Associated Press 6y

Yuzuru Hanyu wins in return from ankle injury at Autumn Classic

FigureSkating, Olympic Sports

OAKVILLE, Ontario -- Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu made a successful return from the ankle injury that sidelined him after the Pyeongchang Games by winning the Autumn Classic figure skating competition on Saturday.

The right ankle problem forced Hanyu to miss several events last season, but he battled through it to become the first man since Dick Button in 1952 to win consecutive Olympic titles. In this Challenger Series competition, he had 263.65 total points, though he didn't skate clean programs.

Chan Junhwan of South Korea took silver with 259.78 points. Canadian Roman Sadovsky earned bronze.

Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won the ice dance with a new program on Saturday.

The world bronze medalists unveiled an emotional free dance to a piece from the rock opera "Starmania.'' It was also a tribute to 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan, who skated to the same music last season. Ten was killed in July at age 25.

"It felt good to get out there and really perform this program,'' Poje said. "It's been special for us since the beginning. We just wanted to go out, take it easy and feel the environment.''

Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain finished second with 171.41 points, while Canadian pair Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus were third with 166.24.

Late Friday night, U.S. champion Bradie Tennell stunned Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva in the women's event. It was Tennell's first international senior level title.

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