After positive Covid test in Canada, Keegan Messing arrives just in time to compete: 'I’m over the moon'

Keegan Messing didn't even have time to shave.

After a "whirlwind" journey that included a last-minute clearance and round-the-world trip to get to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the Canadian figure skater arrived in time to perform in Tuesday's (8 February) short program, finishing in ninth place with a score of 93.24 points.

"We made it here," Messing told Olympics.com after his skate, which still leaves him in position to better his 12th-place finish from 2018 in Thursday's (10 February) free skate.

He added, laughing: "I didn’t even have time to shave to get on the ice in time."

There was little to joke about in the week prior, as Messing, who is based in Alaska, arrived in Vancouver with negative Covid tests to fly with Team Canada to compete in the figure skating team event in the opening days of the Games.

That changed when he produced a positive test.

He would miss the team flight to Beijing, teammate Roman Sadovsky subbing in for him to compete, then hoped to test negative in time to make the men's singles individual event, the first of the events following the team.

He would test negative... just in time.

"We went from Vancouver, to Montreal, to Frankfurt, to Milan over to Beijing and, you know, it was a whirlwind getting here," the 30-year-old said, noting he had been as careful as possible before getting to Vancouver.

"I haven’t stopped moving since the time we touched down yesterday morning [in Beijing]. I only had 10 minutes from the time I was cleared to hop on the bus for practice yesterday."

Family fuels Messing's drive

Messing would make it to Beijing on Monday (7 February) for practice, then step onto competitive Olympic ice for the first time Tuesday morning for his pre-skate practice. He skated in the final group among leaders Nathan Chen and Kagiyama Yuma, his "Never Tear Us Apart" opening with a quadruple toe-loop-triple toe combination, follow by a triple Axel and triple Lutz.

As he waited to receive his scores with coach Ralph Burghart, he showed a photo of his toddler son, Wyatt, to the TV cameras.

"My mind honestly is just on family back home - my wife, my child," he explained later. "They're really what keeps me going. Knowing I have them at home it makes me feel like I can do anything."

Messing, who was sixth at worlds in 2021, lost his brother Paxon in 2019 in a tragic motorcycle accident. He said his second appearance at the Games belonged to Paxon, who he says is "always on my mind."

"My little brother, especially since this is my second one, and he had the Olympic dream himself... this second Olympics is for him," Messing said. "I had my Olympics (in 2018) and this is for him."

Was little Wyatt watching at home, too?

"Yes he was," he confirmed. "I don't know how attentive he was, but my wife was holding him watching. I never knew what he could mean to me until he popped up. He was like the missing puzzle piece in my life. He fulfilled us so much."