Nathan Chen Makes a Comeback With an Unprecedented 6 Quads

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Nathan Chen of the United States attempted six quads in his long program on Saturday, a number that is unprecedented at the Olympics.

Though he did not medal, he performed two more quads than the gold medalist, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu.

Chen’s quads gave him enough points to sprint past his competitors and win the long program portion of the competition. But major mistakes in his short program the day before kept him off the podium. He ended in fifth place.

We tracked the number of quadruple jumps attempted by each skater:



A quad, which is a jump that has four revolutions, has the highest base value in figure skating and is generally worth more than twice the equivalent triple jump. For example, a triple lutz has a base value of 6 points. A quad lutz is worth 13.6 points.

This creates a powerful incentive for skaters to try a quad in competition even if they are not consistently landing the jump.

Skaters also gain or lose additional points depending on how well the quad is executed. And any jump done in the second half of a program, when skaters’ legs are tired, gets a 10 percent bonus.

For example, below are the 13 elements of the long program of Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, performed at the 2017 world championships, in the order that he executed them. Three elements were quad jumps by themselves, and one more was a quad in combination with another jump.

Source :- nytimes