Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2022 20:08:14 GMT
The men kicked off the individual competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing on Tuesday local time, and Team USA's Nathan Chen claimed the top spot on the leaderboard after delivering the short program of his much-celebrated career. The 22-year-old earned a total of 113.97 points—a new world record, outscoring World silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama from Japan by more than five points to take the early lead. Chen now owns the world record for the short program, free skate and total score in international men's competition.
"The scores are out of my control, and I definitely wasn't expecting that," Chen said. "I am just very happy with the way that I skated and just happy to be here."
Chen appeared to be relaxed in the opening pose of his "La Boheme" by Charles Aznavour masterpiece, but his performance was anything but casual. The six-time U.S. champion navigated the landmine of technical elements with increased intensity, pumping his fist in the air in celebration after his closing combination spin.
Nathan Chen performs a jump during his short program at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022"I almost never do stuff like that. I guess it's indicative of how I felt in that moment—it was kind of a little break in character there, but I was just very happy," he said. "There's a whole spectrum of emotions that you can feel in one moment—happiness and relief. It certainly felt great."
Despite having the weight of the memory of his 2018 Olympic short program on his shoulders, Chen demonstrated why he has dominated the international scene for the past four years. The three-time World champion opened with an flawless quadruple flip, a jump that has given Chen fits throughout the season. He followed that up with a strong triple Axel and closed with a quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination in the bonus that received nearly four points in grade of execution.
"It definitely means a lot to be able to have the opportunity to come back to an Olympics and have the opportunity to do two short programs and have them go as well as I could have hoped," Chen said. "It definitely means a lot to me."
Heading into the free skate, Chen will face off against Japan's Kagiyama and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno, who finished in third place.
2014 Olympian Jason Brown finished in sixth place—a triumph for the 27-year-old whose goal for this competition was to skate the performances of his life. He is halfway there, as he finished with a whopping 97.24 points, a career high for the 2015 U.S. champion. Following the performance, Brown embraced his coaches Tracey Wilson and Brian Orser, and gave a visible sigh of relief.
"It has been an eight-year buildup of getting back to this point—and just every single day trying to find that belief in myself that I can do it and that I'm worthy," Brown said of his performance. "It's like each step along the mountain you are trying to keep climbing (without) looking back too often—just staying focused on that journey. It was such an incredible moment and I got to share that with Tracy and Brian. That became the cherry on the top."
"The scores are out of my control, and I definitely wasn't expecting that," Chen said. "I am just very happy with the way that I skated and just happy to be here."
Chen appeared to be relaxed in the opening pose of his "La Boheme" by Charles Aznavour masterpiece, but his performance was anything but casual. The six-time U.S. champion navigated the landmine of technical elements with increased intensity, pumping his fist in the air in celebration after his closing combination spin.
Nathan Chen performs a jump during his short program at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022"I almost never do stuff like that. I guess it's indicative of how I felt in that moment—it was kind of a little break in character there, but I was just very happy," he said. "There's a whole spectrum of emotions that you can feel in one moment—happiness and relief. It certainly felt great."
Despite having the weight of the memory of his 2018 Olympic short program on his shoulders, Chen demonstrated why he has dominated the international scene for the past four years. The three-time World champion opened with an flawless quadruple flip, a jump that has given Chen fits throughout the season. He followed that up with a strong triple Axel and closed with a quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination in the bonus that received nearly four points in grade of execution.
"It definitely means a lot to be able to have the opportunity to come back to an Olympics and have the opportunity to do two short programs and have them go as well as I could have hoped," Chen said. "It definitely means a lot to me."
Heading into the free skate, Chen will face off against Japan's Kagiyama and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno, who finished in third place.
2014 Olympian Jason Brown finished in sixth place—a triumph for the 27-year-old whose goal for this competition was to skate the performances of his life. He is halfway there, as he finished with a whopping 97.24 points, a career high for the 2015 U.S. champion. Following the performance, Brown embraced his coaches Tracey Wilson and Brian Orser, and gave a visible sigh of relief.
"It has been an eight-year buildup of getting back to this point—and just every single day trying to find that belief in myself that I can do it and that I'm worthy," Brown said of his performance. "It's like each step along the mountain you are trying to keep climbing (without) looking back too often—just staying focused on that journey. It was such an incredible moment and I got to share that with Tracy and Brian. That became the cherry on the top."