It should come as no surprise that 22 year old Nathan Chen ( figure skating) and 21 year old Chloe Kim ( snowboard – halfpipe ) have both scored Olympic Gold for the USA at the Beijing Games.
This is Chen’s first Olympic Gold, with a performance at the men’s long program which was a cut above the rest. For Kim, this is her 2nd straight Gold, so its a pretty great day for a 21 year old. Both are awesome and both are champions. Here is a summary of their wins:
Nathan Chen ( 22) – Figure Skating
- Chen becomes the first American to win a men’s figure skating Gold Medal since Evan Lysacek in 2010;
- His nickname is the “Quad King”;
- Chen opened his long program with a quadruple flip, followed by a triple toe loop. He nailed every jump and move, with a total of five quad jumps, including a quadruple lutz;
- Chen’s score was (332.6);
- The performance placed Chen well at the lead with a score of 218.63, combined with his short program score for a winning total of 332.60;
- Two Japanese figure skaters took the Silver and Bronze Medals – 18 year old Yuma Kagiyama (310.05 points) and Shoma Uno (293 points);
Chloe Kim (21) – Snowboard Halfpipe
- This is Kim’s 2nd straight Olympic Gold Medal with a score of 94 points;
- Kim’s first run included a 1080, a switch 900, a switch backside 540 and another 1080;
- On her second and third runs and with the lead in the best-of-three, Kim tried to go big with a 1260 but fell both times;
- Kim becomes the first woman in history to take back to back Gold in the snowboard halfpipe;
- Kim and freestyle skiing Gold Medalist for China Eileen Gu shared a hug and became Olympic BFFs after Kim’s win;
What a talented pair of Asians, we are so proud of them!~
Images via Olympics website and Twitter