Who Won The Men’S Ice Skating 2018

Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, figure skating’s biggest star, completed a dramatic comeback from injury in the most satisfying way imaginable, defending his Olympic gold medal to become the sport’s first two-time men’s champion at the Winter Games since Dick Button of the United States in 1948 and 1952.

Skating third-to-last behind deafening support that amounted to a home-ice advantage, Hanyu finished with an overall score of 317.85 in his first competition in four months after suffering a right ankle injury that prompted questions over his fitness entering the Olympics.

Those doubts proved unfounded as the 23-year-old landed two quadruple jumps and all of his combination jumps in the back half of his program, where skaters are awarded additional points as an incentive for performing through fatigue. While the two-time world champion’s performance was not as flawless as the short program that earned him an Olympic-record score of 111.68, it was more than enough to capture gold.

“I just had to do what I could do,” Hanyu said. “My injuries were more severe than I thought and I could not practice as much as I wanted to. If you are a protagonist of a comic cartoon then the setting has been made. Now I have been cheered by so many people. I really am in bliss.”

Shoma Uno, Hanyu’s Japanese team-mate, took the silver with a score of 306.90 while Spain’s Javier Hernandez won his country’s first ever medal in figure skating with a tally of 305.24.

Nathan Chen, the two-time US national champion, rebounded from a nightmarish short program that left him in 17th place with a redemptive free skate that earned the highest marks of the afternoon, improbably pulling himself back into medal contention before finishing in fifth overall.

The 18-year-old from Salt Lake City landed five quadruple jumps cleanly and attempted a sixth, which he earned full points for despite putting a hand down on the landing. His free-skate score of 215.08 was a personal best by more than 11 points and nearly eight points better than Hanyu’s.

“I think honestly putting down a rough short program, and being so low in the placement just took the pressure away from me,” Chen said. “I no longer felt like I was striving for that first-place spot. It mostly was just me being out on the ice an enjoying myself, playing to the crowd and really soaking in the Olympic experience.

“I was able to completely enjoy myself out on the ice and getting rid of expectations helped a lot.”

Chen, who had not lost a competition all season until this week, admitted succumbing to the pressure that had built in the run-up to Pyeongchang as he emerged as a gold medal favorite and one of the centerpieces of NBC’s Olympics promotional push.

“I mean, as much as I tried to deny it, I did feel the pressure a lot. I think that tightened me up and made me super cautious out there and that’s not the right way to skate.”

Chen led the way on a day when all three Americans skated cleanly to place inside the top 10. Emerging teenager Vincent Zhou finished sixth while 28-year-old debutant Adam Rippon finished 10th, though it marked the first time the Olympic men’s figure skating podium featured zero North Americans since 1972.

The immensely popular Hanyu – 羽生くん was the top trending topic on Twitter worldwide during Saturday’s competition and hours afterward – becomes the fourth men’s skater in Olympic history to win back-to-back Olympic golds after Button, Austria’s Karl Schafer (1932 and 1936) and Sweden’s Gillis Grafström (1920, 1924 and 1928).

“This is the best day of my skating life,” he said. “My tears were from my heart. I can find one word and that is happy.”

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Nathan Chen of the United States put together the most impressive free skate of the day at the 2018 Winter Olympics, with several brilliant quad jumps in his routine. He was in first place for a long time, but ultimately was pushed out of the podium spots by Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, Shoma Uno of Japan and Javier Fernandez of Spain, who took gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Chen struggled in the short program previously, which hurt his potential to finish with a medal. His free skate was incredible, but it just wasn’t enough to give him the win.

Below, you can find the full play-by-play from our live results of the free skate, and below that, a full list of results.

Free skate results, fourth group of six

The fourth group started with a very strong run from Dmitri Aliev of the Olympic Athletes from Russia. His score of 267.51 moved him high up the leaderboard. Then it was onto Jin Boyang of China, who managed a 194.45, for a total score of 297.77, unseating Chen for the lead!

Patrick Chan of Canada, one of the most decorated figure skaters of all time, had a very nice final run, including a quad toeloop into a double toeloop to start his routine. His total score of 263.43 placed him in sixth overall.

Yuzuru Hanyu, defending his gold medal from Sochi and clear winner in the short program, started with a perfect quad salchow and then a quad toeloop that was equally perfect. A quad salchow into a triple toe was his sixth move of the program. He stumbled on his next quad toeloop, and his final jump, a triple lutz, he barely managed to stay on his feet.

Hanyu’s free skate score of 206.17 put him in first with a total of 317.85, pushing Boyang to second and Chen, the American, to third.

Javier Fernandez of Spain was next, going for his country’s fourth ever medal at the Winter Olympics, and its first in figure skating. He had a beautiful run, finishing with a free skate score of 197.66, and a total score of 305.24. That pushed Chen off the podium.

Shoma Uno of Japan was last to go, with a decent chance at making the podium. his score of 202.73 gave him a 306.90, giving him the silver medal.

Free skate results, third group of six

Vincent Zhou of the United States started his routine with a perfect quadruple lux into a triple toeloop. He then attempted a quad flip, but came up short on sticking the landing, drawing just 9.90 points for it. He did nail the quad Salchow right after that, however.

Zhou finished his run with a score of 192.16, with an 84.53 in the short program the previous day, for a total of 276.69, good for second place behind Chen.

Adam Rippon, also of the United States, put together a triple axel into a pair of double toeloops. Another triple axel followed, then a triple flip into a triple toeloop, and a triple salchow, then a triple lux to end the jumps. His spins at the end of the routine were very good. His total score was a 259.36, good for fourth place at the time.

Mikhail Kolyada, an Olympic Athlete of Russia, scored a total of 264.25, which put him in third going into the final group of six.

Free skate results, second group of six

The next group of six got underway with Oleksii Bychenko of Israel, and he unseated Tanaka for first. His countryman, Danel Samohin, posted a 251.44 total to take over second place. Then it was Nathan Chen of the United States.

Chen started with a quadruple lutz, then a quad flip double toeloop, a very strong start to his routine. A quad flip and a pair of quad toeloops gave way to the quad salchow, giving him all five of his of quad jumps. Chen’s short program was a disappointment, but his free skate was beautiful. He posted a free skate score of 215.08, giving him a 297.35 overall, easily in first place for the time being.

After Chen, the best run of the second group came from Cha Jun-hwan, who posted a 248.59.

Free skate results, first group of six

Dennis Vasiljevs of Latvia will be in first place to start, but he had two falls, so he will be bumped fairly quickly. Matteo Rizzo of Italy was up next, and it was a strong Olympic debut, with a free skate score of 156.78, but a total of 232.41 that put him in second place overall. Paul Fentz of Germany came out and skated to Game of Thrones, but placed in third. Vasiljevs wasn’t displaced until Keiji Tanaka of Japan, who posted a total score of 244.83 with a free skate run of 164.78. Finally, Moris Kvitelashvili of Georgia posted a score of 204.57 to end the first group.

Before Saturday’s free skate

On Friday evening, the gold, silver and bronze medals in men’s figure skating will be won and lost at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The free skate, known by many as the long program, is the second part of the competition following the short program held on Friday.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, Javier Fernandez of Spain and Shoma Uno of Japan are the leaders after the short program, while three Americans did well enough to qualify for the free skate. The competition begins at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, with live streaming via NBC Olympics and FuboTV.

We’re going to have live coverage of the event, which will feature 24 skaters, including Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Adam Rippon of the United States. Earning a medal is going to be tough, though, as the highest-rated of the group is Rippon at No. 7 overall following the short program.

The free skate is called the “long program” because it lasts four minutes, 30 seconds, and is very taxing on the body. The men’s event is now generally focused on one thing, primarily: quadruple jumps. The quad jump is exactly what it sounds like — four rotations in the air, landing on one foot. It’s the skating or snowboarding equivalent of a 1440.

The way the judging has been going at these Olympics, pulling off multiple quad jumps, especially late in the program, is the way to go. Chen is a master of multiple quad jumps, but fell on a quad lutz, and nearly fell on a triple axel in his short program. He is in 17th place with no hope for a medal, lest the rest of the field is stricken with the flu.

Chen was a gold medal favorite, so that hurts the United States quite a bit. Rippon had a brilliant performance with no mistakes in the short program, but he did not attempt any quad jumps, so even though people ahead of him actually fell down and had sloppy runs, the difficulty modifier in the scoring have them ahead of him. Rippon is going to need some help to make it onto the podium.

Date: Feb. 16, 2018

Event: Men’s free skate

TV: NBC

Time: 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET (primetime coverage)

Ladies Figure Skating Total score (Free skate score) 1. Alina Zagitova, OAR – 239.57 (156.65) 2. Evgenia Medvedeva, OAR – 238.26 (156.65) 3. Kaetlyn Osmond, CAN – 231.02 (152.15) 4. Satoko Miyahara, JPN – 222.38 (146.44) 5. Carolina Kostner, ITA – 212.44 (139.29) 6. Kaori Sakamoto, JPN – 209.71 (136.53) 7. Dabin Choi, KOR – 199.26 (131.49) 8. Maria Sotskova, OAR – 198.10 (134.24) 9. Bradie Tennell, USA – 192.35 (128.34) 10. Mirai Nagasu, USA – 186.54 (119.61) 11. Karen Chen, USA – 185.65 (119.75) 12. Elizabet Tursynbaeva, KAZ – 177.12 (118.30) 13. Hanul Kim, KOR – 175.71 (121.38) 14. Nicole Rajicova, SVK – 175.19 (114.60) 15. Gabrielle Daleman CAN – 172.56 (103.56)

The American brother-and-sister team of Maia and Alex Shibutani may command the future of the sport. They finished 10th in the event in Sochi in 2014 and improved all the way to third in Pyeongchang.

Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou of the United States finished fifth and sixth, respectively, and fellow American Adam Rippon had a strong performance and finished 10th.

Medvedeva was attempting to come all the way back from a foot injury as well as the deficit she faced at the end of the short program, and while she came close, she was unable to close the gap on Zagitova.

The two rivals and countrywomen hugged emotionally after the final scores were announced, but it was clear that the older Medvedeva was clearly disappointed by coming in second.

“I mean, as much as I tried to deny it, I did feel the pressure a lot. I think that tightened me up and made me super cautious out there and that’s not the right way to skate.”

Chen led the way on a day when all three Americans skated cleanly to place inside the top 10. Emerging teenager Vincent Zhou finished sixth while 28-year-old debutant Adam Rippon finished 10th, though it marked the first time the Olympic men’s figure skating podium featured zero North Americans since 1972.

Skating third-to-last behind deafening support that amounted to a home-ice advantage, Hanyu finished with an overall score of 317.85 in his first competition in four months after suffering a right ankle injury that prompted questions over his fitness entering the Olympics.

Nathan Chen, the two-time US national champion, rebounded from a nightmarish short program that left him in 17th place with a redemptive free skate that earned the highest marks of the afternoon, improbably pulling himself back into medal contention before finishing in fifth overall.

“I just had to do what I could do,” Hanyu said. “My injuries were more severe than I thought and I could not practice as much as I wanted to. If you are a protagonist of a comic cartoon then the setting has been made. Now I have been cheered by so many people. I really am in bliss.”

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