American figure skating champion Nathan Chen
Credit: © Mladen Antonov, Getty Images

American figure skater Nathan Chen clinched his highly anticipated and long-awaited first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The men’s figure skating event is decided by combining scores from the short and long programs. At the 2022 Games, Chen set a world record in the men’s short program with a score of 113.97. The previous record was set by Japan’s Olympian Yuzuru Hanyu, with 111.82 in 2020. Chen has been gunning for gold since his last Olympic performance, in which Hanyu took gold at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Chen was a member of the United States team that won a bronze medal in team figure skating at the 2018 Games. Chen finished fifth in the men’s figure skating event at the 2018 Games, while cementing his nickname, the “Quad King.” He made Olympic history by becoming the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in one program. In a quadruple jump, the skater jumps and makes four full revolutions in the air.

Chen won the men’s World Figure Skating Championship sponsored by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The ISU is the governing body of international figure skating. Chen also won the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Grand Prix, organized by the ISU, includes six international figure skating events leading to a Final competition for the top skaters.

Chen won six U.S. Figure Skating Championships (also called the nationals, or U.S. Championships), consecutively from 2017 to 2022. U.S. Skating is the national governing body of figure skating in the United States. The organization sponsors competition at many levels, including novice, junior, and senior competitions that lead to national titles. During the U.S. nationals in 2017, Chen became the first skater to land five quadruple jumps in one program.

Chen was born on May 5, 1999, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents emigrated from China to the United States in 1988. Chen began skating at the age of three. He entered his first figure skating competition in 2003, at the age of four. Chen won the national novice title at the U.S. Championships in 2010, the youngest novice champion in the history of U.S. Figure Skating. For the 2011-2012 season, Chen moved up to the junior level and won the junior men’s title in 2012. He won the bronze medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He won the gold medal in the Final of the 2015 Junior Grand Prix.

February 27, 2018

Two days ago on Sunday, February 25, the Winter Olympic Games closed in South Korea after featuring more events than any previous winter games—102 to be exact. Four new events were introduced: a mixed team event for alpine skiing, curling mixed doubles, snowboarding’s big air, and a mass start for speed skating. Norwegians showed the rest of the world their prowess with 39 medals, and they tied Germany for the most gold medals (14). Germany had 31 total medals, Canada was third with 29, and the United States was fourth with 23.

U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim celebrates victory in the women’s snowboard halfpipe at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Credit: © Leonard Zhukovsky, Shutterstock

The United States earned unexpected gold medals in women’s hockey, women’s cross-country skiing, and men’s curling. The women earned Team USA’s first Olympic gold medal in hockey in 20 years by beating the dominant Canadian team in a shoot-out. Cross-country skiers Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first American women to ever medal in their discipline, much less to take home the gold in the team sprint freestyle event. The men’s curling team brought the United States its first curling Olympic gold medal.

Alpine skiing had everyone’s attention with U.S. ladies Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. Shiffrin won a gold in the women’s giant slalom and took home a silver in the women’s combined. Vonn missed the podium on the Super-G but came back for a bronze in the downhill event, making her the oldest woman (at age 33) to medal in alpine skiing at the winter games. Team USA’s Nick Goepper earned a silver in men’s freestyle skiing in the slopestyle event. In an exciting bobsled final run, the two-woman U.S. team Lauren Gibbs and Elana Meyers Taylor finished second for the silver. John Henry Krueger earned his silver in short-track speed-skating in the men’s 1000-meter race, the first individual U.S. speed skating medal in 8 years. U.S. freestyle skier Brita Sigourney brought home bronze in the women’s halfpipe.

The symbol ‘ㅍ’ represents the first consonant of the first syllable of PyeongChang in the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, and expresses the harmony of Heaven, Earth and Man. ‘ㅊ’ depicts the first Korean consonant of the second syllable of PyeongChang in Hangeul, and represents snow, ice, and winter sports stars (athletes). Credit: © Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018

Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen became the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time at Pyeongchang. Ladies figure skating rivals and teammates Alina Zagitova and Yevgenia Medvedeva battled for the gold. Both skaters are Olympic Athletes from Russia. Medvedeva had been undefeated in competition from November 2015 until January 2018. She broke her own world record with two captivating Olympic performances, only to have it broken minutes later by Zagitova. Medvedeva won the silver, and Zagitova took the gold in a scarlet tutu.

February 22, 2018

The second exciting week at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang has had figure skating fans on the edges of their seats. German pairs team Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, Japanese men’s skater Yuzuru Hanyu, and Canadian ice dance team Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir all took gold after tough competitions on the ice. During the contests, United States men’s skater Nathan Chen became the first person to land five clean quadruple jumps (four rotations in mid-air) in a single Olympic program (it would have been six, but Chen’s hand touched the ice for balance after one of the jumps).

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform their short program during the ice dancing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena in South Korea on Feb. 19, 2018. Credit: © Valery Sharifulin, Getty Images

To break it down, pairs is an event with a male skater and a female skater. They do jumps, spins, and lifts. Ice dance is an event with a male skater and female skater, too. They do challenging patterns, lifts (with restrictions), and spins. Men and women also do solo performances with jumps, spins, and footwork. Each couple or individual performs two programs (performances), one short and one long—also called a “free” program. The points earned in both programs add up to the total score.

Prior to winning gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics, German skater Savchenko had competed in four Olympics (three for Germany, one for Ukraine), but never won gold. In 2014 (after winning bronze at the Sochi Olympics), she paired with French-born Bruno Massot, who became a German citizen to skate with Savchenko. The pair earned medals at two world championships before taking gold in Pyeongchang. It is the third Olympics for Canadian fan favorites Virtue and Moir. They took gold in Vancouver in 2010 and silver at Sochi in 2014. In 2018, Virtue and Moir earned the highest score ever recorded for a short dance program (beating their own record) as well as another record for overall points.

Soohorang (left), the official mascot of the 2018 Winter Olympics, is a white tiger. Bandabi (right), mascot of the Paralympics, is an Asiatic black bear. Credit: © Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018

Japanese skaters took first and second in the men’s solo event. In winning gold this year, Yuzuru Hanyu repeated his achievement from the 2014 games, becoming the first men’s back-to-back Olympic champion since Team USA’s Dick Button did it in the 1948 and 1952 winter games. Hanyu’s teammate Shoma Uno took second, and Javier Fernandez earned Spain’s first-ever Olympic figure skating medal by winning bronze. U.S. skater Nathan Chen recovered from a rocky short program to dazzle with quadruple jumps in his long program and finish fifth overall.

The popularity of ice dancing in the United States increased after Meryl Davis and Charlie White became the first Americans to win gold in the event in 2014. In 2018, Team USA’s Maia and Alex Shibutani, a brother-sister duo dubbed the “Shib Sibs,” won bronze behind Canada’s Virtue and Moir and silver medalists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France. The first Olympic medals in ice dancing were awarded in 1976 at the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria.

February 18, 2014

Despite fierce competition from Canadian and Russian figure skaters, Meryl Davis and Charlie White became the first Americans to win a gold medal in ice dancing. Ice dancing combines skating with ballroom dancing. The two University of Michigan students captured the top prize at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with their energetic and fluid performance to the music Scheherazade (1888) by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Davis and White had led going into the free dance part of the competition, after the compulsory dance and original dance segments. In all, White and Davis earned the highest point total ever in ice dancing. The two have been skating together for 17 years.

The official flag of the International Olympic Committee displays the Olympic symbol. The symbol consists of five interlocking rings that represent Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. (World Book illustration)