The American figure skater won the last round of figure skating’s Grand Prix series, landing him a spot in next month’s final with a pulsating free skate at the 2018 Internationaux de France on Saturday (November 24), ESPN reports.
In the free skate, he scored 184.64 for a total of 271.58, winning by 15 points.
He’ll now head to the the December 6-9 final in Vancouver, Canada, which is for the top six skaters or pairs in each discipline from the Grand Prix series of six events.
Fellow American Jason Brown was second overall, placing third in the free skate.
Ashley and Tim, who both came from different partnerships and a singles career, earned 69.33 for their short program — ahead of champs Tarah Kayne and Daniel O’Shea, who took 5th place.
The team placed 14th after the event was done, behind teammates Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim, who secured the 7th spot.
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are in 1st, Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in 2nd, Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Tranov in 3rd, Ksenia Stobova and Fedor Klimov in 5th, and Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov in 6th. Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Canada placed in 8th while China’s Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang are in 12th.
The Pairs Free Program will be held Saturday, April 2nd @ 12:54PM ET/PT. Check your local listings for the channel.
15+ pics inside from the Pairs Short Program at Worlds 2016…
“The international scene is so strong and it’s getting stronger every single year and I think that it is never a question of whether or not the U.S. ladies are capable of being on that podium; it’s more a question of when we’re going to step up to that challenge,” Ashley shared about the particularly competitive ladies competition.
She added, “This year is going to be about going out there and nailing those triple-triple combinations, nailing those technical marks, performing the hell out of those programs. That is what’s going to get us onto the world podium, and that is a lot to ask of one person, but I think we’re definitely capable of putting that out.”
The 2016 World Figure Skating Championships will be held from March 28th to April 3rd.
The 19-year-old Olympian wowed the crowd and judges with a flawless program, beating out Polina Edmunds, Ashley Wagner and Mirai Nagasu to take the title for the second year in a row.
Earlier in the day, Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea scored the Pairs title after scoring 211.65 points, ahead of reigning champs Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim, and Marissa Castelli and Mervyn Tran.
“I just really wanted to feel comfortable on the ice and show the judges how beautiful this program is,” she shared after her skate. “There’s always pre-competition hype and buzz, and I don’t really pay attention to it. Of course I’ve never had a chance to be in this position before, so I’m really excited and happy that I’m finally here. But really, I know that it comes down to who skates the best on the ice, and I’m glad what I put down today was my best and that I was rewarded for it.”
The engaged figure skaters stunned the crowd and broke records to capture gold and the title.
Alexa and Chris placed first in the short program with 74.01 — the highest pairs short score ever and then upped it with a height-defying quad twist, giving them a total of 210.49, 10 points over second place finishers Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier.
