Chan back in the mix for medals at worlds
One of Canada’s most decorated skaters continues his comeback
Either the world awaits for the Toronto skater or the world has passed him by.
More likely, reality is closer to the former for the three-time global champ, who was a strong third after the men’s short program during the World Figure Skating Championships Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston.
Chan will need another magical long program and leader Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan to falter to win gold on Friday, but in terms of the Canadian skater’s rejuvenated career path, he feels as though he’s right on target.
“I feel happy, not disappointed at all,” said Chan, whose 94.84 points leave him behind Hanyu (110.56) and second-place Javier Fernandez of Spain (98.52), the defending world champ. “With all the buzz here at worlds, it’s the usual. I haven’t been used to this high energy and high expectation.”
If Chan was feeling any nerves prior to Wednesday’s return to the true world stage for the first time since walking away from the sport after earning silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he didn’t show it.
Skating to Michael Buble’s “Mack The Knife,” he was especially confident in nailing his opening quad-triple combination. Failing to land a triple Axel ensured the 25-year-old wasn’t going to climb above third, but Chan wasn’t going to fret over that, either.
“I just rushed a little bit and slipped off my left foot on the takeoff,” said Chan, who is certainly well positioned to collect a sixth career world championships medal. “At least I know what I did wrong so I won’t do that again.”
The skater’s muted expectations coming into this event are by design. In many ways, these world championships are all about The Fours for Chan — and we’re not talking about the popular watering hole steps from the Garden.
In pursuit of a fourth world title — and thus the opportunity to match a Canadian great from a previous generation, Kurt Browning — Chan’s employment of the quad, the four-revolution jump that has taken the sport by storm, hasn’t matched his chief competitors.
Chan acknowledges it, wrestles with it and ultimately will have to come up with a plan to deal with it if he’s going to be a contender for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. But here in Boston, he feels there’s no need to press the issue, just to progress.
“I’m at a disadvantage now technically,” Chan said recently. “I’m competing against men who are doing five quads between the short program and the long program and I’m at three between the two programs. It’s crazy to try to catch up technically at this time, but I think that’s good and bad.”
Hanyu was brilliant on Wednesday, however, hence his sizable lead going into Friday’s long program. Chan has been known to make up some ground in the long during his career, however, and he plans to enjoy the moment in what is likely to be his last world championships in North America.