four continents continued from page 11 “It’s incredible,” said the
21-year-old, who trains in Boston. “Getting bronze at NHK was a real- ly big surprise, but this was the most surprising of all. It wasn’t my best skate, but I pushed through and got a result that I’m really proud of.” Miner, who carded a total score of 223.23 points, said he arrived with the goals of improving on his season-best score and remaining on the Grand Prix Series. Sixth after the short program,
Miner opened the free skate by nail- ing his first three elements: triple Axel, triple Axel-double toe and triple Lutz-triple toe. He fell on a triple Lutz and doubled a planned triple loop. “I was really proud that I was
mentally strong and got through it, because it is not easy at altitude,” Miner said. “It was like, be tough, remember you did all the training and have faith.” Miner finished just ahead of
U.S. silver medalist Adam Rippon, who scored 221.55 points. Rippon, seventh after the short
program, rallied to place third in the free skate. Skating to music by Bach, he opened his program with a fall on a downgraded quad Salchow, but regrouped immediately to land a triple Axel-double toe combina- tion. A popped triple Axel midway through his program likely kept him off the podium.
“I told myself that I was well- trained and I worked really hard for nationals and I just wanted to keep that momentum going,” said Rippon, 22, who trains in Detroit. “Tis wasn’t as strong, but I don’t re- ally think I showed much weakness or letdown from nationals.” California native Richard
Dornbush, 20, named as an al- ternate to replace an injured U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott, struggled in both of his programs and fin- ished 13th overall. “It was extremely difficult to
prepare not only physically but mentally,” Dornbush said. “It was a short time to regroup after U.S. Championships; I guess it wasn’t quite enough.”
Chan was simply spectacu-
lar. He opened his free skate with a quad toe-triple toe followed by a quad toe and never looked back. “Te two quads are of course the peak of the program, as well as
the triple Axel,” Chan said. “Even today, the quads didn’t go up real well, I felt a little off in the upper body, but I was able to find my feet and at that moment I knew I had to take it one thing at a time and not get carried away, just relax.” Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi earned the silver with 244.33 points.
ICE DANCE World champions Meryl Da-
vis and Charlie White, and long- time training partners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Canada’s Olympic champions, wrote yet another chap- ter in their storied rivalry in Colo- rado Springs. Tis time, the Cana- dians came out on top, notching their first win over the Americans since the 2010 World Figure Skat- ing Championships.
As usual, the two teams matched each other swivel-for- swivel and twizzle-for-twizzle in the Latin American short dance, with Davis and White edging out a .55-point lead entering the free dance. Tere, the U.S. champions had a near-flawless performance of their Die Fledermaus program, showing deftly controlled step se- quences and four smooth lifts. Still, their technical element score was four points lower than the Canadi- ans’ and they had to settle for silver. “Charlie and I have been skat-
ing for 15 years and we have had a lot of fuel that has brought us to where we are today,” Davis, 25, said. “[Tis loss] will fuel us as we head into the World Championships, but I don’t think this is the biggest fuel we have had thus far.” Performing their breezy, so-
phisticated free dance to music from the Fred Astaire–Audrey Hepburn musical Funny Face, the Canadians gained the advantage when seven of their nine elements were awarded the coveted level four. Tey ended with 182.84 points overall, versus 179.40 for Davis and White. “Not everything is going to go
your way, and today I think some of the calls didn’t go our way,” White, 24, said. “I could not be prouder of the way we fought through both programs. Obviously you can tell by the way I’m breathing it’s not easy [in the high altitude]. We wanted to work on expression and we did that. I felt like our elements were pretty good.”
SKATING 69 U.S. silver medalists Maia
Shibutani and Alex Shibutani brought the crowd to its feet with their fast-as-lightning short dance, with some Latin spice recently add- ed by ballroom champion Corky Ballas. A viral infection struck Alex the day of their free dance, but the siblings still delivered an entertain- ing program to Glenn Miller hits. Tey earned 158.29 points for fourth place behind Canadians Kai- tlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. “It was definitely challenging
today,” Maia, 17, said. “I’m proud of the way we fought through the performance, and I’m proud of Alex for skating the way he did when he’s not feeling his best.”
World champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White turned in another strong performance but settled for silver, finishing behind rinkmates and friends Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary
Donohue, who won bronze at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Champi- onships in January, had a few chal- lenging moments, with Donohue falling in both programs. Still, they earned a season’s best 49.93 points for their short dance and placed fifth with 129.20. “We’ve definitely learned from
this experience,” Hubbell, 20, said. “Tis is the first time we’ve had two rough skates and worked through it together. We will go home and take some rest then look at the positive and negative things we can take away from this competition.”
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES
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