Jason Brown reacts after his men's free skate at the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 26, 2020 in Greensboro, N.C.
Jason Brown has his sights on returning to the Olympic Winter Games in 2022, and his four-year plan to do so is showing dividends.
On Sunday, the 25-year-old from Highland Park, Illinois, delivered a nearly perfect performance in the men’s free skate at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. His only hiccup came when he doubled a planned quad toe loop, but, much like the national championships last month, Brown put together a moving, artistic routine.
The payoff was a silver medal.
Reaching the podium at a major international championship for the first time since winning the bronze medal at the same competition two years ago, Brown scored a 180.11, second only to two-time Olympic and world champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan.
Brown moved up from third place, where he stood after the short program. He performed his short to “I Can’t Go on Without You” by Kaleo, and a high program components score helped him to a 94.71 behind Hanyu and Jin Boyang of China.
On Sunday, skating to music from the movie “Schindler’s List,” Brown earned the highest program components score of the competition with 92.58 points. Both his free skate score of 180.11 and his total of 274.82 were personal bests.
2019 world junior champion Tomoki Hiwatashi and 2016 Youth Olympian Camden Pulkinen, both skating at their first Four Continents, placed ninth and 11th, respectively.
Brown also won the silver medal at the recent national championships. He is now two years into his attempt to return to Olympic competition for the first time since 2014, when he won a team bronze medal, after missing out on making the team in 2018. He switched coaches and moved to Canada to work with Canadian Olympic medalists Tracy Wilson and Brian Orser as part of that plan. Next up for Brown will be the world championships next month in Montreal.
The U.S. wrapped up the Four Continents Championships with four medals: gold for Madison Chock and Evan Bates and bronze for Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in ice dance, and bronze for Bradie Tennell in the women’s competition.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
