GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jason Brown makes it sound so simple: The stakes of the U.S. Figure Skating Championship don’t make for pressure, just a chance to show off for a big crowd.
The 20-year-old Olympian won the short program Friday, setting himself up for his first national title. Brown posted a career-best 93.36 points to lead Joshua Farris by 2.96. Four-time U.S. champ Jeremy Abbott was third.
Brown still doesn’t do a quad jump, all but a necessity to contend for medals at major international competitions. But he can still rack up points with the rest of his components, which proved more than enough at the U.S. Championships. Farris and Abbott didn’t do a quad either.
Brown landed his four triples with ease Friday. His footwork and spins were exquisite as always. And few skaters can work a crowd like the ponytailed star, who was beaming throughout the bluesy "Juke."
Brown was the runner-up last year behind Abbott in a huge breakthrough to make the Olympic team, finishing ninth in Sochi.
Hooking his thumbs in his sequined suspenders and running his hand over that famous hair, Brown kicked and tapped his feet in perfect rhythm to his music.
Brown insisted before the event that he wouldn’t wilt at the pressure of being a favourite for the first time, that he’d enjoy the challenge. It’s a refrain often repeated by athletes; the difference is that Brown seems to always make it come to life.
"You get to perform to people and for people — I just kind of look at that as an exciting moment," he explained, as exuberant as ever.
He had struggled with his triple axel during the Grand Prix season. No such trouble Friday. But no matter how smoothly he lands that jump, Brown will keep hearing questions about that missing quad.
The answer is always the same: He’ll add it once he’s hitting it consistently in practice, and not a moment before. So it will be in his repertoire at March’s world championships only "if it’s ready and if it’s good and solid and consistent and doesn’t mess up my mental state," he said.
"So much when you go to a competition is the mental side," Brown added. "You want to go in knowing you can do everything in your program. I don’t ever want to go in with the quad and think too much about that one jump and take away from the rest of the program and the performance of it."