Nathan Chen is USA's gold medal favorite in men's figure skating. But he knows there are no guarantees.
Part of Paste BN's 10 to watch series profiling some of America's top athletes competing at the Beijing Olympics
Olympic figure skating gold-medal favorite Nathan Chen can mark time from a moment at the last Winter Olympic Games. The pivotal event, not even three minutes long, stands at the intersection of Chen’s stellar career, at the spot where what came before collided with what has come after.
It’s a line drawn so crisply across the sports calendar during the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. On one side of that line, in the before time of Chen’s life, there is the terrible short program of a nervous youthful medal favorite, dropping him to an ignominious 17th place.
On the other side, there is near-perfection, including a majestic long program with a record six quadruple jumps at those Games that allowed him to pull up to fifth overall, followed by three world championships, four more national titles and universal praise for his ability to continue to push the athletic limits of his sport.
The trend says Chen, now 22, will continue his dominance all the way to the top of the Olympic medal podium in the men’s event in China, adding perhaps another medal with his fellow Americans in the figure skating team event that kicks off the Beijing Games.
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But nothing will come easily for Chen as he steps onto the Olympic ice. He knows that. Every skater does. Their slippery sport has a way of altering the best-laid plans. Always has, always will.
That doesn’t mean Chen won’t win. He’s certainly the favorite. But it means there are no guarantees, even for one of the finest skaters of this era. So Chen goes into the Olympics knowing life will go on, win or lose in Beijing.
“Absolutely,” Chen said in an interview with Paste BN Sports. “That’s something I've definitely come to terms with, recognizing that, hey, you know, before I go to the Olympics, I'll probably be sitting and watching Netflix or something like that. And then when I come back from the Games, whether I skate well or don't skate well, I'm probably going to be doing something similar.
“Ultimately, the world continues turning. Skating of course is very important to me. I’ve spent so much of my life dedicated to trying to get better. But, at the same time, life will continue going on and hopefully doors will continue to open for me and I'll be able to continue finding things that I'm passionate about.”
There’s nothing quite like the moment of decision for an Olympic figure skating gold-medal favorite. In 1988, Brian Boitano met the moment and won the gold medal in a spectacular battle with his long-time rival, Canada’s Brian Orser.
Boitano has watched Chen every step of the way on his climb to the top of the sport. He knows as well as anyone what awaits him in Beijing.
“It is literally like being in a pressure cooker, as soon as you get on the plane, with the clock counting down,” Boitano said in a phone interview. “The pressure builds. And right now, everyone has to worry about COVID and staying healthy, so you add that, which is crazy.
“But Nathan is a guy who can handle all that. As far as him being consistent and delivering, he can do that. You’re relying on your practices — it’s about the week of practice leading up to the short program. He knows he can do it, he’s proven that time after time. You think about all those practices. It’s a mantra you live by, ‘I’ve done this, I know I can do this.’ ”
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Chen will come to the Olympic ice as an experienced veteran in large part because of what happened in 2018.
“I think the main thing that I learned from 2018 is just how to set the right mindset going into every competition since 2018. I think just being able to have the perspective of recognizing that obviously as an athlete, we want to win, but that's not all there is to being an athlete.
“There's a whole other side of things that is just as important,” said Chen, who is on leave from his studies at Yale, where he is majoring in statistics and data science. “And I think as soon as I'm able to be present, as long as I'm able to really enjoy the experience of competing and recognizing how fortunate I am to have these opportunities, things tend to fall into place a little better.”
Chen has always possessed an admirable sense of perspective about his sport and his place in it. He said this a year ago, but it rings true today:
“Of course I would love to be able to win the next Olympics (in 2022), but if that doesn’t happen, it’s not like my legacy or who I am is ultimately diminished. I’m still happy with everything that I’ve done. I’m proud of everything that I’ve already accomplished in skating. I still would love to improve, but truthfully, I’m really happy with where I am and what I’ve already done, so whether or not I get that title at the Olympics is not going to define me as a person.”
A year later, just weeks before he will take the ice in Beijing, his resolve to trust the process is as strong as ever.
“Ultimately, as long as people saw that I tried my best, I think that’s all that really matters. The wins, the losses, they are a part of my story but I don’t think those are the main focal points. I think mostly it just comes down to me trying my very best every time I had the opportunity.”