Canadians Fournier-Beaudry, Sorensen win 1st Grand Prix ice dance medal at Skate America
Reuters | Posted: October 20, 2019 1:55 AM | Last Updated: October 20, 2019
American Nathan Chen captures men's title, Canada's Keegan Messing finishes 4th
Canada's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen won their first Grand Prix medal after finishing third in the ice dance competition at Skate America in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Heading into the Free Dance, the duo, who hail from Montreal, were already in third place following their performance in Friday's Rhythm Dance competition.
Skating to Summertime by Chris Botti and David Foster as well as Michael Buble's rendition of Georgia On My Mind and Cry Me A River the pair secured their place on the podium with a total score of 197.53.
WATCH | Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen's free dance:
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States won their second consecutive title with their 209.55. While Russia's Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin took second with 206.57.
WATCH | Hubbell and Donohue's winning performance:
Chen claims 3rd consecutive win
World champion Nathan Chen claimed his third consecutive victory with a clinical free skate in the men's competition.
The 20-year-old American, skating to music by Elton John, earned a prolonged standing ovation from the adoring crowd after his flawless performance.
He did not receive any deductions and posted a technical score of 102.38, together with a presentation mark of 94.
Adding to his score from the short program, Chen recorded a total of 299.09, finishing 45 points clear of the runnerup, fellow American Jason Brown.
WATCH | Nathan Chen's winning performance:
Russia's Dmitri Alieve finished third with 253.55, while Canada's Keegan Messing (239.34), who was in third following Saturday's short program, slipped to forth.
Despite his runaway win, Chen kept his feet on the ground afterwards, unlike during much of his performance on the ice.
"Most programs I make mistakes, so there are a few things I want to clean up, continue developing the programs as much as I can," he said in an interview.
WATCH | Keegan Messing's free skate:
Peng and Jin win 1st Grand Prix pairs title
Earlier in the pairs competition, Chinese duo Cheng Peng and Yang Jin scored their first ISU Grand Prix victory.
"We've won several silver medals and we've been longing for a gold medal," Peng said.
"We put in a lot of effort and this gold medal is like a new starting point for us and will push us further. Hopefully we'll win many more."
WATCH | Peng and Jin claim pairs title:
Canadians Camille Ruest and Andrew Wolfe finished in sixth place with a score of 155.16 points.
WATCH | Ruest and Wolfe's free skate:
Shcherbakova soars to women's gold
In the women's competition, Russia's Anna Shcherbakova topped the field with a total score of 227.76. Compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (205.97) came third, while American Bradie Tennell (216.14) rounded out the podium in second.
WATCH | Shcherbakova lands 2 quads in victory:
Canada's Veronik Mallet of Sept-Îles, Que., finished 10th.
WATCH | Veronik Mallet's Free Skate: