Oh my quad! US skater Chen makes history with 6 quads

QUAD KING. Nathan Chen turns around from his disappointing start to astonish everyone with 6 quads in one performance. Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – American prodigy Nathan Chen became the first figure skater to land 6 quads as he set an Olympic record in the free skate at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Saturday, February 17.

The 18-year-old had bombed on Friday in a nervy short program that left him languishing in 17th place going into the decisive day.

But Chen could yet grab a medal after a remarkable free skate that earned him 215.08 points, one of the highest scores ever seen in the sport.

Chen did it on the back of 6 quads – 4 rotations in the air – breaking his own record of 5 set last year.

"I have been working on it for a while. It's never really fully come together," Chen said.

"I was like, 'I already fell so many times (in this week), I might as well go out and throw everything down and see what happens." – Rappler.com