Canadian Keegan Messing finishes 9th in men's singles short program

Canada's Keegan Messing made his much-anticipated Beijing 2022 debut on Tuesday, earning a ninth-place finish in the men's singles short program figure skating event.

The 30-year-old finished with a score of 93.24 to qualify for the men's free skate medal event. Keegan skated a clean program to "Never Tear Us Apart," that featured a quadruple toe loop.

"We have been keeping the happy-go-lucky attitude. To hop on Olympic ice and to put out a performance I can be happy with, it means a lot," Messing said.

"I am stoked on life right now, to go out and do what I did."

A native of Girdwood, Alaska, Messing competes for Canada due to his mother being born in Edmonton.

Fellow Canadian Roman Sadovsky, who was the first competitor to perform, continued what has been a tough Olympics, with a score of 62.77 to finish 29th in the event. In the process, the Vaughan, Ont., native failed to qualify for the free skate.

"Really bad, really bad. Practice was great, but once the program started it just wasn't going to be what I wanted. I wasn't very nervous. I felt great, but something just didn't line up for me," Sadovsky said.

WATCH | Keegan Messing arrives in Beijing and advances to men's Olympic free program:

World champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. posted a world record score of 113.97 points, eclipsing the previous mark of 111.82 by Japan's Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, which was set at the 2020 Four Continents tournament.

"I'd say it's pretty close to my best. Obviously there are always things you can improve on, there are always things you can do a little bit better, but overall I'm very happy.," Chen said.

With American Vincent Zhou having withdrawn due to a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, there were 29 competitors in the event instead of 30. The top 24 qualify for the men's free skate, which will take place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

All competitions will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.

Messing's journey to Beijing alone has been one of the bigger stories leading up to the figure skating competitions.

He had tested positive for COVID-19 over a week ago, prior to the team's trip to China, leaving him stuck in Canada needing to provide multiple negative tests in order to get clearance to travel and compete.

WATCH | American Nathan Chen smashes world record in men's Olympic short program:

Messing, the Canadian national champion, had to first fly to Montreal for his fourth test, and then through Milan, Italy, to arrive in Beijing.

Following his arrival, Messing was practising just five hours after landing and 24 hours prior to his first event of the Games.

The spotlight shined bright on the 22-year-old as Canada was looking to defend its Olympic gold from the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. He was the first to compete for Canada in the team event in the qualifying and final rounds.

Sadovsky put up back-to-back disappointing performances, finishing eighth in the men's short program in the event's opener, and last place in the free skate after 18-year-old Madeline Schizas pushed Canada through to the team finals with a personal-best performance.

Canada finished fourth in the team event, missing the podium by 10 points, behind bronze medal-winning Japan. The U.S. placed second, while the Russian Olympic Committee won gold.

WATCH | Keegan Messing describes his 'whirlwind' trip to Beijing after positive COVID-19 test: