Olympian Chen Lu Shines in Interpretive Program at China's National Games

Chen Lu Shines in Interpretive Program at China's National Games

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Chinese Winter Olympic Games bronze medalist Chen Lu was in a class of her own and scored the day-high marks in the interpretive program at the women's singles figure skating finals of China's Ninth National Games Friday night in Beijing.

The elegant Chen, who dazzled the crowd and judges with a soft jazz "Forever Dream", collected a 5.9 for artistry and a range from 5.3 to 5.8 for technical merit.

Surged back from a early fall, Sun Siyin of Heilongjiang came to the second with teammate Fang Dan the third.

Chen, bronze medalist at Nagano Olympics in 1998, admitted that she was confident in the inaugural interpretive program, which aimed to help Chinese skaters improving their elegance.

"It is the easiest part of the competition for me because I am good at presenting the music and myself," said the 25-year-old from Jilin.

Finishing the first program with the top spot, Chen, who became a pro showing in the U.S. since 1998, said the most difficult part was the next two -- short program and free skate.

"These two require difficulty ratios. I have to pay more attention to the jumps, loops and spirals."

The women's singles gold will be decided on Sunday.

Veteran Zhang Min took the lead on the first day in the men's competition, with Li Yunfei and Li Chengjiang in the second and third respectively.