Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu attends a training session on Monday. (Bernat Armangue/AP)Favorites in the men’s short program — American Nathan Chen and Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu — begin their Beijing 2022 skate campaigns today in the Capital Indoor Stadium.Hanyu, 27, is hoping to make history in Beijing by attempting the quadruple axel — a jump that has never been done at the Olympics, or elsewhere. The reigning two-time Olympic men’s singles champion, who won successive golds at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018, is also aiming for a third gold.It’s a feat not achieved in men’s figure skating since the 1920s. American Nathan Chen competes in the team figure-skating event on February 4. (Mao Jianjun/China News Service/Getty Images)His main rival, Nathan Chen, 23, is the three-time world title holder — claiming victory in 2018, 2019 and 2021. He left Pyeongchang 2018 disappointed following a fifth-place finish in the individual event. Since then, Chen embarked on a three-year international winning streak that ended with a third-place finish at Skate America in Las Vegas last October.He arrives in Beijing as the favorite despite the presence of Hanyu.Yet for Chen, to compete against his “idol” is nothing but a privilege.”He’s done so much for the sport, both with himself and then all the things that he’s done outside of the rink — I think he’s just really changed the sport for the better,” Chen said.
“Just to be able to have opportunities to compete against him, to be on the same ice as him, is an honor in itself.