Canda's Joannie Rochette was fourth after the short program at the Grand Prix finals. (Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images)Canada's Joannie Rochette is fourth after the short program at the Grand Prix figure-skating final in Tokyo on Friday, as Japan's Miki Ando became the surprising leader after a rare mistake by world champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea.
Rochette, of l'Île Dupas, Que., had trouble with some of her landings that affected her on the scoreboard, finishing with a 60.94 score. She is coming off earning a gold medal at the Skate Canada Grand Prix event in late November in Kitchener, Ont.
Kim, who had gold medals at the Trope Bompard and Skate America to finish first overall in the women's standings, singled a triple flip on her second element and finished with 65.64 points, giving Ando the lead at 66.20.
"I fell in practice and that affected me," Kim said. "I was nervous and wasn't able to do the triple flip, but other than that, I was pleased with my routine and I look forward to tomorrow."
Ando decided to do a triple lutz, double loop combination instead of a planned triple-triple on her opening element, but successfully completed the rest of her program to finish with 66.20 points.
"I wanted to do the triple-triple, but the first landing of the triple didn't feel right," Ando said. "So I changed it to a double and everything was fine after that."
Russia's Alena Leonova was third after the short program with 61.60 points.
With files from The Associated Press
