- Nathan Chen needed a huge performance in the free skate of the men’s single figure skating event and he delivered.
- Chen became the “Quad King” when he landed six quadruple jumps, the first in Olympic history.
- His score left him in first place, and was just what he needed to have a shot at a medal.
Nathan Chen made history on Saturday at the Winter Olympics, becoming the first figure skater to ever land six quadruple jumps in a single routine.
Chen overcame dissapointing performances in both the team competition and the opening short program. The US squad was able to overcome Chen’s performance in the team competition and still land a bronze medal. But in the men’s single skating, he was 17th after the short program and seemed out of medal contention falling the short program.
But just when Chen needed the performance of his life, he delivered.
Chen landed six sqauds during his routine, five of them cleanly, slipping momentarily on just one of his jumps.
NBC announcer Tara Linisky even had a Freudian slip after the routine, accidentally referring to Chen as “Nathan Quad.”
“Nathan Quad,” Lipinsky said. “Nathan Chen is still the quad king!”
Chen seemingly became the quad king during the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships when he became the first skater in history to land five quads in a single performance.
Saturday’s performance at the Winter Olympics might have been too little, too late, but it was what he needed to even have a chance.His score of 215.08 gave him an overall total of 297.35 which would have been good enough to win gold at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
At the time of his performance there were still 13 skaters to go, and he would need some to slip up, but he was in first place when he finished.
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