Congratulations are in order to Team USA’s Chloe Kim and Nathan Chen for winning gold medals on Thursday in their respective events.
Kim won the women’s snowboard halfpipe, defending her 2018 win in Pyeongchang. She is the first woman to win back-to-back golds in the snowboard halfpipe.
The 21-year-old received her best score on her first of three runs with a score of 94.00, edging out Spain’s Queralt Castellet and Japan’s Sena Tomita, who came in second and third place, respectively.
Kim has now won Team USA’s second gold medal at Beijing, with the first coming from another snowboarder, Lindsay Jacobellis, who won the women’s snowboard cross final on Wednesday.
In Pyeongchang, Kim became the youngest woman to win the snowboard halfpipe when she won the gold medal at the age of 17.
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Next up was Nathan Chen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the men’s free skate final. The anticipation was building as Chen, who received the best score in the short program on Tuesday, was the final skater in the event.
With much riding on his shoulders, the 22-year-old performed knowing he was favored to win and that he would become the third Olympian to nab a gold medal for his country.
Skating and dancing to a poignant medley of Elton John songs, Chen’s routine on ice was nearly faultless. At the start of the games, Chen looked to redeem himself after placing fifth overall in the men’s singles in Pyeongchang when he was 18.
After his skate, he was awarded a score of 332.60, combined from his 113.97 short program score and 218.63 free skate score. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Yuzuru Hanyu scored 310.05 and 283.21, respectively, taking second and third place.
Last week, he kicked off the figure skating team events in the men’s single skate by taking the number-one spot after his nearly flawless performance, scoring a personal best of 111.71.
With both Kim and Chen’s gold medals, the U.S. currently has three gold medals under its belt so far at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
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