Figure Skating

For the first time in a competition, Patrick Chan attempted a quad toe loop jump Saturday at a summer competition in Philadelphia.

The 18-year old figure skater from Toronto unveiled what will be his Olympic free skate program at The Liberty Figure Skating Club of Philadelphia's annual summer competition. Although he fell on the element, he was able to fully rotate the jump and was therefore given credit for the quad attempt. He decided to the quad after he landed one cleanly during his warm-up.

Skating to music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, Chan scored 127.46 points, a far cry from his personal best free skate score of 160.29. He now has three months to refine the program before his next competition, the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow where he will face 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.

"It was fun. Every time I fell, I would just get up and think, 'Who cares?' because it's the first time I've competed the program," said the world silver medallist to Icenetwork.com.

"The way I see it is Tiger Woods has a driver in his golf bag. He doesn't always use it. I have the same idea with the quad. I want it in my bag; I may make the decision not to do it, if it's not going well, but I want to have the choice.

Skaters often use summer competitions to try out new material since they use the proper judging system yet have a low profile, so the skaters can try new programs without the pressures of a major competition.

Chan's program showed complex footwork and transitions and impressed many at the event.

Chan just started working on the quad in June. He made headlines at the world championships in March, with when he fired back in the media at french skater Brian Joubert, who publicly criticized the lack of quad jumps in men's skating. Shortly after the worlds, Chan said he was considering adding a quad for the 2010 season.

Chan has been working on the quad - along with his troublesome triple-axel - using slow-motion computer video software.