Amber Glenn Overcame Neck Pain to Defeat Team USA Teammate and World Champion Alyssa Liu and win the Chinese Figure Skating Cup for the second year in a row on Saturday.
Glenn, the U.S. national champion, grabbed her by the neck after finishing her free skate, in which she recovered from a wobbly landing on a triple toe loop near the start.
Glenn was third after Friday's short program, meaning she had to wait until Liu and Japan's Rinka Watanabe competed in the free skate before she knew her place.
Liu returned to second place with a total score of 212.07 points to Glenn's 214.78 points after landing a wobbly triple flip, while Watanabe barely held on to the podium, falling to third place after posting only the fifth-best free skate score.
Glenn said she felt “incredible” and that she was “really happy that my teammate and I were first and second on the podium.” Despite being a two-time World Championship medalist, this is Liu's first time on the podium at a Grand Prix event.
Japan's Shun Sato won the men's Cup of China for the second year in a row with three quadruple jumps in the pure free skate for a total score of 278.12, ahead of Italy's Daniel Grassl with 269.43. Mikhail Shaydorov (Kazakhstan) with a score of 262.67 after falling during the last jump.
In ice dancing, world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their first Chinese Cup on their sixth attempt with a total of 208.25 points, ahead of US teammates Emilia Zingas and Vadim Kolesnik with a score of 202.27. Third place went to Evgenia Lopareva and Geoffroy Brisot from France with a score of 196.60.
The pairs free program will take place later on Saturday.
The Cup of China is the second of six regular-season Grand Prix events, ending with the final in December. It is a key test for figure skaters hoping to win medals at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in February.
