The top German figure skating pair Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin won the Grand Prix in Helsinki, Finland, by a razor-thin margin.
The European champions and World Cup runners-up also qualified for the Grand Prix final of the best six couples in two weeks.
Hase/Volodin scored a total of 206.88 points. They thus relegated the two American duos Alisa Efimova/Misha Mitrofanov (205.49 points) and Ellie Kam/Daniel O’Shea (199.09 points) to the other places.
Already after the short program, Hase/Volodin were narrowly in the lead despite a big mistake in the death spiral. In the freestyle, Volodin fell during the triple salchow. Nevertheless, it was enough for the two 26-year-olds to take first place in Finland.
As defending champions to Japan
Helsinki was the last of six regular Grand Prix stops this season. The final in Nagoya, Japan, will take place at the beginning of December. Hase/Volodin won the competition in both 2023 and 2024.
The highlight of the figure skating season is the Olympic Games in February in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. After European Championship gold and World Championship silver last season, Hase/Volodin are the only German hope for a medal in figure skating at the Winter Games in Italy.