Two-time U.S. Men’s skating champion, 18 year-old Nathan Chen, learned about the agony of defeat in his short program in Pyeongchang Thursday night.
Chen, a pre-games favorite and one of the ‘faces’ of the Olympics on NBC stumbled through all his jumps, plummeting to 17th place with a tentative and passionless showing.
‘I’ve never been in this spot, so I really don’t know what to do,’ Chen said afterwards.
American skater Nathan Chen, fell seconds into his short program on Thursday
Chen’s short program was less than three minutes long, but he continued to stumble and fall
Touching the ice, Chen tries to stabilize himself as he falls yet again in his short program
Chen, 18, is the US skating champion, but some say nerves got the best of him in Pyeongchang.
Chen got himself up every time he fell down, completing the short program in 17th place
He skated after Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Hanyu’s fans threw stuffed Winnie the Pooh toys on the ice as a tribute to the Sochi gold medalist.
The Pooh bears caused a delay – something Chen had experienced before without being bothered by it.
‘I thought I did everything right in my general approach and it just didn’t work out the way it was supposed to,’ he added.
The top four men combined to land eight quads and four triple axels in their short programs.
They will be flying high again in the free skate, when Chen hopes to do five quads, even if he’s buried in the standings.
American Adam Rippon, tongue out, clearly has fun as he competes in the short program
Chen’s fellow American Adam Rippon cheered his own short program, and is now in 7th place overall
Chen, after his short program, watches his scores come up. He seems shocked at how badly he did
He has his work cut out for any chance of a medal on Saturday
‘I’m going to talk to my team and see what the best approach is,’ Chen said. ‘It was just rough. Nothing clicked.’
Chen’s fellow American Adam Rippon finished seventh without attempting a quad in what was otherwise a jumping contest for the men
Rippon and his scintillating artistry helped him overcome the lack of the quad.
‘You know, it was awesome. It felt like a lot of my ups and downs, my hard work, all kind of culminated together in that kind of special Olympic moment,’ said Rippon, who lay flat on his back soaking up applause at the conclusion of his routine.
Rippon and Chen will be back on the ice on Saturday. Chen has his work cut out for him to pull himself up from 17th place.