World champion Alysa Liu takes free skate as US wins World Team Trophy
World champion Alysa Liu produced a flawless routine in the women's free skate as the U.S. won its sixth gold medal at the figure skating World Team Trophy on Saturday in Tokyo.
Team Canada finished fifth overall. On the final day of competition, Canada's Madeline Schizas and Sara-Maude Dupuis finished seventh and tenth, respectively in the women's free skate. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps grabbed fourth in the pairs free skate.
Earlier in the competition, Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier finished second in both the ice dance rhythm dance and free dance.
Skating to "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer, the 19-year-old Liu landed seven triple jumps for a personal-best score of 150.97 points. Teammate Amber Glenn was second with 148.93.
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto was third with 145.00.
The U.S. finished the three-day competition with 126 points, 16 ahead of Japan. Italy was third with 86 points to claim its first ever medal in the event.
"We are just beaming. I'm so insanely proud of my team and everyone," U.S. skater Jason Brown said. "It's been such an incredible season, and to end it here has been so special."
Liu's previous best free skate score was 148.39 only last month at the world championships in Boston.
"I was a little bit happier after my free skate at worlds but I'll take this one," Liu said. "I only ran it one time before coming here, so I wasn't expecting that. And I'm happy I could put out a good enough score for my team."
Glenn also posted a personal best, which featured a triple axel.
"It's been consistent in practice, and I even did it in shows here in Japan," Glenn said. "It's something I feel I'm able to do when I'm in the right place and I was today."
The U.S. has won a medal at every biennial World Team Trophy since its inception in 2009 and has won six of the nine competitions.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs free skate as the host nation cut the Americans' lead to 11 points, but the dominant performances by Glenn and Liu clinched gold for the U.S.
The U.S. headed into the final day with a 15-point lead over Japan after victories in the men's and ice dance competitions on Friday.
Two-time world champion Ilia Malinin won the men's free skate to solidify the overall lead for the Americans. Malinin landed four quads in his program to "I'm Not a Vampire," scoring 183.88 points.
Ice dance world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the free dance segment. The three-time world ice dance champions received 12 points after a season's best score of 133.51
The World Team Trophy features the top six figure skating teams. France was fourth, followed by Canada and Georgia.
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