The Sports Examiner

FIGURE SKATING: Chen takes third straight Skate America title; Brown second for U.S. 1-2

World Champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. (Photo: ISU)

Americans Nathan Chen and Jason Brown took the gold and silver medals in Men’s Singles to kick off the ISU Grand Prix season at Skate America in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chen, the two-time defending World Champion, led after the Short Program with 102.71 points to 96.57 for Russia’s Dmitri Aliev. But while Chen ran away from the field in the Free Skate – scoring 196.38 points – countryman Brown was second with 171.64 and moved from fourth to second.

“I’m pretty happy with the performance today. This is the first Grand Prix of the season, the first real competition since the Worlds, so it’s nice to be able to put out both programs. I’m pretty happy with the score, but there are a lot of things to improve on. Overall it’s a good starting point,” Chen said.

Said Brown, “I’m super happy with the fight. I fought through bits and pieces of it, but I really felt happy that I was able to move past the mistakes from the short to make up for them in the long. It was great to debut both my programs here.”

It was Chen’s third straight win in Skate America, tying Scott Hamilton for the second-most wins in a row; only Todd Eldredge with four has more (and Eldredge win five total, the most ever).

The Pairs was won by China’s Cheng Peng and Yang Jin, who led after the Short Program and won the Free Skate as well. The U.S. went 3-4-5, with Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier winning the bronze.

In the Women’s Short Program, American Bradie Tennell was the leader, with the Free Skate on Sunday. Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue led after the Rhythm Dance. Summaries so far:

ISU Grand Prix/Skate America
Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) ~ 18-20 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Nathan Chen (USA), 299.09 (1st in Short Program + 1st in Free Skate); 2. Jason Brown (USA), 255.09 (4+2); 3. Dmitri Aliev (RUS), 253.55 (2+3); 4. Keegan Messing (CAN), 239.34 (3+8); 5. Kazuki Tomono (JPN), 229. 72 (8+4).

Pairs: 1. Cheng Peng/Yang Jin (CHN), 200.89 (1+1); 2. Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS), 196.98 (2+3); 3. Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (USA), 192.70 (4+2); 4. Jessica Calalang/Brian Johnson (USA), 180.52 (5+4); 5. Ashley Cain-Gribble/Tim LeDuc (USA), 177.54 (3+5).

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