Figure skating star, Nathan Chen scored his long-awaited gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The 22-year-old figure skater scored a high 218.63 in the free skate, building on a record-breaking short program earlier this week. He put on a masterful performance that included a quad flip and triple toe loop, a quad flip, and a triple axel, to the music of Elton John, Rocketman.
Four years ago at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, Chen had been considered a gold medalist contender but suffered a heartbreaking poor performance in the short program that sunk his chances. This time, he set a new world record of 113.97 in the individual short program. Chen has excelled since his misfortune in 2018, including in a free skate in PyeongChang that was called redemptive. He also won the world figure skating championship gold in 2021, 2019, and 2018.
“I mean I certainly learn the most from my mistakes,” Chen said Thursday. “The fact that I was able to get a second chance at the Olympics, I didn’t want to lose out on this opportunity.
Chen finished with a total score of 332.60 and had the best scores in both the short program (113.97) and the free skate (218.63).
