Chen sets world record in short program, leaving Kagiyama, Uno, Hanyu behind

Truly a phenomenal program, nothing else to say about it.

Even for people who are avoiding the Olympics for whatever reason, you owe it to yourself to watch this one.

Nathan has phenomenal technical skills. When he doesn't make an error, it is almost a guaranteed gold. I do wish Hanyu could have landed that quad, it would have been fun seeing him compete for a 3 pete. Nonetheless great performance by all and I am going to root for Kagiyama the underdog!

True to form, Hanyu blames it on bad ice

Hanyu blames it on bad ice

If you watch the video you'll understand why - he clearly hit a hole or bump of some sort. He was looking at the takeoff point after he landed. He might have even put that hole himself a few minutes earlier, in training. Pretty unfortunate.

He left the crazy - the downright stunning - on the ice of Beijing's historic Capital Indoor Stadium.

Can anyone translate this?

Valieva scored higher than most men, even though there's a multiplier of 0.8 for ladies.

Congratulations and Great USA set the world record Japan not gonna be happy about losing figure skating as that’s their number one pride. Everyone did a good job and was very impressed with all the figure skaters

I was tempted to make an account and watch some Olympics catch-up on NHK's website as I don't have a TV at home, but the thought of them having my email and IP addresses and then knocking on my door for payment made me say no. The IOC has an iron grip on videos, especially on Youtube, but I think I can wait until they upload them on the official Beijing2022 Youtube channel after the games.

Say, where is that guy from yesterday who was saying China was going to make the judges do some dirty work? Sure, China does that by letting an American take first position and Japanese skaters take 2nd and 3rd! There's been no shady business from the judges, unlike Sochi, and with Hanyu, it was simply a case of déjà Asada vu.

Chen was absolutely stunning! Well deserved points.

Shoma Uno and Yuma Kagiyama were also outstanding. Looking forward to the free skate.

USA and France no gold medals .

Somehow iam not surprised.

Genuinely appreciated Yuzuru Hanyu making the effort to respond in English to live questions from NBC about his troubled first jump — particularly when his English is clearly not perfect. He endeared himself to the viewers. (Shohei Ohtani should be taking notes.)

I make that same expression when I lift my leg up like that, too.

The rookie Kagiyama drew my attention, quite unexpectedly. His SP looked fun and rythmic.

Chen must have given "wow" to audiences.

Congratulations, Nathan. Bad luck, Hanyu, maybe next time.

Hanyu has two problems. Well, two main ones and a bunch of additional ones.

1) He let himself fall in love with his own legend, and has become a diva second only to maybe Shinjo. Blaming it on the ice and saying the ice hates him and what not is incredibly pathetic.

2) He should have retired one of the many times he said he was retiring. Now his reputation is only taking more and more hits, despite the media treating him like a god (until today, when they were strangely silent on his godliness).

And Chen was brilliant.

1) "He let himself fall in love with his own legend, and has become a diva second only to maybe Shinjo."

Smith, that was funny...!

@ebisen Didn't Mr. Chen skate in the same arena? Both skaters skated in the same arena don't blame the ice blame the Chinese!

Hanyu blames it on bad ice

If you watch the video you'll understand why - he clearly hit a hole or bump of some sort. He was looking at the takeoff point after he landed. He might have even put that hole himself a few minutes earlier, in training. Pretty unfortunate.

@Pukey2 Are you serious "LETTING" and American take first place! Hanyu was totally out skated. Mr. Chen put on a great performance. Hanyu may have entered the ice with a chip on his shoulder thinking he was the best, now he is claiming that there was a hole in the ice. Maybe it was that imaginary chip that fell off his shoulder onto the ice that tripped him. No you leave your ego's at home, he didn't come with his A game, he was out skated. If that the case he "LET" the other Japanese skater who took second beat him also!!

China does that by letting an American take first position and Japanese skaters take 2nd and 3rd! There's been no shady business from the judges, unlike Sochi, and with Hanyu, it was simply a case of déjà Asada vu.

kaimycahl:

@Pukey2 Are you serious "LETTING" and American take first place! Hanyu was totally out skated.

Look, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are not a native or fluent speaker of English. If you are, I would suggest you re-read my post again, slowly. Think about it.

Did not watch Hanyu's skate or for that matter the other skaters last night, but watched a repeat of Nathan's skate and it looked fluid and medal worthy. Hopefully, he will get the gold what he dreams of. As for Hanyu's I believe he is reaching the age where it becomes harder to win. I believe he is 27 years old and in figure skating that is getting up there. Also, from what I heard he arrives at least 48 hours prior to an event, I do not think it worked to his advantage given the age of Covid and the requirements China has on athletes to enter their country. That just adds more stress. I believe the athletes who arrive earlier have an advantage to adjust, get a feel of their surroundings, etc. Saying the ice do not like you or something like that is an excuse that does not hold water. Hopefully Hanyu rebounds and puts on a show that will wow us, but I think at this point I will be cheering on Nathan and the other two Japanese skaters who may have a better chance of winning