to capture the silver medal. The bronze medal went to the Czech Republic's Tomas Verner, who scored 205.48.

In his personal best free skate (156.39), set to "Eight Seasons Tangos" by Astor Piazzolla, started with a solid triple lutz and triple flip, both which received positive grades of execution. Abbott also nailed a triple axel, triple Salchow, triple axel-triple toe combination, triple lutz-double toe-double loop combination, triple loop and finished his jumping passes with a double axel.

He received the highest total element score and program components score in the free skate.

For his "Firebird" free skate, Carriere scored a personal best 145.25. He started with two strong combinations, a triple axel-double toe followed by a triple toe-double toe-double toe. His solo jumps included a triple lutz, triple axel, triple loop and triple Salchow while he also performed a triple lutz-double toe combination.

Carriere had his triple flip called for an edge deduction.

He had the second highest total element score and third highest program component score of the night.

Abbott will skate again at Cup of Russia while Carriere is scheduled for the NHK Trophy. Both could qualify for the Grand Prix Final with solid performances in their second events.

The Grand Prix continues next week in Paris, France, with Trophee Eric Bompard.

Cup of China is the third event in the six-event Grand Prix series that concludes with the Grand Prix Final in Goyang City, Korea, Dec. 10-14. The other events are Skate America in Everett, Wash., Oct. 24-26; Skate Canada, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ottawa, Canada; Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France, Nov. 15-18; Cup of Russia in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 20-23; and NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 27-30.

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, now in its 14th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative, point-scoring format. The top six scoring athletes in each discipline move onto the Grand Prix Final, which will be combined with the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.