US Men's Olympic Figure Skating 2018: Updated Top Scorers for Team USA

Nathan Chen ended his 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics figure skating men's singles campaign on a high, attempting a historic six quad jumps on his way to the best score in the free skate and a fifth-placed finish.

His excellent performance saw him finish the free skate with the top score of 215.08, moving him from 17th to just outside of the medal places. He finished in fifth, to the delight of U.S. Olympic Team:

It was redemption for the 18-year-old, who added the sixth quad to his program without telling his coach and finally showed the world his true talent after two disappointing short programs. While Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan made history by defending his gold medal, it was Chen who had people taking afterwards.

That included silver medalist Shoma Uno, per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times:

Chen's great free skate saw him finish as the best American skater, one spot ahead of Vincent Zhou. The 17-year-old also had a good outing on Saturday, scoring 192.16 to bring his total to 276.69 points. Chen finished with 297.35 points―only the three medalists cracked 300.

All three American skaters finished inside the top 10, with Adam Rippon bagging a final score of 259.36 and 10th place.

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Chen's unlikely run left him in medal contention until the death, when China's Jin Boyang pushed him out of the top spot and Spain's Javier Fernandez completed the podium.

Explaining his decision to add the sixth quad, Chen told reporters his poor showing in the short program left him free of nerves for the final session, per NBC DFW:

Zhou kicked off his program with a bang, landing a quad lutz and triple toe loop combination to set the tone. He attempted five quad jumps, and while not all connected, a fine run in the middle of his program earned him a score of 192.16―enough to see him past Russian starlet Dmitri Aliev.

NBC Olympics loved his program:

In comparison, Rippon's program was rather modest, as he didn't attempt a single quad jump. His execution was nearly perfect, however, earning him high marks for his components.

Chen and Zhou may have soared past the 28-year-old as a result of his conservative program, but a 10th-placed finish is nothing to scoff at in such a strong field. It was a solid showing from the American men in the free program, even if it didn't result in medals.

All scores are courtesy of Olympic.org.