Canada's Patrick Chan took the lead in the Men's Short Program in the opening day of the 2012 Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, CO.  He was followed by the three Japanese men competing here, Takahito Mura, Daisuke Takahashi and Tatsuki Machida.

Skating to "Take Five“, Chan stumbled badly on his opening quad toe but recovered to land a triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe combination. The reigning World Champion scored a seasons best with 87.95 points. "It was a little shaky, it wasn’t perfect. On the warm-up I felt a little off balance. My blades weren’t really grounded to the ice“, the Grand Prix Final Champion admitted. "I was able to regain my focus after the quad, a rough landing. My goal is just to get through the long program. With the altitude here, even though I train here, it’s still tough for me. My goal is to make sure I focus on the jumps and the elements of the jumps, landing well. What’s key is to stay breathing and relax in the moment“, he continued.  Though Chan had only the toe picks of one blade on the ice, and needed both hands to support his weight, he escaped a deduction for a fall on his quad attempt.

Mura was the only man to hit a quad-triple toe combination and also landed the triple Axel and a triple Lutz in his routine to "Red Violin“. He posted a new personal best score of 83.44 points. "I am very surprised to be placed above Daisuke“, the 20-year-old commented. "But as far as the content of the program, I thought it was the best of the season and I hope to place well tomorrow.“  He was one of two men among the top four to skate a clean program.

Takahashi's program to "Garden of Souls“ featured a triple Axel, triple Lutz-triple toe and two level-four spins, but he fell on an under-rotated quad toe loop. The 2010 World Champion picked up 82.59 points. "I missed the quad, but I’m still here so I’m happy“; Takahashi said. "Actually I wasn’t watching Patrick (Chan), so I didn’t know he missed the quad. Going into the Worlds I felt it was very important to perform the quad, so it was not because what Patrick did; I had already decided to perform the quad here,“ he added.

Tatsuki Machida completed a strong showing for the Japanese men by placing fourth with a strong clean performance that included a triple Axel and triple flip-triple toe combination.

Among the U.S. skaters, Ross Minor placed best, finishing sixth in the short, followed by Adam Rippon in seventh, two points back.  Richard Dornbush, a late substitution for an injured Jeremy Abbott placed 13th in the short.