The men’s single skating competition took place this week in Beijing and it was an event full of beautiful artistry and powerful skating. The short program commenced on Tuesday, February 8th where the top 24 of 29 skaters would move on to Thursday’s free skate. At the conclusion of the short program, Nathan Chen of the United States sat in first place with a score of 113.97, followed by Japan’s Kagiyama Yuma in second, and Uno Shoma also from Japan in third. Canada’s Keegan Messing, after arriving in Beijing over a week late due to a positive COVID test, was in a respectable ninth place at the end of the short program.
Heading into the free skate, Chen was a favorite to win the gold medal, although he faced some stiff competition from other skaters. Hanyu Yuzuru was the men’s single skating champion at Pyeongchang in 2018 and Uno Shoma was the silver medalist at that same Olympics. As well, Japan’s Kagiyama Yuma, at just 18 years old, won the silver medal at the 2021 World Championships, making him another strong contender to watch. Thursday saw some fantastic skating from many athletes, but ultimately Chen performed a stellar program and easily took home the gold with a total score of 332.60. His program was truly a joy to watch both technically and artistically.
Following Chen was Kagiyama who earned a silver medal. The difference in score between the two athletes was significant with Kagiyama scoring 310.05 points. The bronze went to Uno Shoma. Messing placed 11th overall and earned 265.61 points in total. The next event scheduled for figure skating is the Ice Dance on Saturday, February 12th and it is sure to also be an exciting competition. Check back with Unbenched for more Olympic coverage as the events unfold.
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