MPIONSHIPS FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS FOUR CO FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS FOUR CO GOLDEN
IN GANGNEUNG! Chen leads charge as Americans
bring home four medals from Olympic test event
T e 2016–17 international season contin-
ued at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, where Team USA brought home four medals across three disciplines. U.S. champion Nathan Chen led the way, winning his fi rst ISU title. Two-time and reigning U.S. ice dance champions Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani claimed a silver medal, while Mirai Nagasu, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, secured bronze in ladies and ice dance, respec- tively.
T e event, held Feb. 14–19 at Gang-
neung Ice Arena in Gangneung, Republic of Korea, served as the offi cial test event for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
MEN Chen soared to the title, winning by
3.75 points over a superb fi eld. He brought a 2.84-point advantage into the free skate, where he became the fi rst man in history to land fi ve quadruple jumps in a single performance at an international event. T e 17-year-old estab- lished personal international-best scores across the board, fi nishing with 307.46 points. “T is feels great, honestly,” Chen said. “I
had a good lead coming out of the short program, which really benefi tted me in the long program. I tried fi ve quads today and I landed three of the fi ve solidly. T e other two were a little shaky, so that’s something that I need to im- prove on for Worlds. It’s great to be at the Olympic venue and I really enjoyed my time here.”
Despite a few bobbles and the event’s second-best free skate, Chen bested silver medalist and reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan (303.71) and his team- mate, bronze medalist Shoma Uno (288.05). Chen also topped three-time World champion and reigning Olympic silver medalist Patrick Chan of Canada, who fi nished fourth, by nearly 40 points.
“I’ve competed against Yuzuru a few times now, and it’s really great to be able to train on the same ice as him and the other top skaters — to be on the same practices and see what they’re doing has been a great experience for me,” Chen said.”
With Chen’s win, it was the fourth time a U.S. man has
won the Four Continents title and the fi rst since 2016 U.S. cham- pion Adam Rippon took top honors in 2010.
U.S. bronze medalist Jason Brown placed sixth, riding out- standing components to earn the event’s highest placement among competitors who did not attempt a quadruple jump. Brown decid- ed to remove the element from his repertoire prior to taking the ice, opting instead to avoid further aggravation to a stress fracture in his
(l-r) Men’s medalists Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno Nathan Chen and his coach Rafael Arutunian KOKI NAGAHAMA/GETTY IMAGES Nathan Chen
10 APRIL 2017
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