Chan facing an uphill climb
GANG NE UN G—Patrick Chan is ones kate from the end of his competitive career, and there is a chance he won’t be in the mix for medals.
But the perennial Canadian champ won’t be defined by that skate, or Friday’ s flawed short program. He he has made that declaration loud and clear, repeatedly and again on Friday. So, while he was disappointed to fall on yet another triple Axel, his nemesis, he was not shattered.
With just 90.01 points, the climb to the podium through the rank soft he long program on Saturday might be too much to ask. But he will ask it of himself.
“I’m still going to go for a clean long program, I’m still going to go for my best performance, despite the 90 points,” he said. “Ifeel great, like Ifeel like I’m at home, Ifeel like Ibelong here, and Ihave ownership of the ice, and that’s quite a feeling that Ididn’t have in Sochi at all.
“So, this is already a big bonus. And Ihave a gold medal), so a lot of great things despite the mistake. That’s why it takes me maybe 10 minutes to move on and put it behind me.”
That gold medal he referred to came from the team event, and he was one of the prime drivers of that win. He came into Friday’ s short program with confidence left over from that victory. But the Axel is in his head. Not that he’s weak mentally. He nailed a quad, but left the back end triple until later in the program. That’s discipline and smarts. He picked himself up to finish with fine footwork, solid spins and a flourish.
Chan’s teammate, Olympic rookie Keegan Mes sing landed a solid quad in combination before falling on a triple Axel. The intricacy of his footwork sequences and the speed and centring of his spins helped him produce 85.11 points and he qualified for the long program.