NATHAN CHEN LEADS AFTER MEN’S SHORT PROGRAM IN BEIJING

Nathan Chen is in first place and Jason Brown is sixth following the men’s short program on Tuesday morning at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Chen broke his international-best score for the second time in Beijing with a score of

113.97 (he scored 111.71 in the team event short program). His “La Boheme” program broke the world record score by over two points.

“It means a lot to have the opportunity to come back to an Olympics and have the opportunity to do short programs and have both go as well as I could have hoped,” Chen said. “It means a lot to me and I’m very happy.”  

Brown made his Beijing Olympics debut on Tuesday with a solid performance to “Sinnerman.” His personal best 97.24-point short program featured a triple flip and triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. He earned Level 4 on all his spins and his step sequence.

“It has been an eight-year buildup of getting back to this point, and just every single day trying to find that belief in myself and believe that I can do it,” Brown said. “It was such an incredible moment.”

Vincent Zhou, who earned a silver medal in the team event, withdrew from the individual men’s event after testing positive for COVID-19.

Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama is currently second with 108.12 points. Shoma Uno, also representing Japan, is in third with 105.90 points.

The men’s competition concludes with the free skate on Thursday, Feb. 10, beginning at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. ET Feb. 9). Fans can follow along on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone Competition Central