Amber Glenn of the U.S. performs in the Women's Short Program during the figure skating ISU Grand Prix competition in Helsinki, Finland, Friday Nov. 21, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
November 21, 2025 - 3:52 AM
HELSINKI (AP) — United States champion Amber Glenn took another step forward ahead of the Olympics by taking the lead in the short program in Finlandia Trophy figure skating on Friday.
Skating to Madonna's “Like a Prayer,” Glenn started with a triple axel on her way to a season-best score of 75.72 points to lead ahead of Saturday's free skate. It was an improvement on her last Grand Prix at the Cup of China last month, when she placed third in the short program before surging back to win overall.
Japan's Mone Chiba, last season's world championship bronze medalist, was second on 72.89 and Canada's Madeline Schizas third on 65.16.
Adam Siao Him Fa of France landed two high-scoring quadruple jumps and took the lead in the men's short program with a 92.50 score, while Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama had a heavy fall.
Siao is off to a better start than his last competition, his home Grand Prix de France, where he was fifth in the short program and recovered to finish second overall, though 40 points behind winner Ilia Malinin.
Canada's Stephen Gogolev, chasing a first career Grand Prix medal, was second on 89.35 and Japan's Kagiyama third on 88.16 after a fall on a quad salchow left him sprawled across the ice early in his program.
The top four pairs were separated by just .27 of a point as Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin lead on 70.40 after an exceptionally close short program.
Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea were second on 70.24, another U.S. pair of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov third on 70.19 and Canada's Lia Pereira and Trent Michaud fourth on 70.13.
The ice dance begins later Friday.
The Finlandia Trophy is the last of six Grand Prix events where skaters can qualify for next month's finals, a key competitive test for would-be medal contenders ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
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