Two-time defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan failed to make the podium after falls on his quadruple Axel attempt, while U.S. world champion Nathan Chen claimed the men's singles title at the Beijing Winter Olympics figure skating event on Thursday.

Chen led both short program and free skate, collecting 332.60 points in total for the victory. Japan's 18-year-old Yuma Kagiyama took silver on 310.05 and his compatriot Shoma Uno had bronze on 293.00.

Despite his season-best score of 179.45 points for free skate, China's Jin Boyang finished only ninth overall with 270.43 points.

The 24-year-old Jin performed well to Invocacion, with six good landing in his seven jumps, including a 3Axel-1Euler-3Scalchow and a 3Lutz-3toe following a quad toe-double toe combination. But a poor landing on his last jump - a triple flip - cost him the chance to battle for a higher ranking.

"I can't believe I made it. Maybe it's not a perfect free skate, but to me, it's incredible and I'm quite satisfied with the segment," Jin said.

"This Olympics gave me the best memory of my life, especially with all my countrypeople behind me, who've always been there and created the best conditions for me even amid the pandemic.

"The country and the people make all the efforts worthwhile," he added.

A two-time world championships bronze medalist, Jin also finished fourth at PyeongChang 2018, the best ever result for Chinese men's singles at all Winter Games.

Skating to Ten to Chi to (Heaven and Earth), the "ice prince" Hanyu performed an under-rotated 4A and tumbled at the following quad Salchow, which led to a two-point direct deduction and less than 10 points after two opening jumps.

With 4A being the only quadruple jump among the six basic jumping movements that has not been conquered, the 27-year-old Hanyu, who attempted 4A in the national championships, became the first skater in history to execute it on the international stage.

He also delivered a fairly clean combination of triple Axel-triple Loop, a triple flip, a triple Axel, as well as combination jumps of 4+3 Toeloop and 4Toeloop-1Euler-3Salchow.

The routine earned him a total segment score of 188.06 points, the third in the men's free skate, piling his overall score to 283.21 after he missed an opening quad Salchow to rank only the eighth after the short program.

Stepping off the rink after saluting to the umpires and audience, Hanyu gently touched the ice before he murmured with his fingers sweeping over his own face.

"I said to myself, thank you," the figure skating icon told reporters later in the mixed zone.

"I had a few mistakes but I showed my story. I think the mistakes make up a part of my program. I'm happy with it," he added.

Hanyu had high expectations as he won back-to-back Olympic gold medals at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018. He did not compete internationally this season after suffering an ankle ligament injury but came back to claim his sixth national title in December.

South Korea's Cha Junhwan settled for fifth after finishing the free skate in seventh, and current world No. 1 Daniel Grassl of Italy was beaten to the seventh despite a fourth-placed free skating performance.

Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia, the country's first and only skater to earn a medal at the European Championships, a bronze in 2022, finished 12th in free skate with 167.41 points, lifting his place to the eventual 13th from the 16th short program ranking.

New European champion Mark Kondratiuk finished a disappointing 15th and his teammates from the Russian Olympic Committee Eugene Semenenko and Andrei Mozalev were respectively the eighth and 19th.

The figure skating competitions at Beijing 2022 continue on Saturday with the world's best ice dancers hitting the rink of the Capital Indoor Stadium.