The 2014 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition in the 2013–14 season. It was held at the Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan on January 20–26. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The event featured a total of 94 athletes from 15 nations from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. There were 29 competitors in the men's event and 21 competitors in the ladies' event. There was also 7 pair teams and 15 ice dancing teams.
Venues The competition was held at the Taipei Arena. Completed at the end of August 2005, it is located on the intersection of Dunhua North Road and Section 4 of Nanjing East Road in Shongshan District. This arena is also the first international-standard competition venue with a capacity of 15,000 spectator seats in Taipei City. It is also designed to hold concerts, art performance, exhibitions, conventions, etc.
The Taipei Annex Arena was the official practice rink of the championships. It is an international-standard ice rink (30 meters x 60 meters) with a capacity of 800~1000 spectator seats. This ice rink is frozen all year round and has been used for all kind of winter sports activities (e.g. figure skating, short track speed skating and ice hockey) and also been hosted numerous local and international competitions.
The Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei was the official hotel of the event. It is located in the center of financial, banking, and shopping district and the hotel is also surrounded by the MOMO Department Store. The walking distance to the event venue, Taipei Arena, is five minutes.
Qualification Skaters were eligible for the event if they were representing a non-European ISU member nation and had reached the age of 15 before 1 July 2013 in their place of birth. The corresponding competition for European skaters was the 2014 European Figure Skating Championships. National associations selected their entries according to their own criteria but the ISU mandated that their selections achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the European Championships.
Unlike the European event, national associations at Four Continents are all allowed three entries in each discipline, regardless of how their skaters placed at the previous year's event.
Minimum technical scores (TES) Discipline SP / SD FS / FD Men 25 45 Ladies 20 36 Pairs 20 36 Ice dancing 18 28 Must be achieved at an ISU-recognized international event in the ongoing or preceding season. SP and FS scores may be attained at different events.
Entries Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing Andrew Dodds Brendan Kerry David Kranjec Brooklee Han Danielle O'Brien / Gregory Merriman Elladj Balde Nam Nguyen Jeremy Ten Alaine Chartrand Amelie Lacoste Veronik Mallet Margaret Purdy / Michael Marinaro Natasha Purich / Mervin Tran Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill Song Nan Wang Yi Guan Jinlin Li Zijun Zhang Kexin Zhao Ziquan Sui Wenjing / Han Cong Wang Wenting / Zhang Yan Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu Zhang Yiyi / Wu Nan Zhao Yue / Liu Chang Jui-Shu Chen Jordan Ju Chih-I Tsao Crystal Kiang Ronald Lam Ami Parekh Takahiko Kozuka Takahito Mura Keiji Tanaka Haruka Imai Satoko Miyahara Kanako Murakami Emi Hirai / Marien de la Asuncion Abzal Rakimgaliev Denis Ten Ksenia Korobkova / Daryn Zhunussov Julian Zhi Jie Yee Reyna Hamui Pilar Maekawa Moreno / Leonardo Maekawa Moreno Christopher Caluza Maverick Eguia Michael Christian Martinez Alisson Krystle Perticheto Lee Dong-won Lee June-hyoung Kim Jin-seo Kim Hae-jin Kim Tae-kyung Park So-youn Yura Min / Timothy Koleto Lejeanne Marais Richard Dornbush Joshua Farris Adam Rippon Samantha Cesario Courtney Hicks Mirai Nagasu Haven Denney / Brandon Frazier Tarah Kayne / Daniel O'Shea Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim Alexandra Aldridge / Daniel Eaton Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giuletti-Schmitt Misha Ge Elizaveta Tretiakov / Viktor Kovalenko
Withdrawals and replacements Early withdrawals included Brazil's Isadora Williams and Singapore's Ceciliane Hartmann. Neither were replaced. A couple of days before the start of official practices, China's Yan Han was replaced by Guan Jinlin and Chinese Taipei's Melanie Yuung-Hui Chang withdrew and was not replaced. On January 20, Chinese pair team Yu Xiaoyu / Jin Yang withdrew as well. During the men's short program South Korea's Kim Jin-seo and the Philippines' Michael Christian Martinez withdrew from the competition.
Schedule All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Day Date Start Finish Discipline Event Day 1 Wednesday, 22 January 12:00 14:15 Ice dancing Short dance 13:00 16:10 Pairs Short program 17:00 17:30 Opening ceremony 17:50 22:10 Men Short program Day 2 Thursday, 23 January 13:30 16:00 Ice dancing Free dance 16:00 16:15 Ice dancing Victory ceremony 17:15 20:40 Ladies Short program Day 3 Friday, 24 January 14:45 16:10 Pairs Free skating 16:10 16:25 Pairs Victory ceremony 17:35 21:40 Men Free skating 21:40 21:55 Men Victory ceremony Day 4 Saturday, 25 January 12:00 15:55 Ladies Free skating 15:55 16:10 Ladies Victory ceremony 17:00 19:00 Exhibition gala
Overview None of the 2013 champions competed, electing to prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Only one medalist from 2013 competed — Kanako Murakami of Japan, who won bronze in ladies' singles. Han Yan of China, who won the 2013 bronze in men's singles, was originally on the roster but was replaced.
Competition recap Day one Ice dancing: Short dance The competition began with the short dance with fifteen ice dancing teams from nine nations competing. In a relatively tight field, it was a battle between the North American teams who didn't qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Canada's Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier won the segment with a score of 62.38 points, 1.35 points ahead of Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue of the United States. Their component marks were extremely close but the Americans' Level 2 and below average execution of their sequential twizzles allowed the Canadians to take the lead. In an interview after the event, Gilles said, "I'd say this is our best performance yet. We've had a little bit of an injury earlier this year, so we've been pushed back a little bit with our training time. We finally feel like we're starting to peak and we're very happy with what we did." Hubbell stated, "Today's performance was shaky in parts. We obviously made an error during our twizzles sequences. Some things have improved. We got level four on both sides of the Finnstep and we're happy about that. All in all I think that we have improvement to make during our free dance and that’s really our strong point. So we're looking forward to tomorrow."
American dance team Alexandra Aldridge / Daniel Eaton had a strong debut at their first senior ISU Championship with a third-place finish and a score of 57.65. "Because of the quick turn around from Nationals we could come here and use our great skate and the hype from Nationals to come here and skate to the best of our ability. We feel really fortunate to be here", Aldridge commented.
Canada's Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill (53.97) and Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams (53.73) placed fourth and fifth respectively with only a 0.24 point gap between them. The American team of Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giuletti-Schmitt did not obtain high levels and placed sixth with 49.55 points.
Pairs: Short program The next event was the pairs' short program with seven teams from three nations competing. China's Sui Wenjing / Han Cong took a decisive lead, scoring 75.26 points for their program to La Strada. Executing all elements with high positive grades of execution (GOE) as well as being rewarded with the highest levels of difficulty for those elements (Level Four), they earned a 9.22 point lead over America's Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim. After competing, Han said, "Even though we got a really high score today, we thought we were not even close to perfect. I thought that the quality of the elements still could be improved. Our strategy for this season was to showcase a more mature side of us with refined movements and a dramatic storyline." Scimeca stated, "Honestly, we struggled a lot this season with our short program and this was our last one for the season and goal was to make it the best, so we're really proud that we did. I was actually nervous, but my difference was that I tried not to hold back."
Americans Tarah Kayne / Daniel O'Shea took the third spot with a score of 62.05 points. Kayne stated, "Our placement is surprising, however, how we skated to us isn't a surprise. We train every day a certain way. Today we went out and put out what we train. It's a good feeling to put out what you train and to feel strong on the ice." 2013 World Junior champions Haven Denney / Brandon Frazier finished fourth with 58.57 points, in striking distance of the podium. The remaining Canadian and Chinese teams rounded out the field.
Men: Short program The final event of the day was the men's short program. In a narrow field, Japan's Takahito Mura won the segment with a 4t, 3A, and 3Lz combo and solid component marks, earning 84.21 points. Mur stated, "I couldn't qualify for the Olympic Games and originally I wasn't going to the Four Continents Championships. I was really disappointed. So when I got to go to this competition, I was really positive about it and I have been doing well. The short program was really good. Since I am here I am enjoying the practices and I when I went out to compete I was in a good mood and confident. I was really dancing without thinking about anything else. That's why the short program went really well."
Another skater who missed the opportunity to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics was 22-year-old Richard Dornbush from Carona, California. Although his 4S was deemed under-rotated, he executed his remaining jumping passes confidently and achieving the highest levels of difficulty in all his non-jumping elements to score 82.13 points, just over two points away from the lead. He also had the highest presentation score in the short program. Dornbush commented, "Going to the short, I wasn't really focused on placement or anything. I was really focused on the program and I knew what I needed was a good attempt on the quad and skate the rest of the program cleanly and I was able to do that. I think that it was a good confidence boost, but mostly I think after a good short I just need to get down on my knees and focus on the long."
China's Song Nan took third place. Despite high levels in his spins and step sequences and a clean 4T combination, his hiccup on his 3A cost him nearly two points and he settled for a total of 78.71 points. Song said, "I brought out my A game. The quad toe was really good, so I kind of relaxed and I stumbled on the triple Axel. I am not nervous at all for the free skating. I feel really confident."
Takahiko Kozuka (JPN) ranked fourth (76.85 points), just ahead of 2013 World silver medalist Denis Ten (KAZ) with 76.34 points while Jeremy Ten (CAN) round out the top six with 75.21 points.
Kim Jin-seo (KOR) withdrew before the segment due to injury (tendonitis in his left foot) and Michael Christian Martinez (PHI) did not appear.
Day two Ice dancing: Free dance