Winter Olympics 2022 - Nathan Chen wins figure skating gold after Yuzuru Hanyu falls attempting quad axel

ByJames Kilpatrick

Updated 10/02/2022 at 11:08 GMT

Nathan Chen landed five quads in a fine figure skating performance to win his first ever Winter Olympic gold in Beijing. Chen scored 332.60 to win gold by a hefty margin. His rival Yuzuru Hanyu finished in fourth after failing to successfully land a quad axel, with his performance in the short program, where he made a critical mistake, ending his hopes of a third successive Winter Olympic crown.

Nathan Chen has won his first Olympic gold medal after producing a season best performance in the free skating.

The American, who smashed the world record to produce a score of 113.97 in the free programme, went on to produce another fantastic display to seal USA's third Olympic gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Dancing to Elton John's Rocket Man, Chen won by a distance with a combined score of 332.60 after he successfully landed all five of his quads in a brilliant routine.

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Japan's Yuma Kagiyama took silver with a score of 310.05 and his compatriot Shoma Uno the bronze with 293.00.

"Elton would be proud of him," Eurosport's Simon Reed said on commentary.

"What a man. What a competitor. After all that pressure and all that happened four years ago [rallied to finish fifth in Pyeongchang] he's doubled it up. Brilliant short. Huge long programme and he's won by a distance."

"That is a special moment, unbelievable." Co-commentator Chris Howarth said.

"He wasn't perfect but it was so difficult. Jason Brown said after skating last in the short programme 'it's not easy to hold it together'. You are off the ice for 40 minutes in the long.

‘Destroyed’ – Hanyu goes for broke but finishes ‘skating for pride’

"He had to come out and nail the combination at the beginning. It was so key for Nathan and he hung on by the skin of his teeth.

"He could taste the gold medal about halfway through the programme and he allowed himself a little smile. He is a phenomenon."

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'It's a whirlwind, I'm so happy' - Chen reacts to gold and magical routine

Chen's great rival Yuzuru Hanyu failed to produce a quad axel in the opening element and then slipped as he went for the quad salchow in his second move.

The two errors meant the two-time Olympic gold medallist was realistically skiing only for pride for the remainder of his programme and was mostly mistake-free to the finish.

Hanyu showed little sign he was struggling with the ankle injury that has disrupted his season and finished with a total score of 188.06 to finish in fourth.

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