| | PARIS -- World champion Maria Butyrskaya of Russia won a close three-way women's competition at the Lalique Trophy, and the French couple Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis took the pairs event.
In the women's event, the judges' first-place votes were spread among Butyrskaya, runner-up Victoria Volchkova, her Russian teammate, and American Sarah Hughes.
Another Russian, Alexei Yagudin, the two-time world and European champion, won the men's competition. While France's Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won the ice dance competition.
The top three women each hit five triple jumps during their programs. Butyrskaya and Hughes each fell once, while Volchkova bailed out of a few jumps.
Butyrskaya and Volchkova got three first-place votes apiece. The other first-place vote went to Hughes.
Butyrskaya, 27, got more second-place votes than Volchkova after her routine to "Swan Lake," earning better artistic marks, although Volchkova's jumping was the best of the three and included two triple lutzes.
| |  | | | Maria Butryraskaya led the way for the Russians. |
"I am disappointed in how I skated," Butyrskaya said. "I still have things to improve upon in choreography and jumping."
Volchkova is among a half-dozen young Russian women trying for three spots on the national team.
"It is only my second competition of the season and I will have to do better at the Russian championships," the 17-year-old Volchkova said.
Hughes, 14, fell on a triple lutz but performed admirably to music from a Puccini opera, her routine highlighted by elegant spirals and spins.
"I am very happy with the way I skated because I knew I was prepared," Hughes said.
She finished fourth at the U.S. championships in March. She had made the world team and ended up seventh when she was only 13.
Abitbol and Bernadis easily won the pairs long program. She wore white and he wore black, representing an angel and the devil.
Skating cleanly throughout to music specially commissioned for them, the pair had the top marks, including two 5.9s in artistry.
Their only mistake was when she stepped out of a throw triple move.
Second were Russians Tania Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, whose free program was highlighted with two triple jumps by each. The Polish pair of Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek finished third.
Americans Kyoko Ina and Jon Zimmerman dropped to fourth after being second in the short program. Each fell once, and they made many mistakes.
The Lalique Trophy is the fourth in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series that features Olympic-eligible skaters. Winners of each event earn $30,000. The next event is the Cup of Russia in Moscow.
The series ends with the Grand Prix final at Lyon, France, in January. The World Championships are at Nice, France, in March.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Yagudin's thoughts on his performance (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
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Sarah Hughes talks about her performance (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
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A day in the life of Sarah Hughes (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
RealVideo: 56.6
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