Reigning ISU World Champion Alysa Liu (USA) made the home crowd in Lake Placid proud with her first ISU Grand Prix victory as Saatva Skate America wrapped up on Sunday with the Women’s Free Skating. 

Alysa Liu (USA) strikes first Grand Prix gold 

Liu (USA) added an ISU Grand Prix title to her resume and qualified for her first ISU Grand Prix Final, overtaking Japan’s Rinka Watanabe. Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova pulled up from fourth place to clinch the bronze medal. 

Liu put out an upbeat performance to “MacArthur Park Suite”, producing six clean triple jumps and level-four spins. The Cup of China silver medalist set a season's best with 140.54 points in the Free Skating and totaled 214.27 points to claim the top spot in Lake Placid.

“It does mean a lot that I'm able to honestly just be at such a big competition like the Grand Prix in general,” Liu commented. “Whether I'm on the podium or not, I'm glad that I was able to take that stage and perform. Although, I do wish I performed a little bit better, there were a few things that I would definitely elevate. I'm just really glad that my devotion to creation has led me to this point.

With her triumph at Skate America, Alysa Liu (USA) has now qualified for the ISU Grand Final © ISU

“I didn't like how my jumps were today, but I tied my skates a little bit too tight when I went out there,” she continued. “One good thing about making so many mistakes in a program is that I'm so motivated to not make any more mistakes in my next program. I'm going to work a lot harder on all my jumps and running my programs as well. I'm excited to be able to showcase more programs at the Final.”

With her gold and silver medals from the circuit, Liu advances to the ISU Grand Prix Final. 

Watanabe opened her Japanese-themed Free Skating to “Jin” with an impressive triple Axel-triple toe combination and followed up with more triple jumps and difficult spin. However, some jumps were under-rotated and she stumbled out her second triple Axel attempt, which cost precious points, and Watanabe ranked third in the Free Skating on 136.61 points. Overall, she slipped from first to second at 210.96 points to take her second ISU Grand Prix medal this season.

“This is the second year in a row that I came second at Skate America and I'm a bit relieved that I wasn't too bad,” the Japanese skater said. “However, my qualification for the Final has not been decided yet, and I am a bit frustrated about my results. But I did what I could and I'm happy about that.

Rinka Watanabe (JPN) was disappointed to miss out on gold at Skate America but will refocus before the Finlandia Trophy © ISU

“Depending on next week's Finlandia Trophy, it's kind of not quite sure what to be motivated for but I want to make sure that I don't lose focus, I don't lose motivation and put out what I need to do. Here, I managed to achieve to land two triple Axels (in the Short Program and Free Skating). I guess my next goal will be to land three triple Axels. I'll work towards that.”

With a silver and a bronze, Watanabe will have to wait for the results from the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy to find out if she made it to the Final. 

Gubanova’s emotional performance to “Ghost” featured six clean triple jumps. With 136.62 points, the 2025 ISU European silver medallist was second in the Free Skating and third overall at 204.69 points to take her second ISU Grand Prix medal since 2022.

“This medal means a lot to me because all these past seasons I didn't skate so well at the Grand Prix, but finally everything here went well, so I'm really happy,” Gubanova shared. 

Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO) managed to move up from fourth place to take a spot on the podium in Lake Placid © ISU

“After I completed my two Grand Prix events successfully, I am really motivated to work even harder, not only on the jumps but also on the spins and on the footwork so that everything is level four, as this is really important. I want to do more run-throughs of my program so it will be easier to skate even when there is jet lag. And now I just want to rest a little bit and my next competition will be the European Championships,” Gubanova added.

Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) was edged out of the podium by less than half a point after doubling a loop (204.29 points). Starr Andrews (USA) came fifth with a strong performance (195.28 points), while 2025 ISU Four Continents Champion Chaeyeon Kim (KOR) finished sixth on 188.22 points.

ISU Grand Prix Standings

Check out who is on their way to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final:

Men                 Women        Pairs       Ice Dance

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.

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The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:

• 17 - 19 Oct 2025                       Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
• 24 - 26 Oct 2025                       Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)
• 31 Oct-2 Nov 2025                   Skate Canada International in Saskatoon (CAN)
• 07 - 9 Nov 2025                        NHK Trophy in Osaka (JPN)
• 14- 16 Nov 2025                       Skate America in Lake Placid (USA)  
• 21 - 23 Nov 2025                      Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN) 
  
  The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final: 
  04 - 07 Dec 2025                        Nagoya (JPN)