Two-time Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan finally completed his impressive collection of titles when he skated off with gold at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul (KOR) on Sunday. Jason Brown (USA) claimed the silver medal and youngster Yuma Kagiyama of Japan grabbed the bronze in his ISU Championship debut.
Hanyu hit a quad Salchow, quad toe-Euler-triple Salchow, a triple Axel, a triple flip as well as level-four spins and footwork in his famous program to “Seimei”. However, the two-time World Champion stumbled on the quad Lutz and fell on an underrotated quad toe. The 25-year-old scored 187.60 points and racked up 299.42 points overall to secure the title after winning three silver medals at the Four Continents.
Gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) | 2020 © International Skating Union (ISU)
“There was a little bit of a problem with the ice before I skated. Because of that problem, I was unusually nervous but I think I tried my best,” Hanyu said.
“I was disappointed (with my mistakes) but I will be able to prepare for the World Championship by analyzing today’s mistakes and I would like to improve my skating to not repeat these mistakes in other competitions.”
Brown’s emotional performance to “Schindler’s List” featured a triple Axel-double toe, another triple Axel as well as six triples and exquisite spins and footwork. The only glitch came when he doubled his planned quad toe. The 2018 Four Continents bronze medalist posted a personal best score of 180.11 and moved up one spot at 274.82 points overall.
Silver medalist Jason Brown (USA) | 2020 © International Skating Union (ISU)
“I’m super excited. I was really focused on going out there and skating my best performance that I could,” Brown said.
“I’m disappointed with my little blip. I was so close to skating completely clean so that’s a little bit of a bummer.
“I was rewarded for what I did so I’m really excited heading into the World Championships because I left a good 12 points on the table that I hope to get in Montreal.”
Kagiyama delivered an excellent performance to the “Tucker” soundtrack, completing two quad toes and six triples. He stepped out of only the last jump, a triple Axel. The 2020 Youth Olympic Champion achieved a personal best with 179.00 points to tally 270.61 points.
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN), who took bronze | 2020 © International Skating Union (ISU)
“I never could have imagined getting a medal here and I’m still in shock. I am surprise with this good result,” the 16-year-old said.
“I’m happy with my performance. I was able to skate without thinking too much. The Axel (mistake) was a problem of my stamina but I enjoyed to skate and make the audience happy.”
Boyang Jin (CHN) slipped from second to fourth after popping two planned quads into doubles (267.67 points). Junhwan Cha (KOR) pulled up from sixth to fifth at 265.43 points while Nam Nguyen (CAN) moved up from ninth place to sixth on 251.60 points.
