The Men's Figure-Skating Gold Is Nathan Chen's to Lose

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Last month, the legendary four-time Olympic medalist and famously truant once-legislator Evgeni Plushenko predicted that the men’s figure-skating event in Pyeongchang would be the most interesting of its kind in the games’ history. The field, after all, is perhaps more crowded with talent than it’s ever been.

There are the two powerhouses who have alternated World Championship victories over the last four years: Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, the 2014 Olympic champion, and Javier Fernández of Spain. There are those who recently have hovered around them on the podium, like Shoma Uno, a two-time Japanese national champion; Kazakhstan’s breakout star, Denis Ten; and China’s powerful jumper, Jin Boyang.

Patrick Chan, the Canadian who dominated the sport at the beginning of the decade, could make a comeback this year after several disappointing seasons. The balletic former U.S. champion Adam Rippon