Chen wins Olympic figure skating gold as rival Hanyu falls twice

Nathan Chen won a dominant figure skating gold for his first Olympic title with reigning champion Yuzuru Hanyu falling twice on the ice and failing to win a medal in Beijing on Thursday.

One of the most eagerly anticipated events of the Games came as the IOC refused to comment on a reported doping case involving another figure skater, 15-year-old Russian sensation Kamila Valieva.

Eight golds were up for grabs on the sixth day of competition in the Chinese capital, with the Americans Chen and Chloe Kim, in snowboard halfpipe, blitzing the opposition to win two of them in style.

An Olympic title had been the only major prize eluding three-time world champion Chen, but he finally won the gold with an overall score of 332.60, while the Japanese duo of Yuma Kagiyama, on 310.05, and Uno Shoma took silver and bronze. Hanyu was fourth.

An elated Chen said: "I'd always of course dreamed about making the Olympics and winning the Olympics but I was like... I don't know if I can make that happen. 

"I haven't really had time to process fully but it's amazing so far."

Hanyu was chasing a third Olympic gold but having started the day eighth after a disappointing short programme, the Japanese icon went for broke with a free skate that included an attempt at a quadruple axel -- something no skater has ever landed in competition.

That remains the case after the "Ice Prince" tumbled twice, once trying to nail the notoriously difficult jump.

"Honestly, it feels like everything has gone wrong this time around, but I did my best," said the 27-year-old Japanese skater, who only arrived in Beijing on Sunday.

Skating to "Rocket Man" by Elton John, Chen lived up to his nickname "Quad King" in a routine in which the 22-year-old landed five quadruple jumps, to rapturous cheers from the crowd.