Chen makes a comeback with an unprecedented 6 quads

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February 17, 2018 5:10 PM

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — After a disastrous showing in the men’s Olympic figure skating short program a day earlier, Nathan Chen of the United States went for broke and attempted six quads in his long program Saturday.

Chen’s unprecedented six quads at the Olympics included a quadruple flip-double toe combination.

The move gave him 215.08 points, enough to win the long program portion of the competition. But his poor showing in the short program kept him off the podium.

Chen, 18, who had been an American hope for a gold, had initially planned to perform five quads, but it was “almost a game-time decision” to add a sixth, he said.

“I knew at that point that I had literally nothing to lose, so I decided just to try it,” Chen said.

Because quad jumps have the highest base values in figure skating, there is a powerful incentive for skaters to try quads in competition even if they are not consistently landing the jumps. Sixteen of the 24 skaters Saturday attempted at least one quad.

Chen performed two more quads than Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who defended his Olympic title, winning his second straight gold medal in the event Saturday. Those extra quads helped Chen earn his best score this season, nearly 9 more points than Hanyu’s 206.17 in the long program.

To maximize points, Chen saved three of his quads, including a quadruple toe combination shown, for the second half of his program.

Any jump done after the halfway point gets a 10 percent bonus, which is a reward to skaters for executing difficult elements when they are tired. Skaters also gain or lose additional points depending on how well a quad is executed.

Chen lost points on a quadruple flip, after he put his hands down on the ice during the landing.

But he still earned 10.07 points for that move, which is nearly 3 points more than the maximum value he would have received for a well-executed triple jump.

While Chen won the long program, Hanyu, 23, got higher marks for artistry. In addition to points for technical elements like quads, skaters also receive marks for the quality of their skating, called the “program components” score. It is measured in categories like skating skills, choreography and musical interpretation.

This is where Hanyu stands apart. The Japanese skater, who is recovering from an ankle injury, scored 9 points higher than Chen on his component score, showing off nearly an entire quad’s worth of hidden advantage.

While Chen did not medal, his gutsy gamble gave him some redemption for his dismal performance a day earlier.

“I’m glad I was able to show myself and show everyone else that I can bounce back from a bad performance,” he said.

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