Figure skating: Aoki top, Nakai 3rd after SP as GP Series begins in France

Japan's Yuna Aoki placed first and Ami Nakai third in the women's short program at Grand Prix de France on Friday as figure skating's Grand Prix Series kicked off Friday.The winner of the Four Continents Championships in January, Aoki logged her personal best score of 76.31 points in Angers, with a slight mistake on her opening triple lutz-triple loop combination the only blemish in a flowing performance."Honestly, I'm surprised to start in the lead," the 24-year-old said. "I did well to stay on my feet with the lutz-loop triple combination despite getting stuck (while landing).""I was anyh…READ FULL ARTICLE