Figure skating: Rocket man Chen wins men’s singles gold in Beijing

Nathan Chen of the United States claimed his maiden Olympic title when he won the gold medal in the men’s singles with a dazzling free skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday (Feb 10).

The 22-year-old, who went home empty-handed after a meltdown in Pyeongchang four years ago, scored 218.63 in the free skating performing to Rocket Man by Elton John. That added to his world-record in the short programme for a total of 332.60.

Yuma Kagiyama (310.05) was second and fellow Japanese Shoma Uno (293.00) ended up third.

Yuzuru Hanyu, who was hoping to win the event for the third time in a row, finished fourth on 283.21 after the Japanese skater dropped out of title contention in the short programme.