Opinion: Nathan Chen skates a majestic short program, gets in position to win Olympic gold
BEIJING – Nathan Chen’s four-year quest now has less than 48 hours to go.
With a massive fist pump following some of the most beautiful jumps ever landed under the unforgiving spotlight of the Olympic Games, Chen exorcized the demons from Olympic short programs past to skate a world-record-breaking men’s short and put himself in position to win the gold medal in Thursday’s long program.
Chen, 22, received more points from the judges than any man ever has – 113.97 – for his soaring quadruple jumps and exquisite artistry to “La Boheme” to take an almost six-point lead over his closest challenger, Japanese 18-year-old Yuma Kagiyama, who finished with 108.12 points.
The competition is not over by any means, but this was exactly the start Chen has been dreaming about since his disastrous 17th-place performance in the short program as a medal hopeful at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
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That awful skate has driven him to three world championships and four more national titles, but it was here, at the Olympic Games, that Chen knew he would need to meet the moment. And when he did, when he was about as perfect as a skater can be for two minutes and 45 seconds, the normally mild-mannered Yale student did something he almost never does: he punched the air, and he punched it really hard.
"I almost never do stuff like that, so I was like, 'Why'd I do that?'” Chen said not long after he skated. “I guess it was indicative of just how I felt in that moment, very happy. I kind of broke character a little bit there, but just really happy. I have no idea what came over me.”
Here’s a guess: he did it because he was finally able to give a definitive answer to four years’ worth of questions and doubts, uncertainty and angst. Four years of waiting to be able to say that young man who was 17th in South Korea was not this man on the ice today. This Nathan Chen could rise to the occasion. He could turn in the finest short program of his career at the most important moment of his life. He could peak at exactly the right time.
“It definitely means a lot to be able to have the opportunity to come back to an Olympics,” he said, “then have an opportunity to do two short programs (in the team event and the individual men’s competition), then have both the short programs go as well as I could've hoped. So it definitely means a lot to me, and I’m clearly very happy."
He was not alone. Late at night back in America, the U.S. figure skating community, having watched and supported Chen’s rise through the ranks over the past decade, held its collective breath, then erupted in joyous text messages as Chen’s program ended.
“Wow, wow, wow,” exclaimed U.S. Olympic judge Joe Inman, watching from his home in Northern Virginia. “Jumps as clean as they can be. That was a musical skate with all the extras.”
On a day filled with the greatest expectations in eight years in U.S. figure skating, since ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the gold in Sochi, Chen exceeded all of his supporters’ hopes and dreams.
His American teammate, the lyrical Jason Brown, was too busy warming up backstage for his short program to watch Chen’s, but he too knew something magical was happening on the ice.
“I was backstage doing sprints with my headphones in, and I heard the whole backstage area erupt,” Brown said. “So that was definitely a really cool moment. I have no idea how he did. That being said, I don't think people erupt for not a phenomenal performance. I could not be happier for him. There’s no one that deserves it more.”
After it was over, Chen clearly enjoyed reliving what had happened. Asked if he felt more excitement or relief, he replied, “Everything. Just everything. There's a whole spectrum of emotions that you can feel in one moment – happiness, relief, that's pretty much it I guess, for being able to put it into words right now. But yeah, it certainly felt great.”
With that, he was heading back to the Olympic Village. He said he had “chores” to do. Chores? Specifically, his laundry. He needs clean clothes, and he definitely has time to kill. There’s a long program to win, but hours to go before he skates.