Skate America 2020 Results: Mariah Bell, Nathan Chen Win Gold Medals on Saturday
October 25, 2020
Mariah Bell and Nathan Chen each won gold in Skate America on Saturday in Las Vegas' Orleans Arena.
Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Brandon Frazier won the pairs competition, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue took the gold in ice dance.
Bell and Chen each took first in the short program on Friday. Bell finished fourth in the free skate but did well enough to barely hold off Bradie Tennell by 1.66 points.
Chen dominated his free skate run and finished first in that and tops overall by 24.05 points over second-place finisher Vincent Zhou.
Per the Associated Press, Chen landed five quadruple jumps over the two-day event. His free skate was not as crisp as his short program, however.
"I made quite a few big mistakes in that program, things that I shouldn’t have made mistakes on," Chen said. "It is what it is. I’ll learn from it and move forward."
The AP noted that Chen was forced to double a quad Salchow and was off on a triple axel.
Chen owns eight gold medals in international competitions, including victories at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships. He has won Skate America four years running.
Like Chen, Bell was not satisfied despite coming away with the victory.
"I try not to look at outcomes, more how I feel," Bell told reporters. "I’m walking away from this performance a little disappointed, and I look back at nationals and that’s a program I was really proud of. I want to feel really great about what I did."
Bell fell on a triple lutz to finish her free skate but still did well enough for the overall win. Tennell came close to victory, however, finishing first in the free skate thanks in part to landing a triple axel-triple toe combination.
Sixten-year-old Audrey Shin impressed with a bronze medal in her Grand Prix debut:
It was all Scimeca Knierim and Frazier in the pairs competition, with the duo taking first in the Friday short program and Saturday free skate, finishing 7.37 points ahead of Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson overall.
Scimeca Knierim and Frazier made their international debut at Skate America but looked like they had been skating for years based off their two days:
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_Figure🥇🤩 It's their first ever international competition together... and it's a golden debut for Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Brandon Frazier 🇺🇸 Two amazing performances helped them to a total score of 214.77 to win Skate America 2020! #GPFigure #FigureSkating https://t.co/KWaCJJMfp2
The two rightfully earned their gold medals and were satisfied with their performance per post-event comments:
"We’re very happy with the progress we made this week," Frazier said, per Nick McCarvel of the Olympic Channel. "We had small goals to achieve and we’re very satisfied with the foundation that we’ve laid down and now we have loads of work ahead of us."
"I made a joke to Brandon when we got our scores that this partnership is going to work," Scimeca Knierim said. "But I didn’t have my doubts prior. More than anything inside, we’re pleased with the progress. We feel like our hard work is being validated. We’re excited for what’s to come and excited to keep moving."
To close the night, Hubbell and Donohue took first free dance, one night after finishing No. 1 in rhythm dance. Their overall effort gave them the gold by nearly nine points over Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker.
Hubbell and Donohue were electric en route to gold:
The pair have enjoyed much success on the international circuit, notably winning silver at the 2018 World Championships and bronze at the 2019 Worlds.