Yuzuru Hanyu made it difficult on himself before coming through to win

Yuzuru Hanyu made it difficult on himself before coming through to win Japan’s first gold medal in Olympic men’s figure skating Friday night at the Sochi Games.

Not only did Hanyu fall on his opening jump, a quad salchow, but he also crashed on his third, a triple flip. That left plenty of room for Canada’s Patrick Chan to skate through to the top of the podium, but he made three errors in a watered-down program to finish second.

Canada has never won the event, either.

Kazakhstan’s Denis Ten, the world silver medalist, won bronze in Sochi in a final that was a two-man showdown between Hanyu, now the first Asian man to win a title at these Games, and three-time world champion Chan.

Neither performed close to his peak on a second consecutive night of competition. Most skaters appeared fatigued, particularly at the end of their 4 1/2-minute free skate routines. It was one of the sloppiest men’s Olympic programs in memory.