Does the back of the hair look okay with the pins?
-Yeah, with the pins, yeah. -Yeah?
Yeah.
-We skate first. -Yeah.
Opening competition.
Good warm-up, then feel the ice, then...
Get ready to open the competition with a bang.
Skaters, you have five minutes for your warm-up.
Finlandia Trophy is an interesting competition.
Start of the season,
everybody's trying out their program for the first time.
Couples your warm-up has ended, please leave the ice.
Olivia Smart, Adrián Díaz.
We had the option to go to the 2018 Olympic Games.
But there was also another Spanish team.
My ex-partner Sara,
right after Sara and I stopped skating,
she found Kirill in Russia.
They took the spot
for the Olympic Games by less than a point back in 2018.
That was when the battle started
to get that spot for the Games.
Yeah, we had the chance, but we just missed the spot.
-This close. -Very close, very close.
And it's not happening again.
That's not bad.
Olivia Smart, Adrián Díaz.
So the qualifier for the Olympics and Worlds this season
is Finlandia Trophy, Nationals and Europeans.
-Thank you. -Yeah, it was pretty good.
And after missing out 4 years ago by just a tiny bit,
we're so hungry and we know we can do it.
Please state the scores.
Olivia Smart and Adrián Díaz,
they have earned in the rhythm dance 72.67 points.
It's correct, but we can do smoother than that.
Representing Spain, Sara Hurtado, Kirill Khaliavin.
And now we just have to wait.
Please state their scores.
So warm in here, ugh!
Sara Hurtado, Kirill Khaliavin
Seventy-four.
And they are currently in the first place.
Olivia and Adrián,
they did a fairly clean performance,
I'd say, but it was a bit small,
And now they're two points behind their competition,
that's not much, and at the same time it's a lot.
Next to skate from the United States of America,
Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
This is day one of competition in Finland
and this is our brand-new rhythm dance,
which we just made four weeks ago,
and we're excited and a little nervous to debut it.
Madison and Evan,
I find they did really well for their premier.
The reaction of the audience impacts the panel,
they hear them.
It's just a different energy,
performing in front of a live audience.
And so that was a real treat for us.
-It was just fun. -Yeah, it was great.
Representing Great Britain,
Lilah Fear, Lewis Gibson.
As soon as those first beats came in,
I'm like, "Oh, yeah, we're back, baby.
This feels so good."
And it was the response I really wanted.
Maybe a little more accurate.
Follow the directions. You two know what to do.
Okay. Let’s go. On the music. Together, always.
Next to skate from France,
Gabriella Papadakis, Guillaume Cizeron.
This is the first international competition for us
here in Finland.
We haven't been competing for 20 months total.
I think we had forgotten a little bit
how it feels to get really, actually nervous.
Go!
After 20 months without competing,
there is some vacation to shake off,
but they still know how to skate.
We just finished up the rhythm dance.
Of course technically, there were small problems
that are not visible to the untrained eye,
small technical details that cost each of them some points.
Yeah, I was honestly so surprised
when they started clapping, I was like "Whoa!"
We never know where.
I missed the claps.
As soon as they started clapping at the beginning,
I was like, "Thank you."
We're competitors.
This is what we're supposed to be doing.
It just feels good to be enjoying and performing again.
Couples performing now on the ice for your practice.
The official practice.
Good morning. It's a big warm-up.
They are supposed to stay focused on their performance,
but sometimes during a very important competition,
there is some tension sometimes.
You feel an atmosphere
where every team wants to win, wants to be the best,
wants to shine the most.
And sometimes it's quiet,
sometimes it's very like electric tension.
You're ready, trust it.
After the short program,
you know, we weren't expecting to have that gap
between the other Spanish team and us.
I don't think we realized there would be that big
of a head-to-head battle.
It is a little scary.
Do good.
Put on a show.
Couples your warm-up has ended, please leave the ice.
On the ice representing Spain,
Olivia Smart, Adrián Díaz.
For the free dance,
it's going to be all about performance.
And yeah, I'm a little bit nervous,
but at the same time excited.
Fantastic.
Olivia Smart, Adrián Díaz.
So we finished our skate
and we were happy with the performance we put out there,
especially at the first international.
Their total competition score is 185.82 points.
On the ice representing Spain,
Sara Hurtado, Kirill Khaliavin.
When we got our free dance score we were happy,
and we went up into the stands
and wanted to watch the last couple of teams.
We thought their little last
part of Sara and Kirill's routine,
Twenty seconds, the last 20 seconds of their programs.
Yeah, we really know how they did.
They were lower than ours, but because of the point gap
on the rhythm dance, we weren't sure.
Come on. Come on.
So we were refreshing the scores
on my phone...
like little kids.
Yes!
I just knew we did this good.
It's a good start, that's a good start.
That's what we needed. That's what we needed.
We were very excited.
And we were just overjoyed to know
that we finished ahead and that was our goal.
And regardless of how small the gap was,
we can take that little victory
with confidence up to Nationals.
That was the difference four years ago.
Yes.
It's gonna be us this time.
On the ice representing France,
Gabriella Papadakis, Guillaume Cizeron.
Gabriella and Guillaume,
they performed well, they danced well.
I think it's their big comeback.
So first congratulations.
What are your thoughts? Will you share them with us?
It went pretty, pretty great.
I think it was good being back to competition.
Good being back in front of an audience.
It's good for the confidence in ourselves
in our capacity of doing, performing well.
It was amazing to be back
and just to feel the energy and being here.
Yeah, it was a great competition.
Gabriella and Guillaume, they won there,
of course, but it's not the Olympics.
Maddie and Evan, they were happy
because we changed the program two, three weeks ago.
Lilah and Lewis, they did well too.
And the program was well-received
by the audience and the judges.
Hold a glass for this competition.
Congratulations, everybody.
It was a very good competition. We're all very proud of you.
Great way to start a season.
Even though we still have a lot of work
and a lot of levels to fix,
but very nice to see you guys all supporting each other.
-We're very proud. -But...
Uh-oh!
You all have a lot of holes to fill.
Because the levels were quite low.
Can do better.
Very mediocre everyone, but good job.
For the favorites for the Olympic podium,
are of course Gabriella and Guillaume,
Madi and Zach, Maddie and Evan,
who are coming back very strongly.
But don't forget the Russians.
Sinitsina and Katsapolov are the World Champions.
They represent the perfect ice dance couple on ice.
I want my teams to be clearly ahead of them.
Congratulations everybody.
Even though we still have a lot of work...
Cheers!