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Post by Admin on Oct 22, 2021 5:20:25 GMT
Skate America 2021 Boykova - Kozlovsky Free Program (VIDEO) training.
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Post by Admin on Oct 22, 2021 20:48:21 GMT
For figure skater Nathan Chen, America’s best hope for a gold medal in the most popular Winter Olympic sport, a journey of four years comes down to the next four months. Will he achieve in Beijing the promise that was bestowed upon him back in 2018, that his prodigious talent and impeccable athleticism would carry him to an Olympic gold medal? Or will he once again be denied the only title he does not possess, that of being an Olympic champion? His quest begins Friday night at Skate America in Las Vegas, the first major international skating competition of the Olympic season. It will end in the long program of the men’s event at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb 10. It will be then that Chen, 22, will know. Does the greatest U.S. male skater in a generation join the likes of Dick Button, Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano as an Olympic gold medalist? Or does he not? Since his disappointing sixth-place finish at the Pyeongchang Olympics, American Nathan Chen has won three world titles, the last three of his five U.S. championships, and the two most recent Grand Prix finals. “It’s always been a dream of mine to be able to win a national title, to win a world title, to win an Olympic title,” Chen said earlier this year. “Easier said than done. I thought that I had a chance in 2018 and that didn’t happen and I’m able to live with that. “Of course I would love to be able to win the next Olympics, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s not like my legacy or who I am is ultimately diminished. I’m still happy with everything that I’ve done. I’m proud of everything that I’ve already accomplished in skating. I still would love to improve and be better, but truthfully, I’m really happy with where I am and what I’ve already done, so whether or not I get that title at the Olympics is not going to define me as a person.” Nearly four years ago, Chen was an 18-year-old gold medal favorite at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea when he fell apart in the men’s short program, finishing a dismal 17th. Having no chance to win a medal, the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders, he went on to win the long program and finish fifth overall. How significant was that moment? Chen has not lost a competition since. World championships, national championships, Grand Prix events – Chen is undefeated since Pyeongchang, a remarkable achievement in any sport at any time, but especially at this time in men’s skating, the most competitive era athletically in the history of a sport where four-revolution jumps are landed on a sliver of a blade of steel, on ice of course.
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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2021 4:32:30 GMT
With the clock ticking down to the Beijing Olympics, Japan's "Ice Prince" Yuzuru Hanyu is under the spotlight as he bids to become the first figure skater to land a quad axel in competition.
The International Skating Union's Grand Prix series begins on Friday with Skate America in Las Vegas, then heads to five other stops in Canada, Italy, Japan, France and Russia.
Japanese skaters are set to provide some intriguing storylines as they battle for the three men's and three women's individual national team spots for the games in Beijing, the first city to host both summer and winter editions of the Olympics.
Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium will host all figure skating events in addition to short-track speed skating. The five figure skating events -- men's, women's, pairs, ice dance and team -- will take place between Feb. 4 and Feb. 20.
Hanyu has not yet confirmed he is aiming to compete in the Winter Games, though the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist has said he is eager to land the mythical four-and-a-half rotation quad axel this season. The axel is the only jump that takes off from a forward outside edge.
Hanyu will compete in the fourth and last leg of the six-stage Grand Prix series, the Nov. 12-14 NHK Trophy in Tokyo and the Nov. 26-28 Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Russia.
The 26-year-old has opted to move his training base to Japan rather than returning to Canada, after a year of travel restrictions and interruptions caused by the coronavirus.
Shoma Uno, men's individual silver medalist at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, will include four different quad jumps, and five in total, in his free skate.
Japan's 2021 world silver medalist and 2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games gold medalist Yuma Kagiyama has added a third type of quadruple jump -- the loop -- to his quad salchow and quad toe loop.
Another teenager, Shun Sato, has been working to perfect his two quads, the lutz and flip, as he vies for a coveted Olympic spot.
On the women's side, Rika Kihira is having a rough start to her Olympic season. The two-time Four Continents champion had to withdraw from the Oct. 29-31 Skate Canada due to an ankle injury. It remains to be seen whether she will be ready for the NHK Trophy.
Kaori Sakamoto, the 2018 Four Continents champion and 2020 NHK Trophy champion, is still struggling to put together a faultless free skate.
Mai Mihara, who won the women's singles title at the Olympic test event in Beijing last week, Satoko Miyahara, Wakaba Higuchi and Rino Matsuike, who is in her debut season on the senior circuit, are the other skaters contending for a Winter Olympic berth.
The Grand Prix series is held over six weeks in October and November, with the top six skaters in each discipline making the Grand Prix Final, set for Dec. 9-12 in Osaka.
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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2021 18:59:59 GMT
Nathan Chen is out of podium position for the first time in almost four years. The three-time reigning world figure skating champion — and this season's Olympic gold medal favourite — was fourth Friday night after the men's short program at Skate America. Chen has long been known as the "quad king," but fell on his opening quadruple lutz and botched a quad flip combo later in the program. Instead, American Vincent Zhou was in gold-medal position going into the free skate Saturday. Olympian Zhou had 97.43 points to easily lead the 11-man field, followed by Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno of Japan with 89.07 and American Jimmy Ma at 84.52. Ma has never finished higher than 10th at a Grand Prix. With a score of 82.89, Chen is a surmountable 1.63 points away from the podium, but upwards of 15 points from first. "I'm human, I get nervous, I feel fear," Chen said. "I get anxious before events, but that's normal."
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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2021 21:42:32 GMT
Превью Skate America: Трусова, Загитова и Траньков, Медведева и Даниелян. 22.10.2021
The Figure Skating Grand Prix Series kicks off this weekend with the Skate America tournament opening. Channel One presents a preview of the American stage of the Grand Prix.
Alexandra Trusova, Daria Usacheva and Ksenia Sinitsyna talk about their expectations from international starts and goals for the season.
Olympic champion Alina Zagitova understands pair skating with the help of Olympic champion Maxim Trankov and a pair of Evgeny Tarasov - Vladimir Morozov.
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