Canada’s Patrick Chan got third place in the men’s team short program, despite a near-fall on one landing.
Chan received a score of 89.71, well behind his rival Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who scored 97.98. Russia’s Evgeny Plyushchenko came in second, scoring 91.39.
Chan’s third-place finish earns Canada 8 points in the team event.
Some of the other skaters also struggled to shake off Olympic jitters in this first event though. Paul Bonifacio Parkinson of Italy fell during a jump early on in his routine.
Jeremy Abbott of the USA also fell during a quad jump, ending up with 65.65, much lower than his American record-setting score of 99.86 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January.
Chan, a three-time world champion, is hoping for a medal this Olympics. He finished fifth in Vancouver in 2010.
Read more: Expectations and pressure high on Canadian figure skaters
This was the first competition of the team figure skating event, new this Olympics. In this event, skaters earn points for their team based on their placement after each routine. They get 10 points for first, 9 for second and so on. These points are totalled to form the country’s overall score. Each country fields a team of one man, one woman, a pair and an ice dance couple.
The team event continues later Thursday, with the pairs short program starting at 12:10 p.m. Eastern (9:10 Pacific). Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford will be representing Canada. Patrick Chan skates next in the team men’s free skate on Sunday.
Check out our full Olympic events calendar here.
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