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Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2017 21:36:13 GMT
Karen Chen probably didn’t see Ashley Wagner giving her a curt nod from the ice, not with her face buried in her hands after another memorable performance at the U.S. figure skating championships. The three-time champion was focused on warming up for her own performance in the free skate, yet Wagner couldn’t help but acknowledge near-perfection — and the standard she now faced. Wagner proceeded to lay down her own dramatic program, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Fremont’s 17-year-old Chen. Her elegant short program performed to “On Golden Pond” was followed by a darker, more emotional free skate set to “Jealousy Tango” that made her a surprising first-time national champion. “I skated such a great short and I was definitely thrilled with it,” Chen said, “so I definitely had some pressure going into the long, thinking I really had a chance at this.” The bronze medalist two years ago, Chen’s free skate score of 141.40 gave her a 214.22 total, which stood up when Wagner under-rotated a combination and had a final combination spin reduced to a Level 2 in her own program. That left the world silver medalist with a score of 140.84 and a 211.78 composite.
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2017 21:34:09 GMT
Chen stood on the top step of the podium and stifled a smile as U.S. Figure Skating president Samuel Auxier, as he prepared to drape a gold medal around his neck, bowed down before him. Chen followed a record-setting short program with a near-flawless free skate featuring five quadruple jumps Sunday to become the youngest men's U.S. figure skating champion in more than five decades. The 17-year-old Chen, performing to “The Polovtsian Dances,” became the first skater in the world to land five clean quads in competition. The result was a free skate score of 212.08 — more than the composite of several rivals — and finished with a 318.47 total that put him well clear of the competition. “That was an amazing performance. I'm really happy with what I did,” Chen said. “Component-wise, I kind of faltered a little bit. That stuff happens when you're pushing these secondary elements to the max. It's definitely something that I'm looking forward to working on improve for worlds.”
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Post by Admin on Jan 24, 2017 21:20:25 GMT
U.S. figure skater Gracie Gold’s meltdown on the ice was over and done with Saturday night when her coach, the venerable Frank Carroll, emerged through the curtains backstage at the U.S. national championships holding Gold’s black warm-up vest. “That’s what I was told to do,” Carroll said curtly. “I asked her what she wanted me to do with it and she said, ‘Throw it away,’ so that’s what I did.” It has been a horrible season for the two-time national champion and 2014 Olympic team bronze medalist, with her dreadful sixth-place finish here serving as an appropriate and sad punctuation mark.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2017 21:21:27 GMT
After four intense days of competition where 84 senior-level skaters competed, four national champions were crowned and the 15-member world team was determined. While Maia and Alex Shibutani successfully defended their ice dance title, three new champions were discovered in Nathan Chen (men), Karen Chen (ladies) and Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier (pairs). Meanwhile, the team competing at the March 29-April 2 world championships in Helsinki ranges in age from 17 to 29. It features five past world medalists, three athletes going to their first worlds, a set of siblings and even a married couple in Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim. All eyes will be on the event as athletes work to secure quota spots for their country at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Team USA has three ladies, three ice dance teams, two men and two pairs teams at this year’s worlds, and will earn three spots for the Olympics in any discipline where the top two finishers’ results equal 13 or less. If the placements equal 14 to 28, the U.S. will earn two Olympic spots in that discipline.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2017 21:30:19 GMT
Karen Chen Hometown: Fremont, California Training town: Riverside, California Age during world championships: 17 Helsinki will mark: First world championships Major accomplishments: Gold at 2017 U.S. championships; Bronze at 2016 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic; Bronze at 2015 Golden Spin; Bronze at 2015 U.S. championships Why she stands out: Chen topped a competitive field at the 2017 U.S. championships, including beating three Olympians who are all past national champions. She surprised everyone to win both the short program and free skate, setting a new national record in the former of 72.82. Too young to compete at the 2015 world championships when she won bronze at nationals, Chen will look to make a splash at her worlds debut. On winning nationals: “I’m just in complete shock. All of this just came together for me. It was a rough season. I spent the first couple months working out my boot problems and working with a new boot company trying to work out all the kinks. I’m happy with the progress and hope to keep getting better.”
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