Javi Fernandez defended his worlds title from Hanyu with this flawless skate
Spain's Javier Fernandez took advantage of a struggling Yuzuru Hanyu to execute a near-flawless free skate and defend his world championship title in Boston Friday night.
And the Spaniard did it by channeling Frank Sinatra and landing three quadruple jumps in an utterly charming "Guys and Dolls" routine that had the charmed TD Garden crowd on its feet before the program's end.
Fernandez scored 216.41 points for 314.93 total, obliterating his previous personal bests and overcoming Hanyu's more than 12-point lead coming into the free skate. Sochi Olympic champion Hanyu fell once and touched his hand down two other times in a shaky long program performance to settle for silver for his second straight year, while Jin Boyang of China won bronze.
Watch Fernandez's free skate in its entirety here:
And witness the figure-skating world erupt at Fernandez's performance on Twitter:
Holy ???!!!!!! @javierfernandez what did you just do?!?!?! I bow at your feet right now! ?? #Worlds2016
— Jeremy Abbott (@jeremyabbottpcf) April 2, 2016
Omg @javierfernandez that was amazing. Can we all take a moment to bow in the greatness of his long? Well deserved #Worlds2016
— Mirai Nagasu (@mirai_nagasu) April 2, 2016
?? | FERNANDEZ
— Ollie Williams (@OllieW) April 2, 2016
Judges: 314.93 FIRST!
Sod the scorecard. The best skate I’ve seen here, by a mile.
Music https://t.co/CJaGBNwTnf#Worlds2016
Javi OMG!!!! Unbelievable!!!!! ??????????? you rocked this joint!!! #Worlds2016 pic.twitter.com/ZiVEAsnDQF
— Madison Chock (@chockolate02) April 2, 2016
El Rey Javi Fernandez will keep his crown after what will go down as the greatest free skate in worlds history #Worlds2016
— Philip Hersh (@olyphil) April 2, 2016
Wow wow wow. Javi has such moxy. Congratulations to him and his team and to Yuzu-kun for such a valiant fight! ???????? #Worlds2016
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) April 2, 2016
