By Canadian Press

Toronto’s Nam Nguyen sixth in men’s competition at Skate America

Oct 23, 2016 | 1:00 PM

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Toronto’s Nam Nguyen produced two clean programs including Sunday’s free skate and took sixth spot in men’s competition to conclude Skate America, the first stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit in figure skating.

Japan’s Shoma Uno won the gold medal with 279.34 points, Jason Brown of the United States was second at 268.38 and his compatriot Adam Rippon third at 261.43.

The 18-year-old Nguyen, fourth after Friday’s short program, opened with a quad Salchow and also landed two triple Axels including one in combination in his free skate to George Gershwin’s An American in Paris.

“I felt a little bit nervous heading into my free skate after a great short program yesterday,” said Nguyen. “But I was still able to do my job. There’s still so much to work on and today was a good step towards my goals this season.”

Canada earned one medal here this weekend. On Saturday, Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., won the gold in pairs. Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was fourth in women’s competition.

time served

Nanaimo man caught with over 30g of illicit drugs avoids additional jail time

8h ago

big return

Senior women's box lacrosse returns to Nanaimo after 10+ year absence

8h ago

environmental impacts

Accidental pump activation causes minor oil slick in Nanaimo marina

10h ago

Americans Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani won the ice dance title, while teammates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished second.

The Shibutanis’ victory extends the United States’ streak of gold medals in ice dance at Skate America to eight; it has won 12 of the last 14. The brother-and-sister team, the reigning world silver medallists and U.S. champions, dazzled the crowd with their intricate free dance. They totalled 185.75 points overall after a free dance mark of 112.71.

“It was a great start to our season, very happy with our free dance performance today,” Alex Shibutani said. “There was a lot of anticipation on our part in getting to debut both of these programs. We are excited to have gotten our season started. We’re looking forward to building toward Cup of China.”

Hubbell and Donohue moved up from third after the short dance to win the silver medal with 175.77 points. They edged Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev by exactly one point.

“We were happy to start our Grand Prix series here in America,” Hubbell said. “I think it was a great event for us as well as all of Team USA. It was a really wonderful week.”

Earlier, Uno landed three quadruple jumps en route to the title at the Sears Centre Arena. Uno, skating to an intense tango, moved seamlessly through his demanding program, but fell late in the program on a triple axel combination. He finished with 279.34 points.

“The first half of my program was great,” Uno, 17, said through a translator. “Unfortunately, I missed a three-jump combination toward the end and I feel regrettable about that. My six-minute warmup didn’t feel so good, but I was still able to pull out what I felt today and I’m satisfied in that sense.”

Brown, from the Chicago area and the 2015 U.S. champion, landed his opening quad for the first time this season, although it was scored as under-rotated. He received 268.38 points.

“It’s been a long, long journey to put out a quad, so I’m pleased to stand up on it today and kind of just take it as another day,” Brown said. “Once I landed it, I just kept on going.”

Rippon, meanwhile, fell on his opening quad. In debuting a brand new program, Rippon scored 261.43 points.

“I have only had the program for a week and a half,” Rippon said. “I was really pleased with what I did today. It wasn’t perfect, but I think the work I did in the off-season paid off in making the quick change. I’m so glad I changed the program. It feels right. There’s a lot of work to do and I’ll definitely be getting all that work done.”

— With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press