Chen edges Uno for GP final lead
Print Edition
Nathan Chen of the United States edged Japan鈥檚 Shoma Uno in the men鈥檚 short program to take the lead at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating final yesterday, setting up a showdown between the two jumping powerhouses two months before the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
On the first day of the competition, often seen as a key step on the road to the Olympics, Chen took 103.32 points for his dynamic, clean routine, while Uno, performing in his hometown of Nagoya in central Japan, had an unusual fall on a triple axel and ended up with 101.51 points.
Chen pulled off a quad lutz and triple toeloop at the start of his program to 鈥淣emesis,鈥 by Benjamin Clementine, then a quad flip and triple axel, after which he appeared to pump his fists briefly.
鈥淚鈥檓 very happy tonight,鈥 Chen told reporters. 鈥淚 made a couple of mistakes in the landing of the quads, but my triple axel was better than at Skate America so I鈥檓 happy with that.鈥
Uno, skating to the 鈥淲inter鈥 section of Antonin Vivaldi鈥檚 鈥淔our Seasons,鈥 executed a clean quad flip followed by a quad toeloop and triple toeloop that had the audience cheering, but fell on a late triple axel. 鈥淚 made a new type of mistake today, the triple axel is a jump I know I can land,鈥 Uno said, but added he still felt he 鈥渄id everything I could鈥.
鈥淚鈥檒l make efforts to put plenty of jumps I can do into my routine tomorrow.鈥
Russia鈥檚 Mikhail Kolyada was third with 99.22 points two days after the International Olympic Committee banned his country from next year鈥檚 Games in South Korea for 鈥渦nprecedented systematic manipulation鈥 of the anti-doping system.
However, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have said they won鈥檛 stand in the way of their athletes taking part in Pyeongchang as neutrals.
The IOC said Russians could compete at the February 9-25 Games as an 鈥淥lympic Athlete of Russia鈥 if they satisfy strict conditions that show they have a doping-free background.
Asked about the situation, Kolyada said: 鈥淚 have not been reading the news, I have tried to stay away from that, because it is distracting. The main thing obviously is to get to the Olympic Games.鈥
Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan is still recovering from a leg injury sustained during practice at last month鈥檚 NHK Trophy and is not competing.
In the pairs, Germany鈥檚 Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, facing their first Olympics together, took a surprise lead in the short program on 79.43 points with an entertaining routine to 鈥淭hat Man鈥 by Cara Emerald which got a standing ovation.
The Chinese pair of Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, strong favorites going into Pyeongchang, were third after Han fell on their first jump and are nearly 4 points off the lead. European champions Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia (78.83 ) were second.
French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (82.07) took a slender lead in the short dance over Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada (81.53). Maia and Alex Shibutani of the United States were third with 78.09.
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