Nathan CHEN

PYEONGCHANG 2018 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
Favoured to win an Olympic medal in 2018. In the short programme, he fell on his opening quadruple Lutz and failed to land a single jump cleanly scoring 82.27 points, more than 20 points below his season’s best, and finished 17th. “Honestly, it was bad. I made as many mistakes as I possibly could have.” (theguardian.com,16 Feb 2018)

In the men’s singles free skate, with six quadruple jumps, he scored a US and Olympic record of 215.08 points, the highest score, and pulled himself up from 17th after the short programme, to fifth. “Being in such a low placement going into the long, I just allowed myself to completely forget about expectations and just to be myself. I definitely did want to redeem myself after the two short programmes (team and singles), and I think I did here.” (teamusa.org, 17 Feb 2018)

"I got put into a situation where I freaked out and I didn't know how to handle it. I had to figure it out myself. The Olympics are crazy; they're so cool. I didn't appreciate that while I was there. Instead, it was like, 'This is the most terrifying experience of my life. I hate this, I hate this.' Now that I'm able to take a step back from that, I can tell myself, 'Man the Olympics are really cool, you should have enjoyed them more.'" (usfigureskatingfanzone.com, 20 Apr 2020)

COVID-19
Moved back to California from Yale University in Connecticut during the pandemic, where he audited online classes, but was no longer enrolled academically. Took up tennis, read, played the ukulele and guitar, learned how to cook traditional Chinese recipes from his parents. Doughnuts and bubble tea are his new favourites.

Having worked with children at the rink in Connecticut, he took some online coaching education courses during his time off, completing his CERs (Continuing Education Requirements) via the Professional Skaters Association, saying that coaching allows him to be more mentally engaged in the sport. (olympicchannel.com, 30 Oct 2020; usfigureskatingfanzone.com, 20 Apr 2020)

FAMILY
First generation US citizen of Chinese descent. Grew up in Salt Lake City, UT, before the family moved to Los Angeles, CA so he could train. “They came to the US with not much, and it's really inspirational to see how far they've come and how hard they worked for us. To be able to raise that many kids, and my dad was going to school at the time, just to listen to some of the stuff they've been through really motivates me." (bustle.com, 9 Feb 2018)

CHINESE NAME
His Chinese given name is Wei.

TRANSPORT
Uses a motorized skateboard to navigate campus at Yale University. (nytimes.com, 17 Mar 2019)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

Won gold in single skating at Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games bronze medallist (team).

Three-time World champion (2018, 2019, 2021).

Bronze medallist at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia.

2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), six-time national champion (2017-22).

FIRSTS
First skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. (2017 USA Figure Skating Championships).

First skater to land five quadruple jumps in a free skate international competition (2017 Four Continents).

First skater to land six quadruple jumps in a free skate at an international competition (PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games).

First skater to land five different quadruple jumps in competition (2017 US International Classic).

First man to win six straight US titles (2017-22) since Dick Button (1946-50).

Made his international debut as a junior at the 2012 Junior Grand Prix event in Linz (1st) - scored the highest score (222.00 points) ever awarded at the time.