Australian Olympic flag bearer Brendan Kerry was ecstatic after he delivered his personal best score in the men's figure skating following a sparkling performance at the Olympics.
Eighth onto the ice on Thursday, at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium Kerry broke into a big smile after he completed his free skating routine, following a frustrating build-up.
The triple Olympian, who had been struggling to land his jumps during practice, did so with aplomb to earn a technical score of 83.51 and a presentation score of 76.50 for a combined 160.01, which was a new personal high mark.
Added to his short program score on Tuesday of 84.79, Kerry had a total of 244.80.
"I'm ecstatic because it was a personal best," the 27-year-old said.
"To come to my third Olympics and make just a small mistake, I'm very, very happy about it.
"Everybody is their own worst critic, but to come out and do the best free skate I've ever done at the Olympics, I'm ecstatic."
American three-time world champion Nathan Chen won his first Olympic gold medal, building on his world record score of 113.7 in the short program with a near-perfect free skate.
Chen scored a total of 332.60, just three shy of his own world record, to become the first American Olympic champion in the men's event since 2010.
He easily beat Japanese duo Yuma Kagiyama (silver) and Shoma Uno (bronze).
It was also a banner effort from Kerry, who was forced off the ice for three months last year, missing the world championships with stress fractures in his leg.
Before his first routine on Tuesday, Kerry said that it took until the competition warm-up to nail his quad toe.
He did so in the short program, a massive boost to his confidence heading into the free skate.
The previous best for Kerry, whose mother Monica MacDonald was an Olympic ice dancer back in 1998, was 20th at the last Games in PyeongChang.
The Sydneysider became the first figure skater to carry the flag in the opening ceremony last Friday night, sharing the role with aerial skier Laura Peel.
