'That was the best night of short programs ever': U.S. men put on show for the ages at figure skating nationals
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two very interested observers found themselves each taking a deep breath near the ice Saturday after the men’s short program at the U.S. national figure skating championships, trying to process what they had just witnessed.
“That was the best night of short programs ever,” said 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, regarded as one of the greatest male skaters in the history of the sport, who has watched a good 45 years’ worth of short programs.
Ever?
“Yes.”
Adam Rippon, the wildly popular 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist, chimed in:
“Yes, this is the best, or one of the best men’s events of anything I’ve ever seen. There were multiple Olympic-level skates.”
Boitano wasn’t finished. “We don’t know how anybody could beat those first two programs. They’re unbeatable.”
“Incredible,” Rippon said.
“We were giving standing ovations left and right,” Boitano said.
Nathan Chen, an Olympic gold medal favorite, got one. So did Vincent Zhou, who also could win a medal in Beijing if he skates as he did Saturday. So did 17-year-old Ilia Malinin, a prodigious talent whose Instagram handle says it all: “quadg0d,” as in Quad God.
And so did 27-year-old Jason Brown, the lyrical veteran and majestic artist who was the only one of the top four to not do a quadruple jump. In fact, all three of the others did two quads each — and the short program lasts only 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
This was the order of finish when all the jumping and spinning was said and done: Chen, then Zhou, both of them 2018 Olympians, at the top, followed by Malinin, the son of two highly-regarded international skaters, and Brown.
They each racked up points as if the ice was their own personal pinball machine. The scores were something to behold: Chen with 115.39, breaking his 2020 short program record, followed by Zhou (112.78), Malinin (103.46) and Brown (100.84).
“This short program was insane,” said Chen, 22, who was competing for the first time since the season’s first two Grand Prix events back in October. “Every guy laid down amazing programs.”
Zhou, 21, seconded that emotion. “That was probably one of the craziest short program events ever. The pressure was on. It’s an incredibly deep field. It’s been an incredible night.”
He wasn’t finished gushing. “To skate how I did, and score 112 and still not be in first place really shows the depth of talent that the U.S. men’s field has.”
And the Quad God? “First-year senior, threw it down,” Zhou said of Malinin, making his debut in the senior or Olympic division. “An insane, high-level event.”
So what does it all mean? Sunday’s long program lasts four minutes, meaning there’s time for a whole lot more quads from Chen, Zhou and Malinin, and a whole lot more gorgeous skating from Brown.
Chen, a three-time world champion and five-time national champion, is a lock to make the U.S. Olympic team. Zhou is a pretty sure bet, too. Brown, so well-known and beloved on the international stage, has been considered a strong choice for the third Olympic spot — until Malinin started jumping. If the youngster from Northern Virginia lands three or four quads Sunday, it will be difficult for Brown to beat him.
So then it will be a choice for U.S. Figure Skating’s selection committee: the artist or the jumper? Who goes to Beijing? The familiar or the new?
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Brown’s resume is long and strong; that means something in the selection process. But this increasingly is a sport that rewards the big jumps, and the kid with the quads is coming on fast.