The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2017 concluded in Gangneung, Korea, Sunday with the Men’s Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala. The Four Continents Championships 2017 at the Gangneung Ice Arena served as a test event for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
Nathan Chen (USA) skates to victory
USA’s Nathan Chen skated to victory in the Men’s event. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan moved up from third to claim the silver and Shoma Uno, also of Japan, earned the bronze.
Performing to “Polovtsian Dances”, Chen pulled off five quads – quad Lutz-triple toe, quad flip, quad toe, quad toe-double teo and a quad Salchow – as well as a triple Lutz, but he wobbled on one triple Axel and stepped out on the second. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final silver medallist earned a level four for his spins and footwork and set a new personal best of 204.34 points. The 17-year-old racked up 307.46 points overall to win the title in his debut at the Four Continents Championships. Chen became the first skater to land five quads in an international competition. “This feels great, honestly. This is the first championship event that I’ve won. I had a good lead coming out of the short program, which really benefitted me in the long program. I tried five quads today and I landed three of the five solidly. The other two were a little shaky, so that’s something that I need to improve on for Worlds. It’s great to be at the Olympic venue and I really enjoyed my time here”, the U.S. Champion shared.
Hanyu, who stood in third following the Short Program, put out a strong performance to “Hope and Legacy” by Joe Hisaishi, hitting a quad loop, Salchow and two quad toes as well as two triple Axels. The only glitch came when he doubled a planned quad Salchow. The 2014 Olympic Champion picked up a seasons best with 206.67 points and won the Free Skating portion. Overall he moved up to second at 303.71 points. “I didn’t feel so much pressure. I was trying to feel relaxed and to enjoy the performance I have practiced for so much. I’m very excited about the score, I showed what I had practiced and I am satisfied with what I did. I will practice my quads more to make them perfect and I’d like to be more confident in the next competition”, the two-time and reigning World silver medalist commented.
Uno opened his Argentine Tango program with a quad loop and followed up with a quad flip, quad toe-double toe as well as two triples. However, the fell on both triple Axels and the first quad toe was wobbly. The 2015 World Junior Champion scored 187.77 points and totaled 288.05 points to take his first senior ISU Championship medal. “In the first half of the program I was happy to land the quad loop. I didn’t have a good consistency in practice for the jump, and I think my desire to land this jump so badly made it happen. But I missed the two triple Axels, and those are jumps I know how to land”, the 19-year-old said.
Defending Four Continents Champion Patrick Chan (CAN) came fourth this time after falling on two jumps (267.98 points). Boyang Jin (CHN) finished fifth at 267.51 points and Jason Brown (USA) moved up from ninth to sixth place (245.85 points).
For more information, full entry lists and results please see: www.isu.org and the official event website https://www.hellopyeongchang.com/FigureSkating/en/sub/index Hashtag: #4ContsFigure