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SAN JOSE — It wasn’t unanimous but American skating officials believe they have the best possible men’s team heading to the Pyeongchang Games.
That includes promising teenager Vincent Zhou of Palo Alto, who gave the Bay Area two Olympic skaters at one Winter Games for the first time in 30 years.
Nathan Chen, 18, and Adam Rippon, 28, were the other men’s selections, U.S. Figure Skating officials announced Sunday.
Chen easily defended his American title Saturday night at SAP Center to head into the 2018 Winter Games as his country’s best medal hope.
Rippon, who was fourth after a poor free skate Saturday, was picked over Ross Miner, who had placed second with one of his best performances in years.
Zhou, 17, is competing as a senior on the international level for the first time, underscoring his towering achievement.
“There’s a certain feeling that comes with the word ‘Olympian,’ and it’s really hard to describe, but to have that attached to my name is more than I can ever ask for in my entire life,” he said Sunday.
Fremont’s Karen Chen was named to the Olympic roster Saturday as the Bay Area. But neither Chen nor Zhou is a serious medal contender the way Brian Boitano of Sunnyvale and Debi Thomas of San Jose were at the Calgary Games when they won the gold and bronze, respectively.
San Jose, once a center for fruit orchards and now technology, has a long association with figure skating. The history is commemorated by mammoth stone pillars in downtown’s Guadalupe River Park — each bearing a mosaic-tiled likeness of the five San Jose-area skating champions who helped forge the rich tradition.
Peggy Fleming. Brian Boitano. Debi Thomas. Kristi Yamaguchi. Rudy Galindo.
Then came a California-like drought with Santa Rosa ice dancer Beata Handra and partner Charles Sinek the only tangential Olympic connection when skating in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Boitano’s appearance at the 1994 Olympics had been the last real Bay Area appearance until Polina Edmunds of San Jose finished ninth at the Sochi Games four years ago.
Edmunds, 19, had to withdraw Friday because of a lingering foot injury but she had led a resurgence of sorts.
Regional skaters excelled at the junior level during the 10-day championships that ended Sunday with ice dancing competition.
Alysa Liu of Richmond won the junior women’s title, Dinh Tran of San Francisco was second in the men’s, Anthony Ponomarenko of Morgan Hill and his partner won the ice dance crown and Sarah Feng of Fremont and partner TJ Nyman were second in pairs.
“It’s the possibility of a renaissance,” Boitano said Sunday. “It’s a start with Vincent and Karen. In the past, we haven’t had this much possibility.”
Boitano wonders if the next crop will stay in the region or depart like Zhou and Chen, who both train under Riverside’s Tammy Gambill. Zhou, however, resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, relying on a special coach for his skyrise quadruple jumps.
Except for Edmunds, most of the rising talent has sought big-name coaches elsewhere. But Boitano said the area has a few good ones who could elevate local talent the way Linda Leaver did for Boitano and Christy Ness did for Yamaguchi.
Zhou was not sure he would join the Bay Area’s elite group while pacing in his hotel Saturday night. He was filled with anxiety after finishing third in the men’s competition for his second consecutive medal at the senior championships.
The reigning junior world champion had struggled during the Grand Prix season in the fall and changed his coaching arrangement to salvage the Olympic quest.
Zhou’s mother, Fei Ge, said her son had hardly slept over the past two days because of the pressure.
“I was hanging on to anything that I could that I would make the team,” he said.
It turned out the “perfectionist” needed had worried. His free skate that included five quadruple jump attempts is the kind of athleticism U.S. officials are encouraging.
Ross, on the other hand, became the focal point of deliberations because selectors weren’t relying on one result to pick the Olympic team.
“Ross does amazing at U.S. championships” with three medals in his career “but frankly he has struggled at some of the international competitions,” president Sam Auxier said. “We looked at all sorts of statistics.”
The vote was 11-1.
The three Olympians also received assignments for the 2018 World Championships starting March 19 in Milan, Italy.
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As expected, officials nominated U.S. champions Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and husband Chris Knierim for United States’ lone pairs’ berth. Feng and Nyman were named to the Junior World Championships team that competes in March in Bulgaria.
