PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The defending Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, skating for the first time since October, gave an elegant, unhurried performance to take the lead after the men’s figure skating short program.
Hanyu had sustained ligament damage in his ankle in November, but showed no ill effects, landing a quad salchow, a triple axel and quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination.
Among the strong field, three other skaters stood out: In second place was the veteran Javier Fernandez of Spain, who performed a Charlie Chaplin inspired routine, followed by Hanyu’s countryman, Shoma Uno, and Jin Boyang of China.