MOSCOW, Nov. 15 -- Russia's Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva took a lead of almost three points over teammate Alexandra Trusova in the ladies short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Friday, according to the official websited of ISU.
Dancing to "Exogenesis Symphony Part III" by Muse, Medvedeva delivered an excellent performance, landing a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple loop, double Axel and completing level-four spins and steps. The two-time World Champion scored a personal best of 76.93 points.
"I am happy with my skate, because it finally worked out the way it should. I hope that everyone has seen my work and Brian (Orser, coach) is happy," the 2019 World bronze medalist noted.
"It was the right decision (to return to the triple loop). I've done that before and every time I did it, my points went up," Medvedeva added.
Trusova, two-time world Junior champion and Skate Canana winner this season, earned 74.21 to rank second. Mariah Bell of the United States placed third with 67.11.
In the men's short program, Alexander Samarin led the Russian men to an unexpected sweep. Dmitri Aliev and Makar Ignatov joined Samarin in the top three.
Skating to "Blues for Klook" by Eddy Louiss, Samarin hit a big quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a somewhat shaky triple Axel as well as level-four spins and footwork. However, the 2019 European silver medalist fell on his quadruple flip. The Muscovite scored 92.81 points.
Russian skaters also finished a clean sweep of the pairs short program. Youngsters Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii led the charge ahead of reigning World silver medalists Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and the new team of Ksenia Stolbova/Andrei Novoselov. Boikova/Kozlovskii, the Skate Canada champions, earned 80.14.
In rhythm dance, home favorite and world silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov took the lead with 86.09. Skate Canada Champions Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier of Canada came second followed by Spain's Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin.
The Rostelecom Cup, runs from Nov. 15 to 17 in Moscow, is the fifth and penultimate event of the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Series.