Chen sets record, moves closer to gold
BEIJING — Even before the final beat of music in Nathan Chen’s short program, he knew he had done it.
Four years after a mistakeladen short program cost him a chance at an Olympic gold medal, he had done it.
After completing two quadruple jumps — including one in a quadruple, triplejump combination — and dancing across the ice in his simple black tuxedo, Chen finished first in the men’s short program at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday. By a lot.
His score of 113.97 points set a world record and also set him up perfectly for a shot at the coveted prize that has eluded him.
When he was done with his program, performed to “La Bohème,” by Charles Aznavour, Chen punched the air several times in a celebration and had to catch himself.
“I almost never do something like that,” the 22-yearold said afterward. “I was like, ‘Why did I do that?’ ”
From the outside, it was obvious.
At the 2018 Games, Chen twice skated terrible short programs — one in the team event, the other in the men’s singles event. In the individual competition, he performed so poorly that he was 17th going into the free skate.
Deciding he had nothing to lose, Chen attempted — and landed — six quadruple jumps in the free skate, instead of the five he had planned. That bold performance lifted him to fifth place, tantalizingly close to the medals that were out of reach after his short-program mistakes. Since that disappointment, Chen has dominated the sport, becoming a three-time world champion.
So after Chen showed his best Tuesday — finally, at an Olympics with barely any errors — he said it was a relief. He won’t revel in his accomplishment for long, though, he said, because there is still work to do.
The gold medal will be decided on Thursday morning after the free skate (Wednesday night in the United States), and Chen’s main competition will be two Japanese skaters: Yuma Kagiyama, an 18-year-old former child television and movie star who knows how to perform with flair, and Shoma Uno, 24, one of only two skaters who has beaten Chen since early 2018. Kagiyama was second in the short program, 5.85 points behind Chen. Uno, the Olympic silver medalist in 2018, was third, 8.07 points back.