ONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIO right fi bula — an injury that’s plagued him since December.
KOKI NAGAHAMA/GETTY IMAGES
“It’s a decision that we made today,” Brown said. “Because of my leg injury, I couldn’t start doing them (quadruple toe loops) again until this week. My hope was that it would be ready to put in the program, but unfortunately it wasn’t at the point where it was worth doing under the circumstances.”
Brown fi nished with 245.85 points, more than 10 points ahead of teammate Grant Hochstein, who notched a ninth-place fi nish with 235.72.
ICE DANCE
T e Shibutanis turned in a personal-best free dance worth 115.26 points, en route to their fourth Four Continents medal. T e 2016 Four Continents champions fi nished with a career-best overall score (191.85).
“We’re proud of how we skated this entire week,” Maia said. “Today felt extremely strong for us. It was our best free dance performance of the entire season. T at’s really encouraging for us, especially competing in the Olympic venue. T ere’s a little extra thrill with that. To be able to imagine how it could be in a year, after having two great skates, is really exciting for us.”
Chock and Bates fi nished 6.27 points behind (185.58). T e U.S. silver medalists will next compete at their fi fth World Cham- pionships (the Shibutanis will compete at their seventh), hoping to build on the improvements they’ve worked for throughout the season.
“We’re pleased with the way that the second half of this season has gone thus far, and today was a continuation of that,” Bates said. “It was another strong skate for us, and I think, just in general, we’re really happy with the direction our skating is headed. I think the World Championships will continue the momentum we’ve built.”
T e ice dance event also saw the continuation of 2010 Olym- pic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s comeback, having returned to competition this season for the fi rst time since winning Olympic silver in 2014. T e Canadian duo left no doubt in their place atop the podium, earning gold with 196.95 points. Team USA enjoyed a strong showing, taking the next three slots in the standings. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, who survived a disappointing free dance, rounded out the top four with 180.82 points.
“We skate our best when we’re in the moment,” Hubbell said.
“Sometimes we get almost too focused and that kind of sabotages us. In moments of pressure, it’s been hard to skate 100 percent clean. We feel very competitive with the top teams in practice, but we lose it a bit in competition. T is is a learning experience, and it’s what we’re going to take with us to the World Championships. We want to be on that podium.”
LADIES Nagasu, who won silver at the 2016 Four Continents Cham-
pionships, fi nished with a personal-best overall score of 194.95 points. In fi fth place after the short program, Nagasu turned in a technically solid and beautifully emotional free skate worth 132.04 points — a score that tops her previous best by more than two points.
“Last year I won the silver medal, but I think this year the
bronze means more to me,” Nagasu said. “T e performance I was able to put out tonight was just amazing. It felt magical. T ese are the moments we work so hard for every day. For it to come to fruition has been gratifying.” With her free skate at the event, combined with the short
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani
(l-r) Ice dance medalists Alex Shibutani and Maia Shibutani, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates
SKATING 11
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