US Men's Olympic Figure Skating 2018: Short Program Top Scorers, Highlights

Nathan Chen's worst Olympic nightmare came to fruition minutes after the world's best male figure skater dazzled the crowd in Pyeongchang, South Korea, during the men's short program on Thursday.

The 18-year-old succumbed to the pressure of the sport's biggest stage once again, as he earned the worst score of the three Americans competing in the men's individual event.

Chen's disappointing short program, which received a score of 82.27, came directly after defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan recorded a score one point shy of his own world record, per Ice Network on Twitter:

The Salt Lake City native, who was expected to be one of the United States' breakout stars in Pyeongchang, landed in 13th place after his skate, a position that left him behind fellow Americans Adam Rippon and Vincent Zhou, as ESPN's Sam Borden noted:

After the conclusion of the short program, Chen sits in 17th place, which means he won't be a part of the final two skating groups for Friday's free skate.

Thursday's performance from Chen, which became hard to watch at times due to the heavy emotion involved, produced one of the lowest scores he's received for a short program, with the other coming in the team event last week, per Olympic Talk's Nick Zaccardi:

Chen sounded as shocked as everyone watching in the crowd and back at home when he talked to reporters after his short program, per Nick McCarvel of NBCOlympics.com:

The U.S. champion admitted he's never been in this position before and that he'll figure out his plan for the free skate with his team, per Chris Kamrani of the Salt Lake Tribune:

Before Chen took the ice, Thursday was a successful night for Rippon and Zhou, who both skated without the pressure the teenager had because they weren't expected to be in medal contention.

Although he didn't make a mark on the final standings, Rippon again won the audience over with his dynamic personality.

The 28-year-old delivered plenty of flair throughout his performance, but he failed to match the leaders due to the lack of a quad in his program.

The social media darling of the 2018 Winter Olympics stole our attention during his post-skate interview with NBC's Andrea Joyce.

With celebrities ranging from Reese Witherspoon to Elmo chiming in about his performance in the free skate portion of the team event, Rippon rated his excitement level about participating in the Olympics somewhere between the two at the level of actress Meryl Streep, per NBC Olympics on Twitter:

"On the spectrum from Reese Witherspoon to Elmo, I'm excited at about a Meryl Streep," Rippon told NBC. "Does that make sense?"

Rippon finished in seventh place right behind a collection of medal contenders, who will skate before him on Friday.

With nothing to lose on Friday, the 28-year-old could deliver the performance of a lifetime and end up on the outskirts of the medal positions.

Zhou made an early impact on the competition as the third skater on the ice at Gangneung Ice Arena.

The 17-year-old landed the first quadruple lutz at the Winter Olympics during his short program, which garnered a personal-best score of 84.53, per U.S. Figure Skating on Twitter:

Zhou finished the short program in 12th place, which means he'll compete in the penultimate skating group on Friday.

Entering Friday's free skate, Hanyu is the leader, with Spain's Javier Fernandez sitting in second, four points behind the Japanese star.

Japan's Shoma Uno is in third place with a score of 104.17, while Jin Boyang of China is fourth following his 103.32 in the short program.

In order to medal in the men's competition, Chen must beat each of the skaters ahead of him by more than 20 points, which is an impossible task given the collective skill of those at the top of the leaderboard.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Olympic.org.