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| Nathan Chen, world champion for a second time. |
ASAM NEWS &
VIEWS FROM THE EDGE
U.S. Olympian Nathan Chen took home his second World Figure Skating title today in Saitama, Japan, reports Team USA.
Chen overcame a sensational effort from silver medalist and home country favorite Yuzuru Hanyu.
Vincent Zhou took the bronze, making this the first time two U.S. men were on the medal podium at the same time since 1996 when Todd Eldredge won and Rudy Galindo was third.
“As soon as I stepped on the ice, I felt that energy already there. He (Hanyu) has been pushing the sport making the sport so enjoyable, so competitive, and that definitely made me so much better of a skater,” said Chen, according to The Guardian.
Chen, a student at Yale University, opened with a nice quad lutz, then stumbled on the landing of his quad flip, before hitting two quad toe loops, including one in combination with a triple toe loop.
Zhou, too, was elated by his performance.
“I’m really proud of what I did today,” he told Team USA.
The U.S. Ice Dancing team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, two-time world medalists, finished sixth. Chock, who is of Chinese/Hawaiian descent, had ankle surgery in April and the duo could not compete until January.
Chock had sustained her ankle injury in July of 2017, and, after fighting through it to skate all season long, she and Bates went through the unimaginable: A fall in the free dance at the Olympics. It was a terrible moment for the team, which is romantically linked, and much of their energy post-surgery has been focused on a re-imagination of what they want their next Olympic journey to be.
However, their American teammates, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, were able to win a bronze in Ice Dancing.
The popular siblings, Maia and Alex Shibutani, who won bronze at the 2018 Olympics for the U.S., chose not to compete this season.
Zhou, too, was elated by his performance.
“I’m really proud of what I did today,” he told Team USA.
American women finished without a medal in a category dominated by 16-year old Russian skater Alina Zagitova, followed by Kazakhstan's Elizabet Tursynbaeva, and Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva, who took silver and bronz respectively. Bradie Tennell was the top American finisher who came in seventh.
Injuries sidelined U.S. Olympians Karen Chen and Mirai Nagasu. U.S. champion, 13-year old Alyssa Liu, is ineligible to compete in senior international events because she's too young.
The U.S. Ice Dancing team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, two-time world medalists, finished sixth. Chock, who is of Chinese/Hawaiian descent, had ankle surgery in April and the duo could not compete until January.
Chock had sustained her ankle injury in July of 2017, and, after fighting through it to skate all season long, she and Bates went through the unimaginable: A fall in the free dance at the Olympics. It was a terrible moment for the team, which is romantically linked, and much of their energy post-surgery has been focused on a re-imagination of what they want their next Olympic journey to be.
However, their American teammates, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, were able to win a bronze in Ice Dancing.
The popular siblings, Maia and Alex Shibutani, who won bronze at the 2018 Olympics for the U.S., chose not to compete this season.
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