US Men's Figure Skating Olympics 2018: Picking Medal Winners Among Top Favorites
The United States men's figure skating team has brought us Olympic greats like Dick Button, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano and Evan Lysacek in past years, and a new name could be added to the list of gold medalists in 2018.
Nathan Chen is the United States' top contender in the men's event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which begins on Friday, February 16, with the short program.
The 18-year-old from Salt Lake City, has an opportunity to hone his short program on Thursday during the first portion of the team event.
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After his skate on Thursday, Chen will shift his focus solely to the men's competition, an event that was last captured by an American in 2010 by Lysacek.
Although Chen is the top American gold-medal hopeful in men's figure skating, he'll be going up against stiff competition during the first full week of the Olympics.
Here's a look at all of the medal favorites in the men's individual competition.
Predictions
Gold: Nathan Chen
You're going to hear a lot about Chen and his quad jumps in the buildup to the men's singles competition.
Before he takes the ice for his individual competition, we highly recommend you take a glance at his short program during Thursday's team event.
If he executes all the intricacies of his routine, Chen should be set up for success next week with a boost of confidence, as if he needs anymore after capturing the national crown in January.
Since ending last season with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships, Chen has been on fire with five victories under his belt since October.
Chen defeated Japan's Shoma Uno by less than a point at the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan, a week after he captured the title at Skate America in Lake Placid, New York.
However, the one missing component from both of those key victories was the presence of defending Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu, who was out with an ankle injury.
Hanyu will be ready to go for the Olympics, but he's missing out on the team event in order to avoid any injuries before his gold-medal defense begins next Friday.
Even with Hanyu in the field in South Korea, Chen has all the confidence in the world at the moment, and he will be hard to beat—like he has been all season.
Silver: Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan
No skater has a resume that stacks up against Hanyu's in the men's field in Pyeongchang.
The 23-year-old is a two-time gold medalist at the World Championships, a four-time Grand Prix Final champion and the defending champion at the Olympics.
If that wasn't good enough to impress you, he's also placed second on two occasions at the World Championships in between his victories in 2014 and 2017.
Hanyu, who missed some of the season due to an ankle injury, is vying to become the first repeat champion in men's figure skating since Dick Button of the United States took home gold in 1948 and 1952.
If he defends his gold medal, Hanyu would be the fourth men's figure skater to ever repeat as champion at the Olympics. The other two occurrences happened in 1920, 1924 and 1928 with Sweden's Gillis Grafstrom and in 1932 and 1936 with Austria's Karl Schafer.
Not only is Hanyu looking to join illustrious company in Olympic history, he's trying to become the second skater since Button to place in the top three four years after an Olympic victory. Russia's Evgeni Plushenko took silver in 2010 after capturing the top spot on the podium in 2006.
Although Hanyu has the credentials to defend his gold, he'll be a bit rusty from his injury layoff and will score slightly lower than Chen.
Bronze: Shoma Uno, Japan
Japan will become the first country since Russia in 2002 to place a pair of male figure skaters on the medal podium.
Uno may get lost in the noise surrounding Hanyu, but he is a terrific skater in his own right.
The 20-year-old took silver at the Four Continents behind China's Jin Boyang, who is considered one of the other medal favorites, and second place at the Grand Prix Final, which was won by Chen.
In addition to his pair of recent silver medals, Uno captured gold at Skate Canada in October at the start of the Grand Prix season.
The second-place finisher at the 2017 World Championships has the routines and skill capable of challenging Chen and Hanyu, but he will come up just short of the top two positions in the standings.
Although there's a wide array of contenders for bronze, including Canada's Patrick Chan and Boyang, Uno won't have to worry too much about them.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ISU.org.
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