American Nathan Chen has lived up to his billing as the new king of men's figure skating, with a brilliant performance to win gold at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
The three-time world champion had not previously managed to put it all together at an Olympics.
That frustration ended in Beijing, as Chen smashed his rivals with a powerful routine, to beat Japan's 18-year-old rising star, Yuma Kagiyama, and his fellow Japanese skater Shoma Uno.
The American, known as a master of quad jumps, delivered a world record score for the short program of 113.97 on Tuesday.
He led by five points ahead of the free skate but there was still doubt over whether he would clinch the gold.
From the moment he landed his opening quad flip–triple toe loop combination in his final routine, however, that doubt disappeared.
Skating to Elton John's Rocket Man, Chen landed five quad jumps and four triples, building up an incredible technical elements score of 121.41. The crowd roared him on, as it became clear they were watching the new champion.
Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu's attempt to win a third straight Olympic title was all but over after he blew his first quad jump in the short program to trail Chen by nearly 19 points.
Hanyu switched focus to a bid to make history, with what would have been the first-ever quad axel landed in competition. There were reports that he had injured his ankle attempting to land the quad in practice ahead of the final.
His first item on his program was the 4.5 rotation quad axel jump, the oldest and hardest in all of skating. Hanyu came close to achieving the rotations but could not keep his footing on the landing.
His early elements were scratchy but, as the performance continued, Hanyu showed some of the artistry for which he is known and a couple of brilliantly realised quad-triple combinations.
He scored 188.06 for his free skate, for a total of 283.21.With competitors performing in reverse score order from the short program, Hanyu led until the final few skaters to finish, just out of the medals, in fourth.
The ever-smiling Kagiyama, who won gold at the 2020 Youth Winter Olympics, showed he was a star of the now not just the future with a brilliant free skate program.
He was the only competitor other than Chen to score more than 200 points for his finale.
Kagiyama attempted four quad jumps, landing all four — the missed the quad loop he attempted a second time, but managed to avoid hitting the ice.
However, his assured performance, spins and step sequence all were rewarded by the judges.
Another Japanese competitor, Shoma Uno, who had spent most of his career in Hanyu's shadow, secured the bronze medal with his skate to Ravel's Bolero.
Australia's Kerry finishes on a high with best-ever placing
Another highlight of the finale of the men's figure skating program was the performance of Australia's Brendan Kerry, who produced a great performance in what may have been his final Olympic skate.
Kerry, who came 29th in Sochi in 2014 and 20th in Pyeong Chang four years ago, was 17th going into the final free skate.
The 27-year-old — who was a flag-bearer for Australia, along with Laura Peel at the opening ceremony — delivered a strong, clean program, landing all his jumps and scoring 160.01 to give him a total of 244.80, and his best-ever result for 17th place.
