Topline
U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen won the gold medal in the men’s figure skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Thursday after putting on a staggering performance the event’s free skate program that came days after his record breaking performance in the short program earlier this week.
Key Facts
Chen, a three-time world champion, performed his free skate routine to a medley of songs from the Elton John biopic “Rocketman” and managed to score 218.63.
The skater would end up with a total score of 332.60 in the event, which includes his record breaking 113.97 points in the short program on Monday.
The other two podium spots were shared by Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno who ended up with final scores of 310.05 and 293 respectively.
Chen’s biggest rival, the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, placed fourth after failed quadruple axel—a move that has never been pulled off before.
Crucial Quote
“He deserves it. I’ve gotten to compete with him over the last four years — at all the world championships, every national championship, the Grand Prix. There is no one more deserving. He worked so hard. He’s so unbelievably talented,” said Jason Brown, Chen’s U.S teammate, who finished in sixth place.
Key Backgroung
The 22-year-old Chen has been one of the most dominant figure skaters in the world for the past several years. Nowhere has this been more apparent than the World Figure Skating Championship where the American has won singles gold in each of the past three editions. Chen has also won gold at the three most recent Grand Prix of Figure Skating finals along with six national titles. However, his failure to win gold at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang despite major hype, had hung over him for four years. Chen finished the men’s singles competition in a disappointing fifth place after a mistake riddled routine.
Further Reading
Nathan Chen’s near-perfect skate wins long-sought gold (Associated Press)
Nathan Chen Wins Figure Skating Gold, Claiming a Prize That Eluded Him (New York Times)
