Nathan Chen sets men's short program world record; Hanyu Yuzuru sits eighth

Nathan Chen stood firm on the Olympic ice that felt slippery four years ago.

The reigning and three-time world champion figure skater delivered a blistering performance in the men's short program inside the Capital Indoor Stadium at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 - skating into first place with a world record score of 113.97.

The 22-year-old American, skating to "La Boheme" was felled by this segment at PyeongChang 2018, but shook any Olympic ghosts that may have been haunting him on Tuesday (8 February), taking a five-point lead into Thursday's (10 February) free skate.

"I'm just elated," Chen told U.S. broadcaster NBC. "Last Olympics both of my short programs didn't go the way that I wanted. [This] feels really good; this means a lot."

Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 champion Kagiyama Yuma was equally as impressive, the 18-year-old beaming in the "Kiss and Cry" next to his father and coach, Masakazu, a two-time Olympian himself. Kagiyama scored a 108.12 total.

2018 Olympic silver medallist Uno Shoma is third with a 105.90.

Kagiyama and Uno's Japanese compatriot, the reigning and two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru skated in the penultimate group but opened his skate with a popped quadruple Salchow attempt, a loss of nine points as he singled the jump. He scored a 95.15 to sit in eighth place after the short.

The superstar said he was caught in a hole in the ice as he prepared for his first jump.

"When I take off, I was in some hole [on the ice] by another skater's jump. It was unlucky," Hanyu, 27, told reporters in English. "I'm [feeling] really comfortable for everything [else]."

Hanyu: 'Did I do something to be disliked by the ice?'

"Honestly, it feels like I didn’t even make a mistake. I don’t know, is it bad karma? Did I do something to be disliked by the ice? That’s how I feel, standing here being interviewed."

Overall, it was a high-quality men's short program throughout, however, with 12 skaters going above the 90-point mark.

Cha Junhwan of South Korea is fourth with a 99.51, with Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) in fifth at 97.87, Jason Brown (USA) sixth with a 97.24 and Evgeni Semenenko (ROC) seventh at 95.76 - just ahead of Hanyu.

Chen now has the lead into the free skate, having won that portion to finish in fifth place overall at the Games in 2018. After winning the 2018 world title, Chen had won 10 consecutive international events before placing third at Skate America earlier this season.

It was at Skate America that American Vincent Zhou won gold, but Chen and Brown's teammate was ruled out here in Beijing, withdrawing late Monday (7 February) night due to a positive Covid-19 test.

Kagiyama: 'I had fun from start to finish'

It was an entertaining day of skating from front to back - a men's short program that included a bevy of inspiring stories.

That includes top-10 finisher Keegan Messing of Canada, who sits ninth with a 93.24. Messing had tested positive for Covid on his way to the Games, stuck in Vancouver for over a week. He arrived to Beijing just a day before the short program, then showed a photo of his toddler son Wyatt in the "Kiss and Cry" after a standout skate.

Emotion flowed for 10th-place skater Kevin Aymoz of France, too, who had been marred by injury in the months leading up to the Olympics. His 93.00 has him in 10th - and a delighted Aymoz let out a roar as his numbers came through.

There was no such delight for Hanyu, who was visibly disappointed upon finishing his short. As he skated off, he looked to the spot on the ice where he had taken off for his quad Salchow in frustration, shaking his head.

He said he still plans to do the quadruple Axel in the free skate, a jump never completed before in competition.

"I really love to skate here. I feel really good on the ice," he said. "I will keep my plan for everything. I need to land everything. I will have to use quad Axel for the free program. I'm keeping my best."

Hanyu is without longtime coach Brian Orser here, who is in attendance but not working directly with the two-time Olympic champ. They fist-bumped backstage, TV cameras showed, prior to Hanyu taking the ice.

Orser will be happy with his other charges, as Four Continents champion Cha, the Korean, sits fourth behind his career-best skate, while Brown, who skated his chilling "Sinnerman" program as the last to go, was sublime with a career best, too, though he doesn't attempt a quad jump.

There was joy for Kagiyama, the reigning world silver medallist, who has vaulted onto the senior scene in the last two seasons with big jumps and big-personality skating.

"It’s my first Olympics and I thought I’d be nervous but I had fun from start to finish," he said in Japanese. "For the first time ever, I think I smiled during the short program. The last few years, it wasn’t always rosy. At times I felt like I needed a break. But I am who I am because of that and it’s why I’m able to enjoy these Games. I feel like I made progress."

Meanwhile, Uno took a more measured approach, saying he'd like to make sure he brings his best to the free skate on Thursday: "I don’t want to skate only for results. Even if I make mistakes, as long as it helps me grow in the long run I’m fine with it. I want the practice to tie into the competition.

Chen leads high-quality men's short

Quad jumps were aplenty in the men's short, led by Chen's quadruple flip and quad Lutz-triple toe in combination, which he received a +4.40 and +3.95 (out of five) on the GOE scale (Grades of Execution).

Chen credited his four years of experience since his 2018 blip, giving credence to coach Rafael Arutunian - as well as the sports psychologist he's worked with for a year: "There is no way I could have made it to where I am without my mental coach or the team that is around me. Everyone has useful nuggets for me. I have to stay present - I'm trying to remind myself of that."

And about his burst of emotion at the finish of his free, where he yelled out centre ice? "I have no idea what came over me. I generally don't do stuff like that but it just felt right. I was just really happy." 

Kagiyama, too, received high marks for his quad Salchow and quad toe-triple toe in his "When You're Smiling" short - aptly named for how he felt in the program.

Cha, in fourth, is known for his performance quality and delivered as much. He opened with a quad Salchow and then added a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, finishing with a triple Axel he fought on the landing for. He's the only skater in the top five not to do two quad jumps.

"Before competing today, I asked myself what do I really want from this, and that was to 'be satisfied and enjoy being in the Olympics - the global festival,'" an expressive Cha said after his skate. "That led me to a good result today. I’ll continue focusing in free style and bring a good result.

Carrillo, Jin shine in early groups

Earlier in the event, 22-year-old Donovan Carrillo made his Olympic debut with a personal best skate, scoring a 79.69 and qualifying for the free skate. He's the first Mexican figure skater an an Olympics in 30 years and was selected as one of his nation's flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony.

He's also the first Mexican skater to ever make a free skate.

"I'm proud of myself for becoming my best at these Olympics," he told Olympics.com after his skate. "I've always wanted to share my story, that's always been my goal."

"For me the main goal for the free skate is to have fun and enjoy," he added. "The key today was to enjoy it and have a great time with the audience. I think it would be great if I do the same for the free while I take care of every detail of the technical side. Then I will be OK."

There was big emotion from China's Jin Boyang, too, the home hope in men's singles, who scored a 90.98 to lead early on. Jin was fourth in 2018 and drew a big applause from the limited crowd in the arena of Chinese fans.

Carrillo sits 19th, while Jin is 11th.

Men's short program results - figure skating

The men's free skate will take place on Thursday (10 February). See a full figure skating schedule here.

1 Nathan Chen United States 113.97
2 Yuma Kagiyama Japan 108.12
3 Shoma Uno Japan 105.90
4 Cha Jun-hwan South Korea 99.51
5 Morisi Kvitelashvili Georgia 97.98
6 Jason Brown United States 97.24
7 Evgeni Semenenko ROC 95.76
8 Yuzuru Hanyu Japan 95.15
9 Keegan Messing Canada 93.24
10 Kévin Aymoz France 93.00
11 Jin Boyang China 90.98
12 Daniel Grassl Italy 90.64
13 Matteo Rizzo Italy 88.63
14 Adam Siao Him Fa France 86.74
15 Mark Kondratiuk ROC 86.11
16 Deniss Vasiļjevs Latvia 85.30
17 Brendan Kerry Australia 84.79
18 Vladimir Litvintsev Azerbaijan 84.15
19 Donovan Carrillo Mexico 79.69
20 Nikolaj Majorov Sweden 78.54
21 Konstantin Milyukov Belarus 78.49
22 Ivan Shmuratko Ukraine 78.11
23 Andrei Mozalev ROC 77.05
24 Lukas Britschgi Switzerland 76.16