Nathan Chen won his first gold medal at the Olympics on Thursday after successfully completing five quadruple jumps in a nearly record-setting program in Beijing.
Chen, 22, won gold in the men’s singles figure skating event at the Capital Indoor Stadium in China for his “Rocketman” program, which earned him a total of 332.60 points, according to The Associated Press. His score was just three points off his world record.
Japanese skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
“I never thought I would actually be able to make this happen,” Chen said, The New York Times reported. “It’s hard. It’s always been a dream, of course. It’s a pretty daunting mountain.”
Chen was the final figure skater to perform, making his performance only more suspenseful.
“This still hasn’t sunk in,” Chen said, according to the Times.
Chen is the first American figure skating champion at the Games since Evan Lysacek in 2010, the AP noted.
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US figure skater Nathan Chen wins first gold medal at Olympics https://t.co/QZWHCsgyD8 pic.twitter.com/ib3nOjbp4g
— The Hill (@thehill) February 10, 2022
Long program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDOmL-BQiQFigure skater Nathan Chen on capturing Olympic gold: "It's hard to put into words, you know. A lot of years of work, a lot of people supporting me, I know cliché, but blood, sweat, and tears. I started when I was three years old." https://t.co/QqHb0NFp7M pic.twitter.com/aNlw9GjKCq
— The Hill (@thehill) February 11, 2022
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