by Peyton Blumenfeld ‘22

It is undeniable that the Winter Olympics are overlooked every four years, overshadowed by the Summer Olympics. It’s hard for skiing to compete for excitement with swimming or speed skating with the 100M in track. However, this year the men’s figure skating competition will surely be one to watch out for, offering as much drama as women’s gymnastics do in the Summer Games. All eyes will be on the fierce competition between Japan’s golden boy and the USA’s rising star. 

Yuzuru Hanyu, one of Japan’s greatest figure skaters of all time, will be shooting for his third consecutive gold medal, which would make him the second man in history and first man in nearly a century to do so. After achieving first in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games in the men’s short program, he became an international icon in ice-skating. However, this year Hanyu has quite the competition. The three-time world champion, Nathan Chen, representing the United States, will be aiming for his first Olympic gold medal. 

Having won the gold in 2018, 2019, and 2021 in the World Figure Skating Championships, Chen has indisputably raised the stakes for Hanyu. This will be Chen’s second Olympic Games, having previously won bronze at the 2018 Pyeong Games in South Korea. Chen also became the first person ever to land five quadruple jumps in a competition at the U.S Figure Skating Championships in 2017.

Hanyu strives for first place, but another goal that he’s had for years is to successfully complete a quadruple axel—four and a half rotations in the air—in competition. If successful, it would make him the first ever to complete one in a competition, let alone the Olympic Games. The Axel is the most difficult of figure skating jumps, so it is also the highest scoring of the quads. It basically is a race against gravity. To rotate that many times in mid-air is seemingly impossible, but Hanyu nearly landed one in December of 2021. He was however downgraded for landing on his two feet. 

Although most of the focus will be on Hanyu due to his status and fan-base, Chen has the chance to gain the spotlight as well, especially amongst American viewers. The men’s short program is to take place February 7 at 8:15p.m ET and the men’s free program at 8:30 p.m ET on February 9, so make sure to tune in for these anticipated events.