Nathan Chen says poor short program due to mental issue

Nathan Chen clearly felt disappointed after falling during his short program performance at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang on Thursday night, and he acknowledged he had a mental issue.

Chen fell during his program on a triple axel attempt and ended up finishing fourth. Afterwards, he said he was in his head.

"I think I was a little bit in my head. I apologize to Team USA," Nathan Chen says in mixed zone. "I'm going to have to readjust ahead of the indivisible event" #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/jRraLmd13w

— Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) February 9, 2018

Chen also told NBC he let the team down. He said he needs some time to go over his mistakes so he doesn’t repeat them.

.@nathanwchen speaks with @andijoyce following his performance in the figure skating team event's men's short program. #BestOfUS #Olympics pic.twitter.com/74apAJ5HaH

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 9, 2018

Chen received a score of 80.61 points, which is one of his worst ever in the short program. He will have some time to gather and regroup before the men’s individual event.