Nathan Chen skated in a victory lap of sorts on Saturday night, high-fiving fans as the newly crowned national champion.
And what a lopsided win he delivered.
Chen dazzled with remarkable athleticism and pulled off five quadruple jumps as he beat Ross Miner by a startling 40.72 points, finishing with a total score of 315.23.
Chen, 18, demonstrated poise and style (along with new Vera Wang costumes) and all but secured his spot in next month’s Pyeongchang Games. The United States Olympic selections will be announced Sunday.
Chen opened with a quad flip-triple toe loop combination at full speed and never looked back. When he singled a planned triple Axel, it was his only flaw. It hardly mattered with all those memorable quads.
“I’m very happy with tonight. I laid out a five-quad program, which I haven’t been able to do all season,” Chen said. “Obviously I made a mistake on the axel, and I’ll have to address that at some point back home. Ultimately, I’m very happy with tonight, and I think I really did my job here.”
Continue reading the main storyChen, the only undefeated male skater in the world this season, is considered the Americans’ best hope for an Olympic medal. Now, the United States Figure Skating selection committee will consider each skater’s body of work to pick the three men who will represent the country in South Korea.
Vincent Zhou, another prodigious jumper, placed third.
Miner, 26, skated a nearly flawless routine to a Queen medley and had the SAP Center crowd rocking and clapping along. He pumped his right fist after a double Axel that made for a clean, lighthearted program. Miner earned a standing ovation and beamed while putting his hand to his heart in appreciation. He scored 185.60 for a 274.51 total.
“I had one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had on the ice,” Miner said. “That’s what I do in training at home, and it was such a good feeling to put it out there at the big game and show what I’m capable of. That’s what I do all the time.”
Zhou, a 17-year-old skating in his hometown to “Moulin Rouge,” attempted five quads and completed four in his technically difficult program — one quad was in combination with a triple — for a score of 273.83.
The 2017 silver medalist at nationals, Zhou calmed himself moments before he began by shutting his eyes, then opening them with a deep breath. He skated with ease and confidence to nail his first four quadruple jumps before falling on a quad toe loop in the second half of his performance.
Adam Rippon, who was second out of the short program and chasing his first Olympics at age 28, fell on his quad Lutz but recovered. He then popped his planned triple Salchow and triple Lutz into singles for fourth place with a score of 268.34.
Rippon has worked tirelessly on his fitness in the past year after a foot injury, seeking to pull off the big jumps that the youngsters have mastered. Skating a year to the day since breaking his left foot while gearing up to defend his 2016 national title — he didn’t get to compete — Rippon may have complicated things for the Olympic selection committee.
“For what I did today, I take full responsibility,” Rippon said. “I felt really good this whole week, and I think over the past few years I’ve had one bad skate, not even a competition.”
He added: “I knew there was a criteria to be selected for the Olympic team. I feel like I have better criteria than second and third place here, but with that being said, Vincent and Ross skated very well tonight. No matter what the selection is, I will be 100 percent O.K.”
Brown, a 2014 team bronze medalist at the Sochi Olympics, finished sixth. He went into Saturday third after a 93.23 in the short program and finished at 253.68. Brown shortened his quad toe loop rotation to start his free skate and fell before coming back strong with some entertaining, graceful footwork.
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