ALLEN, Texas — Isabeau Levito already has a U.S. title, a world junior title and, most recently, a senior world silver medal.
Now she is one skate away from her first Skate America crown after finishing runner-up the last two years.
Levito, a 17-year-old who has been the best U.S. woman over this Olympic cycle, showed it again by topping Friday night’s short program.
She tallied 68.43 points, taking 1.44-point lead over countrywoman Bradie Tennell going into Saturday’s free skate, which is live on E! an Peacock.
SKATE AMERICA: Broadcast Schedule
Levito can become the first U.S. woman to win a full-fledged Skate America since Ashley Wagner and Mariah Bell gave the U.S. a one-two in 2016. Bell won in 2020 when the field was almost entirely Americans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two-time U.S. champion Tennell is second in her first Grand Prix in two years. She missed most of last season with a broken ankle.
Skate America is the first of six competitions in six weeks on the Grand Prix Series, where the world’s top skaters compete at two events each. The top six per discipline over the series qualify for December’s Grand Prix Final, which is often a preview of the world championships the following March.
Earlier, Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara posted the world’s best pairs’ short program score this season as they look for their first title since winning the 2023 Worlds.
Miura, 22, and Kihara, 32, tallied 77.79 points, the world’s best score this season by 3.12 points.
They took a significant 7.13-point lead over U.S. champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea going into Saturday’s free skate.
In March 2023, Miura and Kihara became the first Japanese pair to win a world title.
They missed the fall 2023 Grand Prix season due to Kihara’s back injury, then returned to take silver at both the Four Continents Championships in February and the world championships in March.
With none of the 2022 Olympic pairs’ medalists currently competing internationally, the event is fairly open with 16 months until the Milan-Cortina Games.
Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won last season’s world title, though Miura and Kihara had the best free skate score. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps make their Grand Prix season debut at Skate Canada next week.
Kam and O’Shea were the top U.S. pair at worlds in 11th place, followed immediately by Emily Chan and Spencer Howe and Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez.
Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, the 2022 World champions, stepped away from competition after the 2022-23 season.
2024 Skate America Results
Women’s Short Program
1. Isabeau Levito (USA) — 68.43
2. Bradie Tennell (USA) — 66.99
3. Rinka Watanabe (JPN) — 66.54
4. Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) -- 66.12
5. Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) -- 62.85
6. Kim Min-Chae (KOR) -- 60.66
7. Elyce Lin-Gracey (USA) -- 60.22
8. Livia Kaiser (SUI) -- 58.72
9. Olga Mikutina (AUT) -- 56.81
10. Yuna Aoki (JPN) — 56.51
11. Sofja Stepcenko (LAT) -- 44.56
12. Lea Serna (FRA) -- 42.85
Pairs’ Short Program
1. Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) — 77.79
2. Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) -- 70.66
3. Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) -- 68.64
4. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) -- 65.11
5. Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov (USA) -- 63.05
6. Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR) -- 61.31
7. Milania Vaananen/Filippo Clerici (FIN) -- 60.23
8. Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman (USA) -- 56.69
