Nathan Chen’s emphatic gold medal at Beijing Olympics utterly redeems his 2018 fiasco
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2022 (1330 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BEIJING—Keegan Messing hugged the ice in a quasi-death spiral. Yuzuru Hanyu rubbed ice shavings on his face. Nathan Chen simply commanded the ice.
Each in his own way was likely saying goodbye to Olympic ice and taking a piece of it with him, literally or figuratively.
The American Chen, who combined creative craftsmanship with superb jumping proficiency — five quads attempted, five landed cleanly — was in a zone of his own in the men’s free skate on Thursday. Untouchable, proving he’s the finest male figure skater on the planet at this moment, actually for the last three years — three world titles — and, with an emphatic gold, utterly redeeming himself from the medal-less chagrin of Pyeongchang in 2018.

Hanyu, two-time defending Olympic champion, had put himself far out of podium contention with a disastrous short program 48 hours earlier, unprecedented fiasco for Japan’s most illustrious athlete — Shohei Ohtani notwithstanding — and apparently a No. 1 favourite here too, such is his adoring fan base in a country which otherwise has cool relations with his homeland across the East China Sea.
“Did I do something to be disliked by the ice?’’ the 27-year-old had wondered aloud, following his eighth place in the short.
Ice that remained unforgiving in the free skate, Hanyu twice falling on jumps, including an opening attempt at the quad Axel, which has never been landed in front of a judge. Yet so innate is Hanyu’s talent that he still managed to pull himself into fourth overall behind two compatriots: teenage sensation Yuma Kagiyama, who’s obviously picked up the torch for Japan in men’s figure skating; and veteran Shoma Uno, silver in Pyeongchang, bronze in Beijing.
For Canadian national champion Messing, there was gratification in just being here to compete, arrival delayed by a week due to a positive COVID-19 test in Vancouver, and around-the-world-in-24-hours travel whirlwind. The dual Canadian-American citizen — one parent born in each country — is really more of a Yank, living in Alaska. But he did a fairly good imitation of a Canadian lumberjack in his free skate program, “Home’’ by Phillip Phillips, with the red and black plaid shirt.
As the bitingly wry Johnny Weir observed, commenting for NBC: “The ruggedness of flannel rarely finds its way onto Olympic ice.’’
Messing’s roller-coaster odyssey culminated a season-best performance and score of 172.37 for his free skate, just three days after entering Beijing air space, flying on adrenalin and fumes. Eleventh place overall with a combined score of 265.61 for the 30-year-old, who has said his second Games would be his last.
“I’m just happy to be here, I’ve got the biggest smile on my face,’’ Messing told reporters through his face mask. “And I feel full. It’s everything. This is the Olympic dream, I never thought I was going to come twice. And here I am.
“After the mind cools down and I start reflecting on everything, I hope I can remember these Olympics as I feel right now.’’
Four years ago, Messing finished 12th.
Neither Chen nor Hanyu have definitively said they won’t be back in 2026. At 22, Chen certainly has another Olympic cycle in him. But the Yale University student also sounds eager to get on with the next phase of his life, having no other skating mountain to climb.
“I had a blast out there.’’
The only small mistake in his program, skated to Elton John’s “Rocketman,’’ was turning a triple flip into a single as part of a combo in the second half of the routine. His fat score — 332.60 combined, after setting a world record in the short on Tuesday — was 22.55 points clear of second-place Yuma.
Hanyu, coming off a season where a severely sprained ankle kept him out of international competition, returning only in time for Japan’s nationals in December, closing in on 30 might signal the end of a brilliant career, particularly with Yuma nipping at his heels.
Except Hanyu is obsessed with landing that yonder quadruple Axel.
“I need to understand it,’’ he’s said. “I want to get to that place where I can confidently feel that this is the completely, perfectly formed version of Yuzuru Hanyu.’’
He reiterated that goal on Thursday, paying little mind to his double falls in the free — on the opening quad Axel gambit, followed immediately by a splatter on the quad salchow. “It was a hard time for me on the ice. If I’m not doing the quad Axel, I could have done a better combo. But the (quad Axel attempt) was my pride. It’s going to make me more complete.
“I went for it and it’s something I’ll cherish forever.’’
It was a splendid day of figure skating, yet hovering over the sport, over these Games, is the still unresolved matter of the two-phase team event, completed on Monday, with Russia taking the gold, followed by the U.S. in second, Japan third and Canada off the podium in fourth.
The formal medal ceremony, which was scheduled for Tuesday, never took place, as the IOC revealed there were “legal issues’’ with one of the medalling countries. Rumours swirled that a Russian was the culprit, which put their gold in jeopardy — and might lift Canada onto the podium.
But still no clarity from the IOC, as the finger of blame pointed — in multiple reports — towards teenager extraordinaire Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old who, in the team event, became the first female to land a quad jump, two of them in fact.
Lending credence to the unconfirmed was a report in the Russian newspaper RBC that Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance, the same apparently obtained in December but the outcome only coming to light now. Which strains credibility. A spokesperson for the Russian figure skating federation, Olga Ermolina, tersely told RBC: “She is not suspended.’’
The drug in question is allegedly Trimetazidine, which is used to treat angina, by re-directing blood flow to the heart. It’s prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, as a stimulant.
Angina is exceeding rare in young people. But if the teen does suffer from the heart ailment, why is she out there as an elite athlete executing jaw-dropping quad jumps?
Valieva was on the ice Thursday morning for her scheduled practice session. She looked untroubled but ignored the media horde.
Nobody on the Russian team brooked any questions.
Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno