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Mone Chiba Wins Gold at Four Continents; Rinka Watanabe Claims Bronze

Chiba took the ice as the final participant in the women's free skate at the Four Continents and moved beautifully through the elements in her routine.

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2024

Jack Gallagher

Mone Chiba shines during the women's free skate competition at the Four Continents Championships on February 2, 2024, in Shanghai. (KYODO)

Read the full story on SportsLook - Mone Chiba Wins Gold at Four Continents; Rinka Watanabe Claims Bronze

Mone Chiba put on a nearly flawless performance to win the Four Continents Championships in dominating fashion on Friday night, February 2 in Shanghai.

The 18-year-old, who was second at the Japan Championships in December 2023, is rapidly establishing herself as one of the elite skaters in the world.

Chiba, who led after the short program on Thursday, took the ice as the final skater and moved beautifully through the elements in her routine to a selection of songs by Ennio Morricone. Her winning total score was a personal best of 214.98 points, well ahead of South Korea's Chaeyeon Kim, who was second with 204.68. Chiba's compatriot Rinka Watanabe made the podium in third on 202.17.

Ava Marie Ziegler of the United States was fourth at 201.19, while Mai Mihara ended up seventh on 184.07.

Chiba, who was the bronze medalist at the Four Continents in 2023 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, landed five clean triples and earned level fours on all of her spins and step sequence. She was judged a quarter rotation short on the front end of her triple flip/double toe loop/double loop combination jump and had an edge call on her final jump (a triple lutz).

After Triumph at Four Continents, Chiba Says She's Grateful for Coach's Support

"I would like to thank my coach Hamada-san [for her encouragement]," Chiba stated, referring to Mie Hamada.

She added, "I told my coach I would fully demonstrate myself, [but] I was able to deliver my program with perfection, so I am happy with my performance."

Chiba was breathing deeply before she began her free skate and admitted that she had a case of the jitters.

"I was anxious because I thought I might make a mistake, but there were no mistakes," Chiba remarked.

She then said, "I tried to focus myself solely on the competition, that is how I could get this ideal result."

Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.

Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.