Nathan Chen Sets a New Figure Skating World Record

After having a less-than-stellar showing in PyeongChang four years ago, American figure skater Nathan Chen's redemption arc is off to a strong start having just received the highest-ever score in the men's short program. Shattering the previous world record, Chen scored 113.97 points for his program giving him a five-point lead heading into Thursday's long program.

One of the most dominant figure skaters competing in the sport today, having gone undefeated in 10 consecutive individual championships since 2018, Chen's record-setting performance comes as a poetic victory after placing 17th in the same event in PyeongChang. Chen would go on to pull himself up to fifth place with a strong long program and, later, a record-setting free skate but it unfortunately ended up not being enough to shake his disastrous start.

Pulling off multiple quadruple jumps and executing a virtually flawless routine, Chen was clearly excited to have finally overcoming the ghosts of his past, finishing his routine with a celebratory fist pump. In a reversal of fortune, Chen's biggest competition and other heavy medal favorite, two-time gold winner Yuzuru Hanyu, is currently trailing in eighth after scoring a 95.15 for an error-filled short program.

“I feel elated,” Chen told NBC. “Last Olympics, both programs didn’t go the way that I wanted. To finally get an opportunity to skate the program to the way that I wanted, it feels really great. Means a lot.”

Photo via Getty/ David Ramos