Javier Fernandez ESP
2018 Olympics short program
Four years ago, Javier Fernandez missed out on the Olympic podium on a rules technicality. He spent the next three years winning two World titles, positioning himself to earn the medal that eluded him in Sochi.
But as PyeongChang approached, Fernandez saw other skaters overtaking him in technical ability. He and his team opted for a strategy of not upgrading with the goal of skating cleanly, even though he was capable of harder elements like the quad loop.
That strategy paid off most in the short program at the Olympics for Fernandez - and a clean skate of the most choreographically sophisticated short of his career landed him in second going into the free and gave him the ticket to the Olympic medal that he missed out on four years ago.