Associated Press
December 1
zbekistan's Tatyana Malinina won the gold medal at the NHK Trophy on Saturday after a stirring performance in the women's free skating event.
Malinina, in third place after Friday's short program, fell on her first jump, a triple lutz. But she recovered and cleanly landed her remaining jumps to move into first place ahead of Japan's Yoshie Onda.
Onda won the silver medal and Elena Liashenko of Ukraine took the bronze. Angela Nikodinov of the United States, the leader after the short program, dropped to fourth place.
Nikodinov fell to seventh in the overall standings and failed to secure a spot in the Grand Prix final in Kitchener, Ontario, on Dec. 13-16. But she might make it as a replacement for Russia's Maria Butyrskaya , who pulled out of the NHK Trophy because of injury.
Skating to the violin concerto ``Sweet Sorrow,'' Malinina received marks ranging from 5.2 to 5.5 for technical merit and from 5.1 to 5.6 for presentation.
``I was just concentrating too much on the first lutz,'' Malinina said. ``But I managed to recover and I'm thrilled with this victory because it's the last event of the Grand Prix series.''
In ice dancing, favorites Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France, who led after the compulsory and original dance, held on to win the gold medal despite an uncharacteristic fall by Peizerat early in their free dance routine.
Skating to ``Non Merci'' with portions of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ``I Have a Dream'' speech in the background, the French duo impressed the judges with a powerful, dynamic routine that featured innovative lifts and impressive footwork.
They received marks ranging from 5.6 to 5.8 for technical merit and mostly 5.9s for presentation to earn their fourth straight gold at the NHK Trophy.
``We're a bit disappointed because of the stumble,'' Peizerat said. ``It wasn't because of the ice. It happened when Marina and I had our backs turned to each other and it's just a question of centimeters.''
Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania took the silver medal with one of their strongest performances of the season. Bulgaria's Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski won the bronze.
In the men's short program, Japanese skaters Takeshi Honda and Yamato Tamura took the lead much to the delight of the crowd at Aqua Dome.
Honda opened his ``Don Quixote'' program with a quadruple-triple toe loop combination but fell on his tripe axel. He rallied with good spins and a solid triple lutz.
The 2001 Four Continents silver medalist received marks ranging from 5.1 to 5.4 for required elements and from 5.6 to 5.8 for presentation.
``I don't know what happened on the axel,'' Honda said. ``The takeoff wasn't bad. I should have landed it.''
Yamato, skating to ``Carmen,'' received marks ranging from 5.2 to 5.5 for required elements and 5.3 to 5.6 for presentation. Bulgaria's Ivan Dinev was third after the completion of the short program. The men's free skating is Sunday.
World champion Evgeni Plushenko and compatriot Alexei Yagudin pulled out of the NHK Trophy, the sixth event of the International Skating Union 's Grand Prix series.