Nathan Chen ended his four-year journey to an elusive Olympic gold medal on Thursday, building on his record-breaking short program at the Beijing Games with a near-perfect free Skate that left his longtime coach speechless and received a standing ovation from the small crowd at the historic Capital Indoor Stadium.
The 22-year-old Yale student landed all five Quads during his “Rocketman” program, adapted to Elton John’s movie score, and finished with 332.60 points-just three off his own world record-to become the first American Champion since Evan Lysacek took the Podium in Vancouver.
Chen’s score surpassed his closest pursuers, Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno of Japan, a stark reminder of his brutal disappointment at losing the medals in Pyeongchang four years ago.
“He deserved it,” said Jason Brown, who took sixth. “I have been able to compete with him for the last four years – at all the world championships, at all the national championships, at the Grand Prix. There is no one deserving anymore. He worked so hard. He’s incredibly talented. I’m so proud to be a teammate.”
The gold medal also shouldn’t be the last to bring Chen home.
The Americans, who took silver behind Russia in the team event on Monday, were awaiting confirmation from the IOC and the International Skating Union that the “juristic issues” preventing the medal ceremony are related to doping reports linked to their biggest Star, Kamila Valieva. That could ultimately bring the U.S. to the gold medal, a second for Chen.
Born in Salt Lake City, the son of Chinese immigrants, the Salt Lake City native contributed to the U.S. team with a successful short program last Friday. Vincent Zhou, who had to withdraw from the individual event due to a positive test, would also deserve a gold medal in the United States after his free skate on Sunday.
The polite and down-to-earth Chen and his Japanese pursuers separated from the field during their short programs, like Chen with an impeccable performance at “La Boheme.”And when they went on the ice for Free Skating, Kagiyama and Uno made just enough mistakes to pave the way for Chen’s coronation.
When he played “Bolero,” one of the most popular musical selections from the Beijing Games, Uno spun a quad-Salchow and a Quad-Toe loop, then completed his combination trick after in the program with 293 points.
Then it was 18-year-old Kagiyama who appeared on the music of the Movie “Gladiator” and broke his triple toe loop and triple Salkhov. It was still enough to score 310.05 points and earn a fist pump in the peck-and-Cry zone, but not enough to put pressure on Chen who was walking quietly on the quiet ice when Kagiyama’s score was read.
With a socially aloof crowd watching on Thursday afternoon in Beijing, and millions at home on after-night TELEVISION, Chen went through his opening square Salchow. He landed four more Quads effortlessly, his only light pom-pom came in a after combination sequence, and couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he appeared to reach for the sky.
The text about “Rocket Man,” which played in the former home of Ping-Pong Diplomacy—”and I think it will be a long, long time before Touchdown brings me back” — seemed for now to be positive.
Chen sunbathed in the middle of the ice under the spotlights, then set off to listen to his scores, which at that time were only formal. Once they were read, Chen’s longtime trainer Rafael Arutyunyan raised Chen’s arm like a triumphant boxer.
While Chen, who will not return to his studies in statistics and data science, has always been in the spotlight, it seemed to fade for his longtime hero and Japanese rival.
Yuzuru Hanyu arrived in Beijing to be the first skater to win a third consecutive Olympic gold medal since Gillis Grafstrom. But after not found most of last year with an ankle health-issue, the 27-year-old struggled through his short program on Tuesday and essentially pulled him out of the medal action.
All Hanyu had left was a broken crack on the Quad axis, a 4 1/2-foot jump that never ended up in the competition. He got close, but failed to fully hang on to the landing, then dropped back onto his quad Salchow before arriving emotionally at his last performance on Olympic ice.
