Jin Boyang competes in the men's short program on February 8, 2022. Photo: VCG

China's best male figure skater and two-time world championships bronze medalist Jin Boyang regained his peak form on Tuesday in the competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games men's single short program.

The competition was held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. With the participation of many world-class skaters, the competition witnessed the world record of men's singles figure skating broken twice in just 10 minutes by Yuma Kagiyama, 18, from Japan with 108.12 and Nathan Chen, 22, from the US with 113.93.    

Jin, with a soundtrack from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, got a score of 90.98 - a personal best for him this season - putting him in 11th place among the 30 competitors. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, 27, from Japan ranked eighth with 95.15.   

After finishing the program, Jin raised his head with tears in his eyes amid thunderous cheers around the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. 

"When I was spinning in the air, I felt like I was being held by the audiences of my hometown," Jin was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency after his performance.

"I felt that I was shouldering too much expectation in 2018, but now I am being more self-aware of how far I can go." 

Jin was the first Chinese male skater to win a medal at the world championships in 2016. He defended the title in 2017. In the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, he ranked fourth.

He was also the first skater in the world to have performed a quadruple Lutz-triple toe-loop combination in International Skating Union competitions, which he also delivered faultlessly in the Tuesday program.

"It was an incredible experience performing the quad toeloop in the venue," said Jin, who felt empowered hearing the applause and cheers from the audience.

By the end of his routine, he felt relieved. "All my feelings, bitter and sweet, burst out when I finished the routine," added Jin.

Over the past four years, he has devoted to training himself into a more strong-minded person who can be more concentrated whenever he's on the ice.

Compared to his younger self at Pyeongchang 2018, who also cried after his program, the 24-year-old Jin is becoming more confident.

"I have been training my focus on the ice so that I could feel more relaxed at the Winter Games," said Jin.

Looking ahead to the men's singles free skating on Thursday, Jin said that a stable performance will be good enough.