It was for his short program. Only the upcoming free skate stands in the way of Olympic gold for him.
Beijing — Nathan Chen had just shattered the world record for a figure skating short program, even throwing a defiant fist in a rare display of emotion, when he was asked how he’d spend the next 48 hours before his long-awaited Olympic coronation. “I’ve been here a while,” the 22-year-old American star replied with a shrug Tuesday. “I’ve got some clothes to wash. Some other things to clean around my room. Just ordinary chores, really. Nothing crazy.” He left the crazy – the downright stunning – on the ice of ‘s historic Capital Indoor Stadium. Wearing a confident smirk, Chen avenged his poor short program from four years ago at the Pyeongchang Games in the biggest way possible. He opened with a perfect quad flip, breezed through his often-vexing triple axel, then drilled his quad flip-triple toe loop combination before skating to a stop and delivering a right haymaker at the air.
