Chan edges rival in quad duel, sends message
Canadian Osmond back on track with silver breakthrough
One-two. Or two-one.
Could very well be that’s how men’s figure skating is destined to roll between Patrick Chan and Yuzuru Hanyu, between now and Pyeongchang.
It was the Canadian and three-time world champion on the top podium Saturday night at Skate Canada; the reigning Olympic champion from Japan who trains in Toronto tamped down to silver.
Both superstars of the sport pressed themselves to the max in their first Grand Prix competition of the season: Chan stiffening up on a debut quad Salchow — falling on that jump but landing a gorgeous quad toe/triple toe combination; Hanyu collapsing on his quad loop but tidily executing a quad toe and quad Salchow.
We’re back to quad squad madness as elite male skaters crank up the Q-shtick to three and four per free skate.
“I’m happy,” said Chan after holding off Hanyu, 266.95 overall versus 263.06. Hanyu, though, won Saturday’s free skate.
“My goal was to at least rotate the quad Sal,” Chan explained afterwards.
Two quads — at least in the air, if not on the landing — performed to “A Journey” (written by Canadian pairs skater Eric Radford) is searing on the lungs and the limbs.
“I started dying a little bit, the legs started getting heavier at the end of the program.”
Sapping of energy would explain this: doubling three triples, tripling a quad and singling a double.
It is, of course, still early days in the 2016-17 season. “For some reason the additional pressure and the adrenalin tires you out more,” observed Chan. “You could see that I faded as the program went along. But all in all a great start to the season. “I think it’s a well-deserved win.” Chan and Hanyu went mano-a-mano in Sochi, with the latter winning that round. They’re back rivaling since Chan returned last year from a 16-month sabbatical, each aiming for gold at the 2018 Games.
The Hanyu on display at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, however, was surprisingly sloppy. Puzzling how he merited free-skate marks 20 points clear of Vancouver’s Kevin Reynolds. And Reynolds landed three clean quads to claim a bronze, the veteran’s first Grand Prix medal.
As for 21-year-old Hanyu, coach Brian Orser could only roll his eyes. “One of these years we’ll win Skate Canada.”
The former world champ also noted that Hanyu has been obsessed with his “new toy’’ — the quad loop. But they’re all exploring new quad territory, pushed by a younger generation of jumping geniuses.
Men’s gold for Canada followed on the heels of a more polished women’s final and silver for New found landborn Kaetlyn Osmond.
The two-time national champion is back from the abyss of serious injury and a tentative catch-up year. At this event, the 20-year-old broke through the 200-point ceiling in an international competition for the first time: 206.45. Second and silver behind reigning world champion Evgenia Medvedeva was an achievement to savour.
“Definitely compared to last year, I’m beyond excited to be where I am now,” said Osmond. “Even more, I’m excited by the fact that I did make personal-best scores this week.’’
A huge morale boost for Osmond, restoring her to elite standing with international judges. Message sent.
“It was more a message for myself, knowing that I could come back from anything. And I want to show everyone else that it doesn’t matter how many setbacks you have in life. It might take a while but you can come back.”
For 17-year-old Moscow schoolgirl Medvedeva, Skate Canada gold was just one more triumph as she continues racking up titles. “So happy that I’m first today. Thank you so much.”
In the pairs competition, Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were not their usual technically proficient selves. She crashed to the ice on a throw quad Salchow and overrotated into a stumble on the landing of a double toe-loop, messing up a triple-double combination.
Still, the two-time and reigning world champions were clearly cut from finer cloth than any of the other pairs contenders at Skate Canada, reeling in a free-skate score of 139.91 — 218.30 total — for their No, je ne regrette rien routine, sung by Edith Piaf.
“After the fall I was little worried — is Meagan OK? But I’m really proud of the way that we fought on,” said Radford.