Olympic figure skating has a new king, while Japanese figure skating has a rising star ¡ª even as its brightest fell short of his historic target.

American Nathan Chen captured gold in the men¡¯s singles competition at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, filling the empty space in his medal cabinet that has haunted him since 2018.

The 22-year-old Yale University student, who set a world record in Tuesday¡¯s short program, again showed why he is widely considered to be the best figure skater in the world with a dazzling program set to the ¡°Rocket Man¡± soundtrack that had the additional backing track of clapping from the masked and physically distanced crowd.