Sensational Kihira wins gold in ISU Grand Prix Final

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She has already created ripples at the ongoing ISU Grand Prix Final in the Canadian city of Vancouver. And continuing her stunning form Japan's Rika Kihira clinched the gold medal in ladies' figure skating on Saturday.

The rising star of the sport won the battle of the 16-year-olds as she went on to outskate reigning Olympic champion Alina Zagitova.

Skating to "Beautiful Storm" by Jennifer Thomas in her free program, Kihira missed her first triple Axel but skated clean the rest of the way to her magnificent triumph. Her gold standard performance saw Kihira nailing her triple Lutz-toeloop.

Japan's Rika Kihira competes in the Free Skate portion of the Ladies Championships at the ISU Junior & Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Vancouver, Canada. /VCG Photo

"I made a mistake early but got to go out there and finish. I am really happy to perform that way on this stage," said the exciting youngster following her sensational victory.

Kihira, who also won the short program, wrapped up her Saturday's performance with a personal best total score of 233.12 points to edge past Zagitova by more than six points.

The European champion, skating to "Carmen" in her free program, grabbed a total of 226.53 points while her Russian compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva ended up being third with 215.32 points.

Japan's Rika Kihira (C), Russia's Alina Zagitova (L) and Russia's Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (R) pose for photos during the Ladies Championships Victory Ceremony. /VCG Photo

The women's competition turned out to be a Japan-Russia affair as Japan's Kaori Sakamoto finished fourth while Russia's Sofia Samodurova claimed the fifth spot ahead of Japan's Satoko Miyahara, who notched up the sixth position.

The year 2018 has been a breakthrough season for Kihira as her victory in Vancouver came after she won two prior grand prix events – NHK Trophy in Hiroshima and the Internationaux de France in Grenoble earlier this season.

Interestingly, Kihira is the first woman to land a triple Axel-triple toeloop in competition when she did it at the junior grand prix finals last year.