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Two-time world champion Nathan Chen and teammate Vincent Zhou dominated the men’s free skate on Friday and increased the lead of the United States at figure skating’s World Team Trophy.
Skating to “Land of All,” Chen landed three quad jumps to finish first in the free skate with 199.49 points.
First after the short program, Chen opened with a quad salchow and added a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination in the first half of his routine. The 19-year-old full-time student at Yale also landed a quad toeloop.
Zhou, a bronze medalist at the world championships, also landed three quad jumps to finish second with 198.50 points. Shoma Uno of Japan was third with 189.46.
The United States leads the overall standings with 91 points, 12 ahead of Japan. Russia is in third place with 70 points.
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the free dance to win gold in ice dancing with 135.82 points. Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia were second with 130.63 points while Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States were third with 127.11.
Six countries are competing in the sixth edition of the World Team Trophy. The others are France, Italy and Canada.
Canadian Results
Three fourth-place finishes in Friday’s events have moved Canada from fifth to fourth overall at the ISU World Team Trophy figure skating competition.
In ice dancing, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., took fourth spot in the free dance with a season’s best 124.18 points.
”We were determined to skate with ease and confidence today,” said Weaver, celebrating her 30th birthday. ”It was an incredible six minutes between the program and the support we got from the crowd. Special memories for sure.”
In the men’s free skate, Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., finished fourth place with 178.04. Nam Nguyen of Toronto was seventh at 164.40.
”Apart from tripling one of my quads my performance went very well today,” said Messing. ”I decided to go with a very strong and confident program. This is the last time doing my Chaplin routine and I’m very sad to see it go.”
In the pairs short program, Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were fourth earning 68.38 less than two points from third spot.
Skaters compete in their disciplines with their short and free programs. After the results, they receive placement points (first is worth 12 points, second place 11 points and so on), which are then added together.
Competition ends Saturday with the women’s and pairs free skates.
