Grenoble, France

 

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World Champion Nathan Chen (USA) rebounded after a sub-par Short Program to take the gold at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble on Saturday. Jason Brown (USA) claimed the silver and the bronze went to Russia’s Alexander Samarin.

Chen reeled off a quadruple flip, quadruple toe, another quad toe (in combination with an underrotated triple toe) as well as a triple Axel and four triples jumps in his program to “Land of All” by Woodkid. The American picked up a level four for his spins and a level three for his footwork to score 184.64 points. The U.S. Champion totaled 271.58 to win his second Grand Prix gold medal and qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. “I’m pretty happy with my performance of the long program, definitely more satisfied with the long than with the short,” the 19-year-old Yale student said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to develop the program and develop the technical side of the program.”

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Nathan Chen claimed his second Grand Prix gold medal of the season in Grenoble | 2018 ©International Skating Union (ISU)

Skating to a Simon and Garfunkel Medley, Brown produced four clean triples, including an Axel and exquisite spins. However, the 23-year-old underrotated his second triple Axel and doubled a Lutz. Brown was ranked third in the Free Skating with 159.92 points and slipped from first to second at 256.33 points. “I’m pretty pleased with the way things went. Whereas the short program places my strengths, the long program really tests those strengths. I have a long way to go, but I’m really happy with the development as it has come along since the start of the season. I’m glad that I was able to stay focused and walk away with my first international medal of this season,” Brown said.

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Jason Brown (USA) claimed his first international medal of this season | 2018 ©International Skating Union (ISU)

Samarin’s routine to “The Greatest Showman” included a quad toe-double toe combination, a triple Axel-double toe as well as three more clean triples, but he almost fell on an underrotated quad Lutz and also underrotated the second triple Axel. The national silver medalist earned 156.23 points and dropped from second to third place on 247.09 points overall. “I am not completely satisfied with my performance in the free skating as there were mistakes, notably on the combination jumps. I am not so pleased with the result either, as the Grand Prix Final was so close and so far away at the same time. But I’m overall glad with how it ended and that I’m not going home empty-handed,” the 20-year-old said.

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Russian Alexander Samarin was not satisfied with his performance but happy to claim the bronze | ©2018 ©International Skating Union (ISU)

Dmitri Aliev (RUS) pulled up from ninth to fourth place and ranked second in the Free Skating with a solid skate (237.82 points). Kevin Aymoz (FRA) moved up from sixth to fifth on 231.16 points while Romain Ponsart (FRA) slipped from fourth to sixth (229.66 points).

Nicolas Nadeau (CAN) withdrew from the event following the morning practice, citing a back injury.