America's 'Quad King,' figure skater Nathan Chen, clinches the US's third gold medal with a series of stunning jumps

• American figure skater, "Quad King" Nathan Chen, clinched the US's third gold medal on Thursday.
• Skating to Elton John's "Rocket Man," Chen executed five planned quad jumps cleanly.

American figure skater and "Quad King" Nathan Chen clinched a gold medal for the US on Thursday after completing a stunning series of quadruple jumps at the Beijing Games.

Skating to Elton John's "Rocket Man," Chen opened with a quadruple flip and triple toe loop, transitioning cleanly into his other jumps, including an impressive quadruple lutz.

Chen netted a score of 332.60 points, after completing five quadruple jumps. Quads are Chen's expertise — he was the first skater to land six quads in one Olympic performance back in 2018.

Also on the podium on Thursday for the men's figure skating event were two Japanese skaters. Yuma Kagiyama took the silver medal with 310.05 points, and Shoma Uno brought home bronze with a total score of 293 points.

Chen, 22, went into Thursday's free skate with a world-record score of 113.97 in the short program. Chen was predicted early on Thursday to take the gold medal — his first at the Olympics — after a series of mistakes by his biggest rival, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan. Hanyu placed fourth, with a total score of 283.21 points.

The American skater's run at the Olympics has been one of redemption, after a disastrous debut at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, where he finished at an unexpected fifth place in the men's singles. However, Chen rebounded quickly and went into the Beijing Games in a dominant position, after a 14-competition winning streak, which included three World Championship titles in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

At press time, the US has three gold medals. Chloe Kim defended her title in the women's halfpipe snowboarding event on Tuesday. Meanwhile, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis won the US's first gold medal of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Wednesday.