VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Patrick Chan thrilled the home fans with a triumph in the men's competition Saturday as the Four Continents figure skating championships concluded.
Chan, 18, marked himself as an early Olympic favorite even as Vancouver geared up for the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games, his trademark triple axel highlighting a solid free skate that saw him lift the title with a total score of 249.19 points.
While Chan was disappointed with his programme's flaws, he received strong scores for his skating skills and presentation.
"I want to be amazing both with my jumps and good skating skills," said Chan, who went into the final free skate with a big lead after a stellar short programme. "I can't imagine how good this would be points-wise if I did everything."
Evan Lysacek, stung by a lackluster bronze medal performance at the US championships last month, landed his first quadruple jump of the season to finish second with 237.15 points.
"I was really prepared for nationals and it didn?t go well, and I definitely didn?t want to leave it at that," he said.
Japan's Takahiko Kozuka fell on his quad toe loop but finished third with 221.76 points.
The Four Continents is the championships for skaters from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia.
This year the event offered a preview of the Pacific Coliseum venue that will host figure skating at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Competitors will notice a big difference next year when the NHL size rink is expanded to Olympic proportions for the Winter Games.
Of more immediate concern for the medallists, however, are the 2009 world championships, which will be held in March in Los Angeles.
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