ANAHEIM, California – It's late in the men's free skate Saturday night at Four Continents and I'm sitting rinkside with Jackie Wong of
Rocker Skating. One great skate after another keeps sending the crowd inside HONDA Center to its feet. In a way, it doesn't feel like it will ever will stop.
And in that same way, I don't really want it to. Figure skating is one of those sports where the technical challenge that world-class athletes are put up against is so outstanding that not even they can be perfect.
We saw near perfection Saturday night. That included both
Jason Brown and
Vincent Zhou, skating with the weight and expectation of the aforementioned event but also with the lingering World Championships next month in Japan.
In a free skate, the challenge is four minutes of perfection. Every second that ticks by is a challenge not to be.
1. Vincent's Valiant Effort
No matter if you saw 18-year-old Zhou's first-place finish in the short program a blessing or a course, the way that he comported himself in the free skate was abundantly admirable. Not only did he skate after teammate Brown, he did so in the midst of a final men's group that included knockout free skates from eventual champ Shoma Uno, Canada's Keegan Messing and – finally – Brown.
While called for three underrotations, Zhou was steely, aggressive, fluid and simply classy. He would slip from first to third, but in the process. he would win his first Four Continents medal, scoring just over a point behind Boyang Jin at 272.22.
What's more impressive? Zhou revealing after the free that he had been dealing with a knee injury and that he had to switch to his backup skates in order to compete over the weekend. "Resilience is a cornerstone to success in anything," Zhou wrote on his Instagram post after the free skate.
Honestly? No truer words have been uttered.
2. Cain and LeDuc Stay on Course
Resilience is a kind of word that could be easily be applied to Ashley Cain, who, just two months ago, suffered a concussion on a botched lift with partner Timothy LeDuc in Croatia.
But a certain resolve – and trust – vaulted them to a national title just two weeks ago, and after finishing as the best of three U.S. teams after the short here, they continued that trend, skating a near-clean free to finish just off the podium, in fourth place.
It's the kind of finish the national championship-winning team ordered: Straight-forward and clear. They edged out
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier by some 12 points overall.
LeDuc was poignant in the mixed zone after: "There's been a lot of ups and downs this season for us… a lot of things that could have broken us down. (Ashley) told me at the beginning of the season, 'Yes, there's going to be a lot of hard times, but don't be afraid of success.'"
Afraid they weren't. Ashley added: "There was a point where I was really scared because I didn't want to fail, but I pushed failure out of my mind and I just allowed myself to skate."
That just-skate motto earned them a top finish among U.S. teams on Saturday… and continued confidence heading into Worlds just a few weeks away.
3. Brown, Hiwatashi Aren't Going Anywhere
Did you see how downright awesome
Tomoki Hiwatashi was Saturday night? Or how effortless and graceful
Jason Brown makes everything seem.
Hiwatashi, who made his first big switch to seniors this season, isn't done learning: He was impressive in a free skate that included an opening quad toe-triple toe combination and then appeared so smooth and effortless thereafter that was so outstandingly satisfying.
"This was the best skate of my life," Hiwatashi said after. And he even teased two quads in the free at Junior Worlds next month. Hey, why not?
Meanwhile, Brown crossed a major threshold – maybe even more mental than physical – by standing up on that quad Salchow attempt to start the program, but isn't it scary to watch how good he is right now and how good he could be in six months should he stick with his training setup in Toronto with Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson.
Brown said at the U.S. Championships that he feels like he's living a new skating life this Olympic cycle. Can you imagine the reaction from the crowd should he have skated clean? It's scary how close he is to crossing that threshold. And really?
Jason Brown is ready for that moment… and so are we.
4. Next Season Thoughts, This Season Moves
Yes, both Denney and Frazier as well as
Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea wanted to be national champions this season, but for whatever reason that didn't happen in Detroit, while Anaheim didn't provide for a different scenario.
But what it did allow for is a strong finish to the 2018-19 season for two teams that will no doubt be chasing Cain and LeDuc in the months coming up. Denney and Frazier have a near-clean, fully aggressive free skate to reflect upon, while Kayne and O'Shea may not have been perfect Saturday, but they take solace in the fact that they are headed into the off-season as something they haven't been much in previous years: Healthy.
What can either team (both?!) do to continue to establish themselves?
5. Adam Rippon in the House
Not only was Rippon inside the HONDA Center on Saturday, as were his teammates and Olympic medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani, who did a jumbotron interview for fans in the arena.
Does Rippon miss skating much? "I had no experience," he said about life away from the ice. But that hasn't held him back: He's writing a book, he's signed a new partnership with YouTube and done a Christmas special with Samantha Bee, the Canadian, among many other national projects.
"This is where I spent two decades of my life," Rippon said of the sport. He still skates as often as he can to show his new social media following why he loves figure skating so. His advice to the guys in the free skate was… : "Skate clean," he said with a wink. The trademark humor is as fervent as ever. Don't ever change, Adam.
But we do hope he sings an exhibition program much like he did less than 18 months ago in Japan. Sunday night, he is the Four Continents exhibition co-host inside the arena, alongside familiar face Rusty Kath. We just hope he has a clean performance, even if he's not coming back to compete.
It would be another feather in the men's cap for how strong they've been this weekend. No pressure, Adam…
