Nathan Chen, 22, nailed his final performance in the Winter Olympics in Beijing China. Making Chen the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold in men’s singles.

This didn’t come from an overnight training session, Chen had been training for years looking up to legendary figure skaters like Michelle Kwan. He left nothing to lose and won the first gold medal of his already growing career.

Chen skated to Elton John’s, “Rocket Man” being the final skater to take the ice. During his performance he landed all five of his quadruple jumps and ended the show with a point towards the crowd.

“I watched a little bit of his performance and I really liked it. I have never really watched figure skating but it was really interesting to watch the way he performed,” Senior Brianna McLeod said.

After his performance, Chen said that he felt like he secured the top spot. He has been one of the most dominant skaters in the scene for the past several years, with three world championships and six national titles.

Unfortunately, in 2018 Chen failed to deliver at the Olympic games in Pyeongchang, taking a bronze medal for the American team but only ranking 5th in individuals. Chen later came back to take the highest short program score in history with a 113.97.

He knew the competition wasn’t over since other skaters’ scores were still to be announced. Taking on the short program he once again scored the highest score.

Between his short program and his performance skate, Chen scored an overall score of 332.60, almost 22 points above the field.

“Personally I see him as someone who did a good job representing our country but I know he has been a big influence for other figure skaters and what I have seen on social media,” McLeod said.

Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno, who Chen competed against, took home silver and bronze medals.

“I don’t remember their name but I know it was a guy from Japan. I watched some of his performances as well and he was also really good,” sophomore Bayleigh Aller said, talking about Hanyu who competed against Chen.

Yuzuru Hanyu, who previously won two gold medals, went home disappointed, entering 4th place.

Jason Brown and other Americans competing in the event finished in 6th place.