Kagiyama Yuma's silver lining playbook

As far as Olympic debuts go, Kagiyama Yuma's was about as good as it gets.

Kagiyama fully came into his own on Thursday (10 February), when the 18-year-old glided to a cool 201.93 points in the free skate for a grand total of 310.05 that netted him Beijing 2022's silver medal.

Kagiyama joined the select 300 club with a membership of just three - Nathan Chan, the gold medallist on Thursday, and the man he dethroned, two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru.

But the scary part is, this is just the beginning.

"As happy as I am about winning a medal, I feel like I could have done more", Kagiyama said.

"I think this silver medal will go a long way and it’s something I can build on. I hope I can keep getting better from here on".

It's been a remarkable week for the 2020 Youth Olympic Games champion who kicked off his Beijing campaign by helping Japan to their first-ever medal (bronze) in the team event with a personal best in the free of 208.94.

Kagiyama also managed to realise the dream of following in the footsteps of his father to the Games, two-time Olympian Masakazu, and one-upped him by winning a medal, something dad could not do.

Then came Thursday, the huge cherry on the cake.

"I had a lot of fun in the short but in the free, I was a little nervous knowing it’s when everything is decided", said Yuma, who has had a hard time suppressing a smile since arriving in Beijing.

"I was a bit uptight but I didn’t want to regret anything afterward so I gave it my 100 per cent.

"The team event was fantastic. The Olympics has been my dream all long and so much went into this silver medal.

"I can feel the progress myself".

Filling out the podium was the silver medallist from four years ago in PyeongChang, Uno Shoma.

Uno didn't have the best day after cluttering his skate with mistakes that left him with a score of 187.10. But because of the 10-point cushion he had on fourth-place Hanyu from the short program, Uno somehow hung on for a medal.

Still, Uno was thrilled about what he achieved in Beijing. Since PyeongChang, he had second thoughts about skating and didn't work under a coach at one point.

But after meeting Stephane Lambiel two years ago, the 24-year-old turned a new leaf, getting his career back on track.

"I made a bunch of mistakes today. But right now at this very moment, I’m really happy with third place at the Olympics after all I went through the last four years", he said.

"If I stick to the program I'm on, the training I’ve been doing, I’ll improve and eventually get to Nathan’s level, I like to think.

"I'm not about to become complacent and take on new challenges".