COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan won the women’s short program at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Friday night.
The 2010 Olympic silver medalist’s 4-minute routine was clean enough to earn a score of 64.25 points, just ahead of 2012 U.S. champion Ashley Wagner’s 64.07. Japan’s Kanako Murakami, the 2010 World Junior champion, was third with 63.45 points.
The only hitch to Asada’s program came on her first jump, a triple axel rare for women, which she was unable to land cleanly.
“My performance was good, except the triple axel in the beginning,” Asada, who won the event in 2008 and 2010, said through an interpreter. “I want to take this as a learning experience and skate well tomorrow. My biggest goal of this competition is including the triple axel, and at least I tried it. It wasn’t perfect, but I’m pretty happy to land the triple axel.”
Asada wasn’t the only member of her team who enjoyed the day. Her coach, figure skating Hall of Famer Nobuo Sato, will be honored by U.S. Figure Skating at the World Arena before the men’s free skate.
Wagner wobbled a bit while landing her first triple flip-double toe loop combination, but still managed her highest short program score in international competition.
“I’m extremely pleased,” Wagner said. “I had a wobbly triple loop in the warmup, so I’m happy I did such a strong one in the performance. I think it’s the best I’ve ever scored internationally, which for me is huge.
“This whole Grand Prix season, in the short program I don’t think I scored higher than 55. So, to up the ante by nine points I don’t think is too shabby.”
American Caroline Zhang couldn’t complete back-to-back triple loops, putting a hand down on the ice on her landing, but still managed a fourth-place finish at 58.74.
“I’m a little disappointed in myself since that’s the first loop-loop I’ve missed in a program this week,” said Zhang, the 2010 Four Continents bronze medalist. “I’ve been doing clean shorts, so that’s disappointing.”
The only other American in the 30-skater field was Agnes Zawadzki, a senior at nearby Cheyenne Mountain High School. Zawadzki, the 2012 national bronze medalist, fell while trying to land a pair of triple toeloops and had to settle for sixth place at 52.87.
“The fall threw me off, but I feel like I regained my mental focus right back,” Zawadzki said. “I did a lot of good things after I fell, and that is always important. The stuff after you fall is what matters. I really showed that and that I’m mentally strong.”
