Olympic bronze medalist Denis Ten won the men's event Saturday at the Four Continents figure skating competition, landing most of his big jumps in a dominating performance.
The Kazakh skater, who started his routine with a quad toe loop and a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, finished with 289.46 points, well ahead of Joshua Farris of the United States in second place. Skating to Ambush from Ten Sides a year after winning his Olympic medal in Sochi, the 21-year-old Ten maintained his commanding lead from Thursday's short program.
"It's a huge honor for me to do well here, basically my second home country," said Ten, who is ethnically Korean and was a favorite with the crowd. "It was like my second Olympics." After his skate, Ten collapsed, rested his head on the ice and then rolled onto his back while the crowd cheered.
Farris, the 2013 world junior champion, rallied from fifth place after the short program for silver. Despite a deduction on a quad toe loop, Farris landed most of his big jumps. The 20-year-old American, who skated to music from Schindler's List, said the medal was a huge boost ahead of next month's world championships in Shanghai.
"It puts me in a great place," said Farris, who has recovered from serious ankle injuries. "I'm much more confident now."
China's Yan Han was third after the short program and finished with the bronze medal Saturday. The 18-year-old Yan skated to Fly Me to the Moon by Bart Howard.
The Sochi Olympics gold and silver medalists, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and Canada's Patrick Chan, didn't compete in Seoul. Hanyu is injured, while Chan is taking time off.
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada won the pairs competition -- their second Four Continents win -- with 219.48 points.
"We definitely feel confident from this competition, but we have room to improve a lot before the world championships," Duhamel said.
China's Peng Cheng and Zhang Hao were second with 201.45 points, edging compatriots Pang Qing and Tong Jian with 199.99. Tong and Pang, five-time Four Continents champions, are both aged 35 and the oldest male and female skaters in the competition.
Celebrating Valentine's Day, Duhamel and Zhang made a heart shape with their arms as they sat side by side during the post-skate news conference, delighting a group of fans watching them through glass doors.
