Canadian figure skater Nam Nguyen finished sixth in the men’s event at the Skate America Grand Prix in Chicago. The 18-year-old Torontonian earned 159.64 points in Sunday’s free program event, scoring 159.64 overall.
Japan’s Shoma Uno landed three quadruple jumps en route to the men’s title. Americans Jason Brown and Adam Rippon placed second and third in the first event of the Grand Prix season.
Great start to my GP season! Thanks!!!!
— @namnamnoodle
“I felt a little bit nervous heading into my free skate after a great short program yesterday,” said Nguyen. “But I was still able to do my job. There’s still so much to work on and today was a good step towards my goals this season.”
Nguyen, fourth after Friday’s short program, opened with a quad Salchow and also landed two triple axels including one in combination in his free skate to George Gershwin’s ”An American in Paris.”
Canada earned one medal here this weekend. On Saturday, Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., won the gold in pairs. Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was fourth in women’s competition.
Quads aplenty in Chicago
Uno, skating to an intense tango, moved seamlessly through his demanding program, but fell late in the routine on a triple axel combination. He finished with 279.34 points.
Shoma Uno wins Skate America7:39
“The first half of my program was great,” Uno, 17, said through a translator. “Unfortunately, I missed a three-jump combination toward the end and I feel regrettable about that. My six-minute warmup didn’t feel so good, but I was still able to pull out what I felt today, and I’m satisfied in that sense.”
Brown, from the Chicago area and the 2015 U.S. champion, landed his opening quad for the first time this season, although it was scored as under-rotated. He scored 268.38 points.
Welcome to the quad party, Jason Brown (@jasonbskates) https://t.co/y56MJ7dT2A
— @CBCOlympics
The accomplishment didn’t go unnoticed by skating fans online:
News flash. Jason Brown landing his first quad in competition. This performance was Brown at his best. Woozer. #SkateAmerica
— @BevSmithWrites
Well done @jasonbskates! Way to quiet your critics and persevere. That was gorgeous! #SkateAmerica
— @CenteredSpin
#SkateAmerica Killjoy tech panel gives Jason Brown under rotation call on quad. Still great moment and free skate.
— @LynnRutherford
Rippon, meanwhile, fell on his opening quad. The reigning U.S. champion had 261.43 points.
Shibutani siblings win ice dance title
Americans Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani won the ice dance title, while teammates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished second on Sunday.
The Shibutanis’ victory extends the United States’ streak of gold medals in ice dance at Skate America to eight; it has won 12 of the last 14. The brother-and-sister team, the reigning world silver medalists and U.S. champions, dazzled the crowd with their intricate free dance. They totaled 185.75 points overall after a free dance mark of 112.71.
“It was a great start to our season, very happy with our free dance performance today,” Alex Shibutani said. “There was a lot of anticipation on our part in getting to debut both of these programs. We are excited to have gotten our season started. We’re looking forward to building toward Cup of China.”
Hubbell and Donohue moved up from third after the short dance to win the silver medal with 175.77 points. They edged Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev by exactly one point.
“We were happy to start our Grand Prix series here in America,” Hubbell said. “I think it was a great event for us as well as all of Team USA. It was a really wonderful week.”
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