[加拿大新聞] Chan wins second straight gold at world figure skating championships golden, 2012, skating, figure, second

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/chan-wins-second-straight-gold-at-world-figure-skating-championships/article2388223/

Patrick Chan of Canada, wearing his gold medal holds the Canada flag after the Men Free skating at the ISU 2012 World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, southern France, Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Chan wins second straight gold at world figure skating championships
Lori Ewing
NICE, France— The Canadian Press
Published Saturday, Mar. 31, 2012 11:05AM EDT
Last updated Saturday, Mar. 31, 2012 3:12PM EDT

Canada's Patrick Chan is golden again.

The 21-year-old from Toronto claimed his second consecutive world figure skating title Saturday, despite a wobbly skate and a fall on his double Axel to become the first Canadian to claim back-to-back world gold medals in 16 years.

Chan scored 176.70 points to win the free skate to the haunting sounds of “Concierto de Aranjuez,” finishing with 266.11 overall — a winning result that didn't sit well with some of the fans at the Palais des Expositions, who booed and whistled when the score was announced.

“I really didn't hear it, I didn't hear any of the negative boos, because it's so much more than that, it's so much more than getting hung up on a couple of people booing,” Chan said. “But I'm glad they came out, they cared enough to come out and watch skating. They may not have liked the results, but it's the French way, right?”

Chan, who hasn't lost a competition in more than a year, landed two quad jumps early in the program and looked poised to run away with the victory before his uncharacteristic fall on his takeoff on the Axel with about a minute to go in the program.

“It was the hardest competition so far in my career,” said Chan. “On the double Axel, it was a combination of being a bit late to the music and it's a long program. I lost concentration a bit.

“I guess it's not really normal if I don't make a mistake, it's kind of like my thing to do, I always have a weird fall,” Chan said, laughing it off. “It's cool, I hadn't (fallen on that jump) all season, so it was a nice addition.”

Daisuke Takahashi of Japan was second with a total of 259.66, while countryman Yuzura Hanyu was third with 251.06. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was 12th.

Chan is the first Canadian to win back-to-back world titles in any discipline since Elvis Stojko in 1994 and ‘95. He's also the first skater to win consecutive men's titles since Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel (2005 and ‘06).

The five-time Canadian champion arrived in Nice as the heavy favourite, boasting a string of consecutive victories that stretches back 16 months. He set three world scoring records at the world championships last year in Moscow, and never slowed down, winning Skate Canada, the Trophee Bompard in Paris, the Four Continents and Grand Prix Final, and collected eight athlete of the year awards in Canada, including the Lionel Conacher Award as The Canadian Press' male athlete of the year.

He left the door open for the field here however, losing his balance twice in Friday's short program.

Reynolds' 12th-place finish guarantees three entries for Canada in men's singles at next year's world championships in London, Ont.

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir captured their second world title earlier in the week.