16-year-old Russian figure skater Alena Kostornaia won the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix stage in Sapporo, Japan, scoring the highest number of points in both the short and free skating programmes, receiving 240 points in total. Despite making a small step out during her solo performance of a triple Axel, the Russian golden medalist still made the crowd go wild with her impeccable execution of a triple Axel-double toe loop cascade.
On Friday, Kostornaia set a new world record in the short programme by earning 85.05 points, beating the previous 83.97-point record held by 17-year-old Japanese champion Rika Kihira.
Speaking to the Japanese press following her victory, the Russian figure skater noted that she was happy with her result despite some mistakes, but hoped that in the future she would be able to set new world records in both the free skating programme and in total points.
“In fact, I am also very glad that I managed to set a new world record. After I learned the triple Axel, I thought that I would probably succeed. Of course, I would like to set a world record in all kinds – in the short programme, in free skating and in total - but so far I can only muse or dream about it”.
Japan’s Rika Kihira finished the Grand Prix stage in Sapporo in second place with 231.84 points, while Russian 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova came in third place.