Chen’s 5 quads as good as gold
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nathan Chen stood on the top step of the podium and stifled a smile as U.S. Figure Skating president Samuel Auxier prepared to drape a gold medal around his neck.
Indeed, all hail the new king of American skating.
Chen on Sunday followed a record-setting short program with a near-flawless free skate featuring five quadruple jumps to become the youngest men’s U.S. figure skating champion in more than five decades.
Chen, 17, performing to “The Polovtsian Dances,” became the first skater in the world to land five clean quads in competition. The result was a free-skate score of 212.08 — more than the composite of several rivals — and finished with a 318.47 total that put him well clear of the competition.
“That was an amazing performance. I’m really happy with what I did,” Chen said. “Componentwise, I kind of faltered a little bit. That stuff happens when you’re pushing these secondary elements to the max.”
Hard to imagine things getting a whole lot better.
Chen’s aerial showcase began with a quad lutztriple toe combination and never slowed — his only bobble coming on a triple flip-triple toe as his sprightly program was coming to an end.
By that point, his coach Rafael Arutunian was shaking his fists in celebration.
Vincent Zhou, 16, missed on his first quad but was clean the rest of the way, even if the youngster lacked some of the polish of his peers. His total of 263.03 earned him a silver medal.
Jason Brown skated a smooth, stylish routine to finish third.