Patrick Chan places first, keeps Canada in top spot in team figure skating

UPDATE: Canada secures team figure skating gold, even before Virtue and Moir skate in final event

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of – Canada’s mighty figure skating team is two events away from the country’s first gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Three-time world champion Patrick Chan placed first with a score of 179.75 in the men’s free program Monday, keeping the veteran-laden Canadian team in first place.

Skating to Jeff Buckley’s haunting “Hallelujah,” the 27-year-old from Toronto opened with two huge quadruple toe loops, but fell on his triple Axel.

Chan’s first place added 10 points to Canada’s cumulative score, bringing it up to 55.

Olympic Athletes from Russia sat second at 48 and the United States was third with 44.

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Gabrielle Daleman will skate the women’s short program later, then three-time world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Canada’s flag bearers in the opening ceremonies, will anchor the team home when they skate their free dance.

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Canada took a six-point lead over OAR into the third and final day of competition, while the Americans were third.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford skated pairs for Canada, while Kaetlyn Osmond was Canada’s entry in the women’s short dance (teams can make up to two substitutions).

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Canada hasn’t won an Olympic figure skating gold since Virtue and Moir climbed to the top stop of the podium in 2010 in Vancouver.

The Canadians won silver when the team event made its Olympic debut in 2014 in Sochi, and have had their sights set on gold ever since.

Four years later, Canada arrived in South Korea as the world’s No. 1-ranked team, and is the only country balanced across all four disciplines. The Russians were second, with the Americans holding just a one-point lead over Italy for third.