Canada’s Patrick Chan off to solid start, third after short program at worlds

BOSTON – Three years after Patrick Chan last competed at the world figure skating championships, the Canadian star is poised to capture a medal.

The 25-year-old from Toronto was third in the short program Wednesday night, and moments after he struck his final pose, he said a medal would be a “bonus,” a thick layer of icing on a strong comeback season after an 18-month break from the sport.

“I think I’ve exceeded my expectations this year,” Chan said. “This is a comeback year, there’s been a lot that I can be happy with, and the work that Kathy (Johnson, his coach) and I have done together has exceeded everybody’s expectations.

“So this is truly a bonus, no matter where I end up. This is a bonus, and now I’m doing it for me. And that’s it.”

Earlier, Canadian ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were fourth in the short dance.

Chan, a three-time world champion, scored 94.84 points, opening with a beautiful quad toe-loop, triple toe-loop combination, but then falling on his triple Axel, drawing groans from the TD Garden crowd.

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan was first with 110.56 points, while defending world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain was second with 98.52.

“I feel good, I feel happy, not disappointed at all,” Chan said — and looked like he genuinely meant it. “With all the buzz here at worlds, it’s been two world championships I haven’t been here, I haven’t been used to this high energy and high expectation.”

Chan, dressed in a purple sweater vest and grey slacks, drew roars from the fans, many of them waving Canadian flags, with his program to Michael Buble’s “Mack the Knife.”

The Axel was his one misstep, a mistake made because he rushed the jump, and slipped on his left takeoff foot.

Johnson was proud of Chan’s comeback performance. The sport, she hinted, has missed him in his absence.

“At the end of the day, Patrick is special,” Johnson said. “Really special in a way that no other skater (is), he brings special things to the ice, beyond jumping.

“It’s a process to get back, it’s a process to compete, it’s a process to put it together in the moment. And I think honestly this season has almost exceeded what we were kind of hoping and expecting. So that’s a testament to his talent and his hard work. He’s a hard, hard worker, so it’s nice to see him put it together in the moment.”

Weaver and Poje, meanwhile, are world silver and bronze medallists, and had their sights set on gold in Boston. They now find themselves with considerable ground to make up after their fourth-place finish.

“I think that we skated very well today,” Weaver said, visibly disappointed. “I think it was one of our strongest short dances to date. Where the disconnect was between that and our score, I’m not sure. But that’s not what we can control.

“We were selling everything we’ve got, and that’s what we’re going to do (Thursday) as well.”

Defending champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France were first with 76.29 points. Maia and Alex Shibutani were second with 74.70 points, with fellow Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates third at 72.46.

Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were fifth at 70.70.

Weaver and Poje have won all but two events over the past two seasons, bronze at last year’s worlds and bronze at the Four Continents last month the only blips.

Wednesday, their romantic waltz to music by Johann Strauss — with Poje wearing a smart cummerbund and tails, and Weaver in an elegant beaded cream dress — was a crowd pleaser at TD Garden, normally home to the Boston Celtics and Bruins. But the judges weren’t quite as impressed, downgrading the Canadians on a couple of elements. They scored 71.83 points.

Poje said they had no explanation for the scores, saying “We’re on to the next thing.”

After years of skating in the shadow of Canada’s Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who announced recently they’re returning next season, Weaver and Poje have enjoyed the spotlight as the team to beat.

“That was the first time in our career we were enjoying the benefits of our hard work in terms of results,” Weaver said. “We never really won anything before and then we came out of the blue in a way and started acquiring these gold medals. So, it was good for our confidence. We needed to believe that we could be the champions and not always in the shadows. And that’s where we believe we belong.

“We’re not going to be OK with not being at the top.”

Gilles and Poirier, meanwhile, were thrilled with their result, a solid seven points better than their previous best. After their fifth-place finish at Four Continents last month, they scrapped their music and started virtually from scratch. Their previous music was a mix of Beatles and Mozart. They decided to go with straight Beatles.

“This event was really a black box, we had no idea how the changes would be received,” Poirier said.

The free dance is Thursday, while the men’s singles free skate is Friday.