US figure skater Amber Glenn takes the lead at Grand Prix de France

ANGERS, France (AP) — Amber Glenn is on course for her first figure skating Grand Prix win after taking a big lead in the short program at the French round of the series on Friday.

Glenn, of the United States, was the only skater in the women’s event to land a triple axel on her way to 78.14 points, taking the lead by more than seven points from South Korea’s Kim Chaeyeon on 70.90.

Wakaba Higuchi of Japan, the winner at Skate America last month, is in third on 66.98. The former European champion Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia was down in ninth place after a fall.

Jin Boyang led the men’s short program in search of his first Grand Prix win since his home Cup of China in 2020. Jin landed a quadruple toeloop as he scored 88.12, with Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko on 85.73 and Kazuki Tomono of Japan on 83.45.

There was a spate of falls among top contenders, with two-time European champion and home favorite Adam Siao Him Fa of France only eighth on 74.90 after falling on his last two jumps.

Amber Glenn, of the United States, competes in the women’s short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Angers, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Last season’s world championship bronze medalists Minerva Fabienna Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany led the pairs on 73.72, ahead of Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii and Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trent Michaud.

In the ice dance, two-time European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy led on 82.20, with France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud second and Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius third.

All four disciplines conclude with free skates on Saturday.