CNN —American teenager Ava Marie Ziegler won her first ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating title, as she sealed victory at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan following a sparkling routine in the free skate.
“I really used my fifth-place result yesterday to motivate me because I know that I could do better and I really used it to push me to be the best that I could be,” Ziegler said, according to the International Skating Union.
It (this result) definitely helped with my confidence.”Ava Marie Ziegler of the United States reacts to her score.
Toru Hanai/International Skating Union/Getty ImagesHer free skate routine yielded a personal best of 138.46 points, and she scored 200.50 points overall, breaking the 200-point mark for the first time in her career.
While Ziegler and Thorngren have not qualified for the final, their compatriots Isabeau Levito and Ilia Malinin will represent the USA in the women’s and men’s singles, respectively.
Persons:
Ava Marie Ziegler, Lindsay Thorngren, Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone, Thorngren, axel, “, ” Ziegler, ” Ava Marie Ziegler, Toru Hanai, Ziegler, Isabeau Levito, Ilia Malinin
Organizations:
CNN, ISU, NHK, International Skating Union, Skating Union, Getty
Locations:
Osaka, Japan, United States, Beijing, China, USA