Nathan Chen wins figure skating gold at Winter Olympics
2022 Beijing Olympics – Figure Skating – Men Single Skating – Free Skating – Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China – February 10, 2022. Nathan Chen of the United States in action. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
BEIJING—American Nathan Chen achieved a spectacular redemption when he claimed the men’s figure skating title in dazzling fashion at the Beijing Olympics, completing a four-year journey to the exhilarating tunes of Elton John on Thursday.
The 22-year-old, who left empty-handed after a meltdown in Pyeongchang in 2018, stood by the edge of the rink to soak up the atmosphere during warm-up and then skated carefreely to “Rocket Man” to add to his world record in the short program for a total of 332.60.
Article continues after this advertisementWearing an orange and purple top decorated with stars in space in a nod to his medley of Elton John songs, Chen displayed power, grace and precision, effortlessly landing his quadruple jumps as he triggered some rare cheering from a usually near-silent crowd.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (310.05) was a distant second and fellow Japanese Shoma Uno (293.00) ended up third, ending up with no possible regrets after ‘Rocket Chen’ landed his fourth quadruple jump.
2022 Beijing Olympics – Figure Skating – Men Single Skating – Free Skating – Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China – February 10, 2022. Gold medallist Nathan Chen of the United States celebrates on the podium next to silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan and bronze medallist Shoma Uno of Japan. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
“I never really thought that I’d be able to actually make it this far in my career. I’d always, of course, dreamed about making an Olympics and winning the Olympics, but I was like, that’s hard, I don’t know if I can make that happen,” Chen said.
Article continues after this advertisement“I haven’t really had time to process fully, but it’s amazing so far.”
Yuzuru Hanyu, who was hoping to win the event for the third time in a row, finished fourth on 283.21 after the Japanese great dropped out of title contention in the short program.
All the attention was on the Japanese at his long-awaited, delayed arrival in Beijing but the 27-year-old fell out of contention after a disastrous short program.
He was also looking to become the first skater to land the quadruple Axel in competition but failed to deliver, also falling on a quadruple Salchow.
WELCOME RESPITE
Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu competes in the men’s single skating free skating of the figure skating event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 10, 2022. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
Hanyu, looking tired and at times struggling to steady his breath to contain his emotions, said he was disappointed at his failed attempt but that he had “given it his all.”
“It wasn’t fun at all,” he said of his Olympic experience, describing it as painful and difficult.
Asked if he would compete at the world championships or keep attempting the ‘4A’, he said, “I need some more time to think about it.”
Chen, coming into the Olympics having been defeated only once since his Pyeongchang setback, at last year’s Skate America, delivered a masterclass to become the first American to win the men’s title since Evan Lysacek in Vancouver in 2010.
Kagiyama, Uno and Hanyu watched in awe as Japan’s double Olympic champion knew he would have to make way for Chen, who exited the ice showing unusual signs of jubilation.
“I think that I can’t regret the performance I gave,” said Uno, praising Chen‘s class and consistency.
Chen’s smile and gesture brought a welcome respite in an otherwise tense atmosphere at the Capital Indoor Stadium where the buzz was centered on day-old reports – still unconfirmed – that Russian Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old gold medal favorite in the women’s competition – had tested positive for a banned drug.
Valieva was part of the six-person Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team that won gold on Monday. Medals from that event have yet to be awarded with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) citing unspecified legal reasons for the indefinite delay.
She turned up for practice on an adjacent rink, before Chen’s performance grabbed the attention, at least for a memorable four and a half minutes, and signaled the end of Hanyu’s domination.
