Nathan Chen sent a message with a nearly flawless first skate of the 2022 Olympics

Nathan Chen wasn’t even done with his final spins and he was already pumping his fist Friday morning in Beijing.

Due to COVID protocols the arena was almost completely empty, the atmosphere mostly dead, but Chen had just turned in a near-flawless short program and even without the roar of the crowd, he was going to celebrate.

“Just feels good,” Chen said. “I’m happy.”

Chen delivered a 111.71, his highest score of the season, to take first in the men’s short program section of the team event. It staked the United States to first overall and set a tone for the night.

The American ice dance rhythm team of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue followed with a first of their own courtesy of a personal-best 86.56. Then Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished third in pairs with a personal-best of 75.00.

It was enough to put the Americans in first place after day one of the competition, just ahead of the Russia and China. It resumes Saturday and Sunday.

“We can walk away with a medal for sure,” Chen said. “What color is hard to say.”

Chen said he isn’t sure if he would take the ice for the US in Sunday’s team free skate or yield to teammate Vincent Zhou. The men’s individual starts Tuesday, but he said he wouldn’t be tired either way.

Make no mistake though, as nice as a team medal would be, Chen is here for individual gold. The team competition was created in 2014 and remains a bit of an after-thought gimmick for the skaters.

It’s why the most notable thing for Chen on Friday was making it clear he is the skater to beat in the individual competition. Gone was any hope that the three-time World Champion from Salt Lake City might not be up for the pressure of the Olympics. He passed his free time by casually throwing a football around and then went out skated strong and confident.

“Feels good to have a short program [in which] I actually skated well at the Olympics,” Chen said.

Four year ago, in South Korea, Chen finished fourth in this same event — men’s short program in the team skate. The U.S. went on to secure a bronze medal, but Chen’s uneven performance portended trouble ahead.

In the men’s individual competition, he finished 17th in the short program. It was a disastrous run that ended any hope of the then-18-year-old of shocking the world. He would perform masterfully two nights later in the men’s free skate, recording an Olympic record 215.08. It was too late though. He finished 12th and vowed to be back and be better.

Well, he’s here. Now 22, a Yale University student and dubbed the Quad King for his ability to leap, spin four times in the air and land smoothly with almost impossible ease. As recently as 2010, you could win an Olympic gold without being able to land a quad. Chen now can stick five in a single program.

Chen has won the last three World championships held (2018, 2019, 2021) and should add an Olympic gold to his collection. Should is a dangerous word in figure skating though. A whole bunch of “shoulds” have shown up at the Games and gone home empty.

He knows from experience. So while he brushed off suggestions that he “exorcised a demon” from past mistakes, it wasn't as if this didn’t mean something.

“You learn the most from your mistakes,” Chen said. “And I certainly learned a lot from that [Olympic] competition. I certainly wouldn't be here without going through that. I think rather than it being a demon, it was a very helpful learning experience.”

These are the Olympics, but these also aren’t the Olympics. There were almost no fans in attendance (just approximately 800). There was little cheering or clapping. The music rattled off the arena walls with poor acoustics. It was more like a bright-light training session than anything else. Bring your own energy.

No matter.

Chen said he’s spent as much time as possible isolated from others in an effort to avoid a positive COVID test that could end his Olympics.

“The only thing is COVID,” Chen said. “That's the main thing on the back of our mind. We can train as hard as we can, but if a test comes out, a test comes out.”

He said he wears a mask everywhere, even on the ice in practice sessions. His interactions are almost solely with teammates. He isn’t going to walk in the Opening Ceremony as he did in South Korea, mostly because he doesn’t want to risk a close contact.

If that is the sacrifice he needs to make, then he’ll make it. He knows the stakes.

“As soon as you touch down, you see the rings in front of you, you go, ‘Oh my God, I'm here,’” Chen said. “That’s already special enough. Then you see them everywhere you skate and you see these really decked out team members in their gear.”

He waited four years to get back under those rings, to get another shot at the short program, to prove himself on the biggest stage in his sport. He’s the best in the world. He knows it. Everyone knows it.

Now he just has to prove it. Step one came Friday in the team event. Nathan Chen is here, and he’s going to be a problem for everyone else.