Coach says Nathan Chen's mindset is clear ahead of free skate: 'He really knows what he wants to do'

A decade by Nathan Chen's side, coach Rafael Arutunian says his charge is taking things "piece by piece" at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Four years ago, Chen sat in 17th after a disastrous short program at PyeongChang 2018. On Tuesday (8 February) he set a new world record score in the segment and leads heading into Thursday's (10 February) free skate.

Arutunian says it's been a learning game for Chen, now 22, throughout.

"Everything in life happens for a reason," he told Olympics.com on Wednesday (9 February) after the men's practice session. "And if you make right decision after something happens... that's, I think what he did."

Chen's "right decisions" paid off in the short, his 113.97 leading Kagiyama Yuma in second at 108.12 and Uno Shoma third at 105.90.

Two-time and reigning Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru popped his opening quad jump and sits eighth.

It was a busy day at the practice facility, just a stone's throw from the Capital Indoor Stadium, where the men will compete in the free on Thursday. Chen, Kagiyama, Uno and Hanyu all took to the ice among the final two groups.

There were more quadruple Axel attempts for Hanyu, who has said prior to these Games that the never-done-before jump is his focus. While he landed at least two attempts of the jump, neither were done cleanly, and he popped several other tries.

He also jumped a quad loop, which - should he use it in his free skate - would be an added element to his already-loaded planned program content. Hanyu appeared to be playing around with different jumping options, all of which could bring up his Base Value score, having registered a 95.15 in the short.

MORE: Chen's record-breaking short | Men's free skate preview

Practice day: Run-throughs and 'staying in the moment'

While the chase for the quad Axel is on, the practice session - in which each skater did a run-through of his respective free skate - was as one would expect: Business as usual, big jumps, focused faces and - especially for Hanyu - plenty of media lenses in the building.

For Chen - no matter 17th like in 2018 or first - Arutunian said, their game plan is clear: "I think he got to spot where he really knows what he wants to do."

While the tangible goal is gold, Chen has said throughout these Games he'd like to stay present and enjoy his Olympic experience more than he allowed himself to do so in 2018. He repeated that mantra on Wednesday.

"Right now I'm still enjoying obviously what happened yesterday," he told U.S. broadcaster NBC. "But right now I'm staying in the moment and, you know, coming in fresh tomorrow."

Arutunian, whose skaters have included Michelle Kwan, Ashley Wagner and other top Olympians in the past, said he was moved by Chen's performance on Tuesday. He even welled up with tears, a rarity for the gruff Armenian who is famous for his poker face.

"I was standing there and basically I didn't even move," he said of watching Chen's short. "I was watching [and] just a little bit I had tears in my eyes; it's emotional. That's because it was a long journey. I [have been coaching] with him... I think it's more than 10 years already I'm working with him. And that's why I think I was emotional."