Men's Figure Skating Olympics Results 2014: Analyzing Medal-Winning Performances

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will likely be remembered as a defining moment in the landscape of men's figure skating, as 19-year-old Japanese sensation Yuzuru Hanyu claimed gold over archrival Patrick Chan of Canada, who entered the competition as the three-time reigning world champion.

Although it was sloppy at times, the men's competition still featured some entertaining storylines.

While the Hanyu-Chan battle overshadowed the event, it also served as a big platform for bronze medal-winner Denis Ten of Kazakhstan.

Here's a closer look at the men's figure skating medalists in Sochi. For complete information and results, visit Sochi2014.com.

Gold: Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan

Hanyu made a big statement in the short program to start the competition by becoming the first man to eclipse the 100-point mark with a score of 101.45. While Hanyu entered the Olympics as the world-record holder with his 99.84 mark at the Grand Prix Final in December, he still blew everyone away with his technical precision and bendy body.

Barry Wilner of the Associated Press shared Hanyu's reaction following his record-setting performance.

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"I was so surprised with my score," Hanyu said. "I didn't know I got over 100."

He shouldn't have been, considering the speed, sharpness, entertainment value and total conviction of his skating. He nailed his two biggest jumps, including a huge a quadruple toe loop to open the program, and his triple lutz-triple toe combination was exquisite.

And then the fun began.

He charmed the judges with his facial expressions, staring directly at them with an inviting smile during his intricate steps and turns to "Parisian Walkaways."

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That set up Hanyu with about a four-point lead over Chan heading into Friday's free skating program, where the both skaters struggled. Hanyu was on pins and needles following his routine when he missed two of his first three jumps. Still, he rebounded nicely and put up a score of 178.64, which was enough to fend off Chan.

American figure skating coach Adam Leib broke down Hanyu's free program jump-by-jump for the New York Times in a fascinating article that also features frame-by-frame pictures of Hanyu's jump attempts.

While Hanyu's imperfections on his early quad Salchow and triple flip were noteworthy, his high quality quadruple toe loop and triple Axel-triple toe loop earned high praise from Leib.

With his victory, Hanyu became the youngest men's Olympic champion since 18-year-old American Dick Button won in 1948. Looking ahead to the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, Hanyu appears poised to make a serious run at becoming the first two-time gold-medalist since Button repeated as champ at the 1952 Winter Games.

Silver: Patrick Chan, Canada

Chan's career seemed to be building up entirely to these 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, so it's too bad that he couldn't come away with a gold medal. Still, two silver medals isn't bad, as he also helped Canada earn a runner-up finish in the first-ever team competition in Olympic figure skating.

Following a shaky early triple Axel, Chan regrouped and put together a solid routine, as detailed by Rosie DiManno of The Toronto Star.

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He quickly got his thoughts reorganized and mind focused, to pull out that brilliant quad-triple combo.

“It wasn’t a perfect entrance," Chan said. "That’s where the training kicked in. I still managed a great quad-toe-triple-toe combination.”

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In the end, Chan finished with a stellar score of 97.52, but Hanyu was just too good on Thursday night. Even though he was in second place following the short program, Chan told DiManno he was ecstatic about a 97 at the Olympics and that he was looking forward to seeing how Hanyu would handle the pressure of a lead following the first part of the event.

By the time his turn came around on Friday night for the free routine, Chan had a great chance to bring home the gold. Following Hanyu's mishaps, Chan needed a score of 182.58 to win the gold, about 14 points below his personal record.

Despite the attainable goal, the "Canadian Curse" continued, as Chan became the fifth world champion figure skater from Canada to come up short in the Olympics, per Nick McCarvel of NBC Olympics.

“Today was a difficult day,” said Chan after his performance, per McCarvel. “We all had rough skates. Sometimes it’s who makes the least amount of mistakes. I made one too many mistakes. It’s the Olympics and so maybe that got to me."

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press

Leib also broke down Chan's free routine, which featured two early slip-ups from the 23-year-old that required him to put his hand on the ice, following his stellar quad toe loop-triple toe loop combo to open his skate. Ultimately, Chan's inconsistent program featured too many miscues, as Leib downgraded three of his eight jumps on the evening.

Chan will be 27 when the 2018 Winter Games take place in South Korea, and Hanyu figures to still be in his prime, so it's hard to see Chan ever getting his hands on a gold medal as an individual. He can earn some redemption with a fourth consecutive victory at the World Figure Skating Championship next month in Japan, but the odds look stacked against him as far as Olympic gold medal chances go.

Bronze: Denis Ten, Kazakhstan

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press

While it was expected to see Hanyu and Chan atop the podium upon the completion of the men's event, Ten's presence was something of a surprise, especially after his short program.

Following Thursday's action, Ten was in ninth place after scoring an 84.06 in the short program. But he didn't seem to mind taking on a spectator role before learning of his fate from the judges, per McCarvel's report.

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A seriously good skate came from Denis Ten, who was ninth after the short program, and was the first skater in the third group. The 20 year old from Kazakhstan performed cleanly in his “Young Lady,” free skate, perhaps one of only a handful to do so all evening. He watched from the athlete’s cool-down room as skater after skater hit the ice (literally), eventually being told to put back his costume for the on-ice flower ceremony.

“I root for beautiful figure skating,” Ten told reporters. “I didn’t watch every skate from the beginning to the end, but it was a battle. When you’re on the ice you’re fighting against yourself. It was an interesting event. To me, I enjoyed watching Patrick and Yuzuru. I was wondering who was going to win.”

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In an event where many of the world's top skaters failed to seize the moment, Ten's performance was arguably the most mistake-free. As NBCOlympics.com noted, Ten has done this sort of thing before.

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"Denis skated a very good program and as the night kept going on it became hard to compare to it," laughed his coach Frank Carroll, who has guided a slew of champions including American Evan Lysacek to gold in Vancouver.

In fact, Ten is earning somewhat of a reputation for delivering clean performances as the sport's leading lights crumble under pressure.

In a similarly error-strewn evening at last year's world championship, the little-known Kazakh skater had again provided the evening's shining moment to take silver behind Chan.

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This marked the second Olympics of Ten's career, as he also finished 11th in Vancouver. But following his victory, Ten told reporters he still has bigger things in mind, so look for him to be a force in South Korea in four years.