BEIJING (AP) — Vincent Zhou is missing from the U.S. men’s figure skating team, but Nathan Chen is right on target.
Chen has set the world record during his short program at the Beijing Olympics, scoring 113.97 points. That breaks the previous mark set by longtime rival Yuzuru Hanyu and puts Chen in position to win his long-sought gold medal.
Chen opened with a perfect quad flip, breezed through the triple axel that sometimes gives him problems and drilled a quad lutz-triple toe loop that by itself scored more than 21 points.
His total was more than five points ahead of Yuma Kagiyama, who sits in second place. Hanyu is 20 points off the lead.
Meanwhile, Zhou has tested positive for the coronavirus, and is out of the individual competition.
The 21-year-old had struggled through a poor free skate for the eventual team silver medalists a day before and was due to compete in the individual competition that begins with the men’s short program on Tuesday.
Also at Beijing:
— Vermont native Ryan Cochran-Siegle came away with silver in the men’s Super-G. finishing 0.04 seconds behind Austria’s Matthias (mah-TEE’-uhs) Mayer. Cochran-Siegle’s silver medal came almost 50 years to the day after his mother, Barbara Ann, won gold in the slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Games. Mayer broke Norway’s 16-year grip on the men’s Olympic super-G title when he won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
— Marie-Philip Poulin capped a three-goal run by scoring on a penalty shot with 2:35 left in the second period, helping Canada beat the defending-champion United States. The outcome gives the Canadians the top seed entering the playoff round. Barring a major upset, the two global hockey powers are expected to meet once more in the gold-medal final next week.
— Casey Dawson is finally on his way to the Olympics. The U.S. speedskater tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks ago and had struggled to get the necessary clearance to travel to Beijing. He’s already missed the 5,000 meters, and his late arrival will likely keep him out of Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.
— American-born Eileen Gu of China has captured gold in women’s freestyle big air. Gu cranked out the first 1620 of her career on her final jump, stunning Tess Ledeux of France and earning the first of what she hopes will be three gold medals. She is also a medal favorite in slopestyle and halfpipe.
— The U.S. ski team says American skier Nina O’Brien has sustained a compound fracture of her left tibia and fibula after falling toward the end of the women’s giant slalom. Monday’s race had to be delayed for about 15 minutes when O’Brien slid across the finish line at the end of her second run. She was screaming in pain after stumbling through the last gate as her skis crossed in front of her.
— A second Finland men’s hockey player has been taken to an isolation hotel after testing positive for the coronavirus in Beijing. Goaltender Jussi Olkinuora has joined forward Marko Anttila in isolation. A Finnish Olympic Committee says the two players recovered from COVID-19 last month and tested negative to travel to Beijing.
— Another Russian women’s hockey player has tested positive for the coronavirus after playing against Canada. The forward played against Canada in a game Monday which was delayed because of virus concerns on both teams before the Russians and Canadians agreed to start the game in masks. The Canadians kept their masks on and won 6-1.
