Jason Brown is an elite athlete who has competed in many national competitions as well as international grand prixs. He is the 2015 national champion and is back this year in the hopes of winning again. His short program is designed for him to not focus on just his technical score but also his transitions and program components. Every aspect of his skating is peaceful and measured. He takes this time going into elements but also follows through with intricate and stretched out choreography with every run-through. Brown makes his skating enjoyable for anyone to watch because he makes it an art, not just a simplistic scoring system. Every step and move he makes on the ice is extended and held. It all looks effortless and seamless to the judges and everyone watching his performance. One flaw of the sport is that so much emphasis is being held on how well the jumps are completed. However, this sport is much more than just the technical score. It is essential to be able to move fluidly across the ice and make every move look connected. One is unable to take their eyes off of him when he is out there giving a performance.
His first element is a triple flip with a difficult exit following the jump. His jump had height and a quick snap in the air for efficient rotation. This jump received an extra 2.65 GOE added to the element, which is worth 5.30 points. Following this, he lands the most difficult jump in his program, being a triple axel. He had a great left bent knee going into his takeoff and stepped up forwards into the jump rather than leading the body towards the left. If skaters lead the body towards the left, they will likely whip the jump around and cause them to fall or step out of the element. He, however, landed it effortless and got an extra 3.09 added to the jump score of 8.00 points. His next element is his first spin, which is a flying sit spin. This also received a GOE of 1.20 added to 3.00 points. His final jump for the short program is a triple lutz, triple toe combination. Both of these jumps received a great amount of speed going in and out of them. This is helpful for skaters to also get enough height out of the jumps. He did this beautifully and did stunning stars into his change camel combination spin. The base value for this element is 3.20 points, but he received a bonus of 1.33 points. His step sequence came after this, and by far, this was one of the best step sequences seen at Nationals. Every year it seems as though his artistry is taken to a new level. He never remains the same but rather improves so much with every competition. This step sequence was beyond excellent; his emotion and love for the sport was evidently shown through his creative footwork. Every edge he executed during the sequence was deep and taken to the max. Finally, he goes into a beautiful level 4 combination spin.
After the short program, he stands in second place. He received 52.41 for the technical element score and 48.58 for his program component score. His total is 100.99 points! He grabbed everyone’s attention with the love he has for what he does. He does not just perform for the technical score but comes out to show his technique through his effort and warm personality. It is refreshing to see that not everyone is all about the technical score. Jason Brown is a phenomenal skater. No one will ever be able to take that artistry he puts forth in every program away from him. His smile is terrific, and his pure, personable character is always enjoyable to see. This sport is so much more than the jumps, and he does an excellent job of showing it. He may not have a quad in his programs, but he puts forth so much more through his expression and exceptional choreography.
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