BEIJING — Twenty years after a young Nathan Chen watched the figure skating competition at his hometown Salt Lake City Olympics and decided he wanted to be like them, a virtuoso Chen became an Olympic gold medalist.
Chen, who trains at Great Park Ice in Irvine, California, on Thursday blended the power and musicality that have made him a world champion three times and took them to the next level to become the seventh American man to win a figure skating singles gold medal. Chen retained the lead he had built with his short program by performing an animated and accomplished free skate to an Elton John medley, finishing with 332.60 points and living out the dream he had kept close to his heart since 2002.
That dream had eluded him four years ago in Pyeongchang, where a mistake-filled effort consigned him to 17th after the short program and only a superhuman free skate elevated him to fifth. This time, he was surefooted and unbeatable at Capital Indoor Stadium as he ended the reign of two-time Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan.
