Canadian figure skater Keegan Messing left his guts on the rink at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Wednesday night during his free program. However, this was insufficient to allow him to win an Olympic medal. He took the 11and rank of the solo competition.
Posted at 12:30 a.m.
The 30-year-old had scored 93.24 points for his short program on Tuesday night, good for 9and rank. The challenge was great to get on the podium.
As fast and powerful as ever on his skates, Messing executed a vigorous program to the sound of the song Home by Phillip Phillips. As he had done after his short program, the Canadian showed a photo of his son to the camera while waiting for his result. The judges awarded him 172.37 points, his best score of the season.
His cumulative score of 265.61 points gave him the temporary third place, behind China’s Jin Boyang and Italy’s Daniel Grassl. The following skaters, however, delivered strong performances and dragged him down to 11and rank.
It was 22-year-old American Nathan Chen who finally won gold with a grand total of 332.60 points. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (310.05 points) and Shoma Uno (293.00 points) respectively finished 2and and 3and rank.
Remember that Keegan Messing has just lived two particularly emotional weeks, he who only arrived in Beijing on Tuesday. The Canadian champion had been infected with COVID-19 two weeks ago, and the Chinese government required two negative PCR tests before being able to enter the Olympic bubble. He was given the green light to take off for China on February 6 and completed his short program just hours after arriving. His performance is all the more impressive under the circumstances.
The 30-year-old spoke on CBC immediately after his performance. Asked what he was thinking during his program, he replied, “Breathe, breathe, don’t fall, breathe! It was a step by step process. »
“I was a bit disappointed not to have delivered as good a performance as I could,” he added. I skated really well in the warm-up. I was hoping to do it again today. It wasn’t in the cards, but at the same time, I can leave Beijing happy and proud of what I did. »
“I arrived two days ago,” he continued. I’m here, I’m skating on an Olympic rink, I had my Olympic experience and I’m so grateful to have been able to experience it once again. »
In 2018, in PyeongChang, Messing finished 12and rank. Born in the United States, he has represented the maple leaf since the 2014-2015 season. He was also one of Canada’s top medal hopefuls in figure skating.