Singles, Men

The men’s singles figure skating competition of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games was held on 16 February (short program) and 17 February (free skate) at the Gangneung Ice Arena with 30 men from 21 nations. It had a great depth of talent.

The front-runner for gold was Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, who entered the Games looking to defend his 2014 Olympic title from Sochi. Considered one of the greatest of all time, there were fears that his performance would be affected from a recently recovered ankle injury.

Those looking to dethrone Hanyu, included Shoma Uno of Japan, China’s Jin Boyang, Spain’s Javier Fernández and USA’s Nathan Chen. Also in the field was Canada’s Patrick Chan, the two-time Olympic silver medalist (2014) and three-time World champion (2011, 2012, 2013), who already had won the 2018 Olympic team event, and was in search of another medal in PyeongChang.

In another era, Uno would have been the world number one figure skater and have the adoration of his nation, except for one thing – his countryman Hanyu. Uno, the 2015 World Junior champion, was narrowly defeated for gold by Hanyu at the 2017 World Championships (by 2.28 points), settling for silver.

China’s Jin Boyang, two-time World bronze medalist (Boston 2016, Milan 2017) and 2015 World Junior silver medalist, was the first skater to ever land four quad jumps in a free skate, six quads in international competition, first ever to land a quad lutz-triple toe loop combination in international competition, and the former record holder of scoring the most points on one element (the quad lutz-triple toe loop combination).

Fernández, a two-time Olympian (2010, 2014), arrived in PyeongChang as the two-time World champion (2015, 2016) and six-time consecutive European champion (2013-2018).

The American Chen had the most pressure on him, and had been anointed the Olympic champion even before the Games started. He was, at the time, the only skater ever to land five quadruple jumps in one routine, which he did at the USA Championships in January 2018, just prior to the Olympic Winter Games.

The other American, media darling Adam Rippon, had a different pressure on him when he was thrown into the global spotlight carrying an entire community on his back as, the first openly gay man to be named to the USA Olympic Winter team. While not fighting for the top of the podium, a bronze medal was possible.

Skating to Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1” and landing two quads, Hanyu led after the short program, with the second highest short program score ever recorded (the only higher score was also from Hanyu). His performance brought a sea of Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals raining down on the ice from his fans, as a result of Hanyu’s affection for the A. A. Milne character. But the real test would be to see if the recently recovered ankle injury could hold up to all the jumping in the free skate. He was followed in the scores by Fernández, Uno and Jin. Chan sat in sixth. The American Chen had a disastrous short program, leaving him in 17th position and no hope of a medal.

A picture of poise and elegance, Hanyu skated masterfully in the long program free skate, unaffected by his ankle injury, scoring 206.17 points giving him a total of 317.85 points and the gold medal - the 1000th medal event in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. His fans went bonkers – screaming, crying, waving flags and caricatures, and of course, more Winnine-the-Poohs for their champion. Hanyu had become the first man in 66 years to win consecutive gold medals in figure skating (after USA’s Dick Button in 1948 and 1952). Fellow countryman Uno won the silver medal, and Spain’s Fernández captured the bronze medal (winning his country’s first figure skating medal and fourth medal ever at the Winter Olympics). Jin overtook Chen by less than a point, placing fourth overall and representing a new optimism for his nation in men’s singles. More history was made when Vincent Zhou landed the first Olympic quadruple lutz, one of the sport’s most difficult jumps.

With nothing to lose in the long program free skate, Chen went for broke by throwing in six quadruple jumps, orchestrating one of the greatest comebacks in figure skating history to win the free skate with a score of 215.08 points (8.91 points ahead of Hanyu, followed by Uno and Fernández) and lead in points, until the final five skaters. He placed an incredible fifth overall.