Chen topples men's field with arsenal of quads (9/5/15)

Chen topples men's field with arsenal of quads

Honda in front of Rydberg, Le in ladies; McNamara, Carpenter lead dance

Posted 9/5/15 by U.S. Figure Skating

Topping his own previous personal-best score by more than 16 points, Nathan Chen cruised to the gold medal with a total of 236.76. His impressive free to "Symphony No.3" by Camille Saint-Saëns featured two quadruple toes, including one in combination with a triple toe. -Daphne Backman

Nathan Chen added to his substantial lead during Friday night's free skate at the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) in Colorado Springs, breaking his own personal-best score by more than 16 points and winning the event by 29.59.

Returning to the JGP scene with hopes of completing a season without complication, Chen took the first step toward that goal, turning in two clean performances to amass an impressive 236.76 points.

"It's about time," Chen chuckled. "I was actually able to train normally leading up to this competition, which is what I was used to before my injuries, so it feels good to be back. It gives me a lot more confidence to feel like this again at the end of an event."

Chen's free skate to "Symphony No.3" by Camille Saint-Saëns opened with a flawless quadruple toe-triple toe combination, followed by a quadruple toe and two triple axels, one of which was in combination with a double toe loop. Three of his 12 elements scored more than 10 points, with four jumping passes taking place in the second half of the program. He gained a segment total of 159.63, more than 10 points higher than his previous personal-best. The victory marks Chen's first JGP gold since 2013 (Mexico, Belarus).

Israel's Daniel Samohin rallied from a seventh-place showing in the short program to earn the silver medal with a total score of 207.17. His free skate featured three attempted quads -- two completed -- for a segment score of 148.64. Japan's Sota Yamamotorounded out the podium with 203.68 points.

Team USA's Tomoki Hiwatashi cracked the top five in his JGP debut, finishing fifth with a score of 185.66.

American Anthony Boucher placed 10th with 164.33 points.