Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Nathan Chen Wins Long-Awaited Skating Gold As Yuzuru Hanyu Is Dethroned

Nathan Chen said "he never thought he'd be able to make it this far" as he won Olympic figure skating gold in Beijing on Thursday, easily beating defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu, who fell twice and finished fourth. The American three-time world champion finally claimed the only major prize that had eluded him with his overall score of 332.60, more than 20 points ahead of his nearest challenger. Chen held his nerve to score 218.63 in his free programme, building on his record-breaking short programme score from Tuesday to win gold from 18-year-old Yuma Kagiyama. Another Japanese skater, Shoma Uno, took bronze.

"I never really thought that I'd be able to make it this far in my career," said the 22-year-old Chen.

"I'd always of course dreamed about making the Olympics and winning the Olympics, but I was like... I don't know if I can make that happen. I haven't really had time to process fully, but it's amazing so far."

Skating to "Rocket Man" by Elton John, Chen lived up to his nickname "Quad King" in a routine in which he landed five quadruple jumps, to rapturous cheers from the crowd.

After his last jump -- which later he said he had "almost tripped on" -- he broke into a hip-hop-like dance choreography, clearly enjoying himself.

"This programme, no matter what, is always fun for me to skate," he said afterwards.

As the music died, he dropped his head back in relief.

Japanese icon Hanyu, chasing a third gold in a row and looking to cement his status as one of the best skaters of all time, had a shaky start in the short programme and saw any chance of gold vanish as he fell twice in his second routine.

His free programme score of 188.06 was far short of his all-time best of 212.99.

"I think I did everything I could," said