Canada's Patrick Chan has claimed his first world figure skating title and rewritten the sport's record book in the process.
The 20-year-old from Toronto swept all three world records in Moscow, scoring 187.96 points for his long program for 280.98 points overall. Those marks came a day after he topped the previous world mark for the short program that gave him a virtually insurmountable lead."It's surreal, it's honestly surreal," Chan said of his new world title. "I think I knew that if I went out and did what I did back home, I knew I would be on top, and I didn't hold anything back. I didn't change my plan for my program which is very important to me."Skating to music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, Chan executed two quadruple jumps in the opening 40 seconds instead of playing it safe and taking one out of the program. He wobbled on the landing of his triple Axel but was virtually flawless the rest of the way.
Takahiko Kozuka of Japan scored 258.41 to take the silver, while 17-year-old crowd favourite Artur Gachinski of Russia won the bronze with 241.86.When asked if he was surprised by his high mark, Chan said he was hoping he could "hit 300.""Maybe next time," he said laughing. "I'm so happy … marks, I don't really know what it means, honestly, I just know that if I skate well, I'll get the marks I need to win and that's what I did today."
Japan's Daisuke Takahashi held the previous world records for overall score (264.41) and long program (175.84), set at the 2008 Four Continents championships.Takahashi, the 2010 world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, finished fifth after problems with his skate forced him to pull out of his first jump and head to the boards for a quick repair before a restart. Moscow's Megasport Arena was a last-minute substitute host for the event, which was delayed more than a month and relocated after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskating/story/2011/04/28/sp-isu-worlds.html#ixzz1KpkWHqvZ
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