Alissa Czisny wins Skate America despite fall in free skate

Fans were few and falls were many Sunday at Skate America, but ultimately U.S. champion Alissa Czisny held on to win the women’s title and defending world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany came from behind to win the pairs title at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.

Czisny, 24, uncharacteristically fell early in her free skate and looked surprised when she scrambled to her feet after landing her triple flip on her side instead of on her feet. She also had an unsteady finish to a triple loop and doubled another of her seven planned triple jumps, enough mistakes to have her holding her breath while waiting for the final scores.

But Czisny had built up enough of a lead after the short program to hold off 24-year-old Carolina Kostner of Italy. Though Kostner won the free skate, Czisny earned her first Skate America championship by the slimmest of margins. Czisny finished with 177.48 points to Kostner’s 177.35.

Sweden’s Viktoria Helgesson became the first man or woman from her country to medal at a Grand Prix event when her 145.75 points were enough to get the bronze.

Brea’s Caroline Zhang, who had been third after the short program, fell three times Sunday in her free skate, which was scored the lowest of the 10 competitors, and dropped to sixth place overall.

“That was just plain stupid,” Zhang said. “I really don’t know what happened. I’ve been doing it clean in practice so it was just a bunch of stupid mistakes that got to me.”

Czisny was also critical of her Sunday skate.

“That wasn’t my best out there,” Czisny said. “I tried to fight for everything. Some went well, some didn’t.”

Czisny had planned seven triple jumps in her free skate, more than any other competitor, but she completed only five while Kostner did a clean free skate to her Mozart-inspired program, surprising herself.

“I actually slept very bad last night,” Kostner said. “I was up really early this morning and looking for a way to skate. And when I got on the ice, I found my place and found my legs.”

Savchenko and Szolkowy are three for three in Skate America, winning gold medals in all three appearances. Despite a crashed landing an attempted throw triple axel Saturday in the short program that left them in fifth, the Germans dominated the free skate.

“I hope you missed us yesterday,” Szolkowy said. “Today’s performance, though, was quite OK.”

The top Americans, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin, were fourth, and the fans stood at the end of the program skated to Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma.”

“It was exciting,” Coughlin said. “It felt great to have the crowd behind us when we finished our program.”

Denney couldn’t quite complete her double axel and Coughlin said the routine contained other small mistakes that need fixing.

Sunday’s attendance at the arena was estimated at 2,300, and the total for the four competitive sessions was only 8,259. The space was configured to hold about 9,000.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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