Freshly arrived in Beijing, Canadian figure skater Keegan Messing put on a good show during the short program of the Olympic Games solo competition on Monday night.
Posted at 12:56 a.m.
Messing, in full control despite the events of the past few days, scored 93.24 points, good for 9and rank. By finishing among the top 24 of 30 skaters, he earned his spot in the free program, which will take place Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. (Quebec time).
Awaiting his result, Messing showed the camera a photo of his son. Something to charm the Chinese public.
The Alaska native, who has represented Canada since the 2014-15 season, only arrived in Beijing a few hours ago, just in time for the solo competition. 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 received the green light to take off for China two days ago, on February 6.
Messing, who was asymptomatic, was still able to train over the past few days, however, assured Skate Canada high performance director Mike Slipchuk. He is a medal hopeful for Canada.
The other Canadian, Roman Sadovsky, only scored 62.77 points, good for last place. He will therefore not take part in the free program.