Tag: Nathan Chen

Nathan Chen put his 2018 struggles behind him with an unreal Olympic gold-medal free skate

WOW.

No one will be talking about Nathan Chen’s 2018 Olympic struggles again.

Instead, it’s all about his gold medal in 2022 at the Beijing Olympics.

Chen followed an awe-inspiring, world-record short program with a 218.63-point free skate on Wednesday. The Quad King nailed five quadruple jumps in an Elton John-themed program and bested the field by over 22 points.

How do you come back from a disastrous Olympics to do this?

“Just recognizing that within the course of my skating career, I only have a very limited amount of time on the ice and in competition, and especially at the Olympics,” Chen said last week, per USA TODAY Sports. “So if I can’t enjoy it, then what’s the point in doing it?”

Here are highlights and reaction:

Nathan Chen, Jessie Diggins, Eileen Gu make history; Shaun White, Chloe Kim on Wednesday

Tuesday featured historic performances by U.S. Olympians in the mountains and on the ice. On Wednesday, Shaun White begins his final competition.

Tuesday featured historic performances by U.S. Olympians in the mountains and on the ice. On Wednesday, Shaun White begins his final competition.

Olympic fans were in awe of Nathan Chen’s incredible world-record short program

Watch the whole short program, it’s amazing.

Nathan Chen — known to many as “the Quad King” due to his ability to hit quadruple jumps seemingly effortlessly — lived up to the hype on Monday at the Beijing Olympics.

In the men’s short program, he skated flawlessly, hitting high-flying jumps and showing off the reason why he was a gold-medal favorite heading into the 2022 Games.

The moment he finished, he fist-pumped, knowing he had just put together a flawless effort, and the score reflected that — a world-record 113.97, and a bounce-back from his struggles in 2018. We’ll see if he can win gold in the men’s free skate on Wednesday.

Check out the performance and the reaction from fans:

US figure skating wins silver, Shiffrin out of GS; Nathan Chen begins gold quest Tuesday

It was a rough day for the U.S. on the mountain. Mikaela Shiffrin did not finish her giant slalom run and Nina O’Brien left on a stretcher.

It was a rough day for the U.S. on the mountain. Mikaela Shiffrin did not finish her giant slalom run and Nina O’Brien left on a stretcher.

Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen is the gold medal favorite in the men’s competition

The quad king is back for his second Olympic Games. Since 2018, Nathan Chen has found joy both on and off the ice.

The quad king is back for his second Olympic Games. Since 2018, Nathan Chen has found joy both on and off the ice.

Meet the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team and who we expect to bring home some medals

American Nathan Chen is a gold medal favorite. Here is how the rest of the U.S. Figure Skating team stacks up.

American Nathan Chen is a gold medal favorite. Here is how the rest of the U.S. Figure Skating team stacks up.

Get to know Nathan Chen: 5 facts about the Olympic figure skating gold-medal contender

Here are a few things to know about three-time world champ Nathan Chen.

For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. Leading up to the Opening Ceremony, we’re highlighting 15 Team USA athletes we think you should get to know. Up first is figure skater Nathan Chen.

Nathan Chen is the Quad King.

Like, that’s actually his nickname because of his incredible range of quadruple figure skating jumps and the number of them he often packs into his routines. What he does on the ice — and particularly above it when he’s soaring through the air — is so incredible that it’s almost impossible to look away.

But despite the 22-year-old skater’s multiple world and U.S. championships, he’s still looking for his first individual Olympic medal, which he could earn at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.

From Salt Lake City, Chen is also a statistics and data science major at Yale, but he paused his academics to train full time for the Beijing Games with his longtime coach, Rafael Arutunian, in Irvine, California, according to Team USA. And he’s hoping his second Olympics go better than his first in 2018 in Pyeongchang.

So ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, here are five things to know about Chen.

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Tara Lipinski on how Olympic gold-medal contender Nathan Chen revolutionized men’s figure skating

For The Win sat down with Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski to preview figure skating at the Beijing Olympics.

Figure skating is one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports, and for good reason. What these athletes do, individually or in pairs, on the ice is nothing short of stunning and truly awesome — probably because most people can’t imagine hurling themselves through the air while doing any number of rotations before landing perfectly on a super thin blade.

Following the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this month, the American figure skating team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics was finalized. Individually, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown will represent Team USA in the men’s competition, while Mariah Bell, Karen Chen and Alysa Liu will do the same in the women’s competition.

So ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in February, For The Win sat down with Tara Lipinski — the 1998 figure skating Olympic gold medalist who’s now an NBC Sports commentator — to talk figure skating and break down the top storylines fans should look out for.

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This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.