Canada's Keegan Messing caps roller-coaster Olympic journey with season-best performance
National champion had been delayed in arriving after testing positive for COVID-19
Keegan Messing's roller-coaster Olympic journey ended near the top.
The Canadian men's figure skating champion capped off his second Olympics with a memorable season-best performance in the free skate medal event on Thursday morning in Beijing — just three days after arriving.
The 30-year-old overcame adversity and earned a score of 172.37 while finishing 11th in men's singles.
He missed the team event, where he was replaced by Roman Sadovsky, but he was able to make the trip from Canada in time to compete after passing the four tests required to fly to Beijing.
Messing's late trip to Beijing, which he described as a "whirlwind," began in Vancouver before heading to Montreal, Frankfurt and Milan en route to the Games.
WATCH l Messing skates to 11th-place finish in men's singles:
Despite the adversity, Messing persevered and qualified for the free skate just over 24 hours later after posting the ninth-best short program score (93.24) — giving him a shot at his first Olympic medal.
Skating to "Lullaby for an Angel" by Karl Hugo, and "Home" by Phillip Phillips, Messing looked comfortable and happy on his free skate, nailing an early quadruple toe-double toe combination.
He followed it up with a triple axel and triple lutz-triple toe combination while delivering another solid skate against all odds as the crowd cheered.
"I was hoping for a little bit of a better skate out there," Messing said afterward. "I had a very good practice this morning and I was hoping for that to carry on [during competition], but a couple bobbles here and there ... honestly, I just pushed through and really tried to live in that Olympic experience."
WATCH l Messing describes 'whirlwind' trip to Beijing after positive COVID-19 test:
'I'm so thankful'
Messing showed a picture of his infant son, Wyatt, to the camera as the scores were announced — moving him into bronze position with eight skaters left to go.
Messing was ultimately bumped down just outside the top 10, but his performance on the Olympic stage was nothing short of extraordinary given the circumstances. He finished with a total score of 265.61.
"It wasn't in the cards, but at the same time I can still leave here happy," Messing said.
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"This is still a program I can be proud of. I sold it, I felt great about it, and honestly I arrived like two days ago. I'm here, I'm skating on Olympic ice. I got my Olympic experience, and I'm so thankful that I was able to get this Olympic experience once more."
Messing is from Girdwood, Alaska, but represents Canada because his mother was born in Edmonton. He finished 12th in his Olympic debut at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, and he won his first men's national title last month in Ottawa.
After finishing first in the short program (113.97), American star Nathan Chen claimed his first individual Olympic medal with a gold-medal performance in the free skate that earned him 218.63, for a total of 332.60. The three-time world champion reached the team event podium in Beijing and Pyeongchang.
Canada will be competing in three more figure skating events in Beijing — with the ice dance, women's singles and pairs still to come. All the action will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.
WATCH l Messing arrives in Beijing, advances to men's free skate:
