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Post by Admin on Dec 30, 2021 20:58:16 GMT
In January 2010, while the attention at the U.S. Championships was focused on the senior skaters seeking spots on the U.S. team for the Winter Olympics a month later, the youngest skater in any division of nationals stepped briefly into the spotlight.
Nathan Chen, then 4 feet 5 inches tall and 10 years old, had captured people’s fancy to such a degree in winning the novice title that NBC featured him in its telecast of the gala exhibition. Chen reprised his free skate interpretation of “Peter and the Wolf” because he wanted to perform it better than he had in the competition, when he fell twice and was third in the free skate.
In the gala, all 10 of his jumps, including two triples, were clean. Commentator Sandra Bezic praised his solid jump technique and said, “Remember that name.” Commentator Scott Hamilton described Chen as fearless. When rinkside reporter Andrea Joyce asked Chen, “Which Olympics are we going to see you in?” he replied without hesitation, “Two thousand eighteen.”
For the ensuing five seasons, Chen went off the radar of all but skating’s most involved fans.
In the six seasons that followed those, the boy who grew up in Salt Lake City would become the man in the center of a global spotlight that got brighter and brighter as his skating became more and more dazzling.
Beginning with his bronze medal senior debut at the 2016 U.S. Championships, when he became the first U.S. skater both to attempt and land two fully accredited quadruple jumps in a short program and the first U.S. skater to attempt and land four in a free skate, Chen’s name has become one everyone who follows the sport will remember forever.
It is easy to forget that Chen’s future suddenly seemed uncertain after he aggravated a chronic hip problem while doing a quad in the gala at the 2016 U.S. Championships. That led to surgery, forcing him to withdraw from both the junior and senior World Championships and keeping him off the ice for some three months.
“Nathan is ready to be in the (2018) Olympics right now,” his coach, Rafael Arutunian, said in 2016 after Chen withdrew from the Worlds. “The most important thing is to keep him healthy.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 31, 2021 20:20:16 GMT
By the next season, when Chen won the free skate at the Grand Prix Final, it was clear Arutunian’s analysis was spot on, as the skater not only went on to make the 2018 Olympic team but also made history over and over again.
By 2021, after he had spent two years as a student at Yale, Chen had become the first U.S. man to win three World titles since Hamilton in 1983 and the first to win five straight U.S. men’s titles since Dick Button in 1950.
In the process, Chen also became the first to land five clean quads in a free skate and first to attempt six quads in a free skate. He helped redefine the parameters of the sport.
No one other than Chen in the 125-year history of the World Championships has done two unblemished, artistically compelling skates with the technical demands of the jump elements in his short program and free skate at the 2019 event. In 2021, when Chen rallied from a mistake in the short program, his free skate left teammate Jason Brown in “absolute awe.” I had the same reaction (for the first of several times) watching Chen land five quads in the free to win the 2017 U.S. Championships.
Chen’s progression hasn’t been linear. He was underwhelming in finishing sixth at his senior World debut in 2017. He botched two short programs at the 2018 Olympics but left South Korea buoyed by winning the free skate by a decisive margin with six fully accredited quads (five clean) to move from 17th to fifth.
That performance is the most significant in his career. To have finished his debut Olympics with nothing to offset his poor results in the team event and individual short programs would have been a burden Chen couldn’t have shaken until 2022 — if ever.
“I was glad to show myself and everyone else I could bounce back from a bad performance,” he said.
Going into the 2021–22 season, Chen had not lost in 13 consecutive individual competitions since the 2018 Olympics.
“I think I definitely have grown since 2018,” Chen said. “That experience at the Games was a great teaching moment.”
He has grown a foot since 2010 and assumed a large place in the history of figure skating.
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Post by Admin on Jan 1, 2022 20:18:43 GMT
http://instagr.am/p/CYKwuCmMPol This morning I made the hardest decision of my life to withdraw from Nationals due to my ongoing foot injury. I don’t really know how to put into words what I’m feeling right now. I normally try to keep things light, but this hurts. I don’t like to give up when things get hard, but time has not been my friend this year and now it’s run out. These past six months, I’ve been consistently on and off the ice as we’ve worked to identify and address exactly what is wrong with my foot. I have seen expert doctors across the country in California, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Portland, Chicago, and Boston. I changed boot companies to try to alleviate some of the pain. I’ve tried many different treatments, some of which worked for a little bit, some of which didn’t work at all. As summer turned to fall and then fall to winter, I refused to give up. I thought if I kept pushing, I’d be able to overcome the pain enough to consistently be on the ice, training in the sport I love. And though I have done everything in my power to try to be ready for Nationals, I have to listen to what my body is telling me and accept that I won’t be able to compete next week. I will keep working to get healthy, and I wish everyone the absolute BEST of luck next week. I will be cheering my hardest for ALL of Team USA as they head to Beijing. I want to thank my mom for being endlessly supportive and helping me do whatever it takes in both the good times and the bad. In addition to everything else, I feel so lucky to have a mom in the medical field to help me navigate all of this. I would have been lost without your guidance and knowledge. Words don’t even begin to express how much I love you. I want to thank @benoitrichaud for coming to help me try to train this whole last month. Thank you for helping me push my limits and bend my ankles. Thank you to @coachtomz for sticking by me through the ups and downs of this season and for all your knowledge and support. Thank you to my whole team in Colorado, including the World Arena. I feel so lucky to have so many people in my corner. Last but certainly not least, thank you to all my fans for your support, encouragement, and all-around positivity. I can’t even express what it has meant to me this year. Hugs to every one of you. I’ll be back. I’m not done fighting. |
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Post by Admin on Jan 2, 2022 21:42:28 GMT
Lindsay Thorngren 2021 Rudolf Rockin Skate-Tacular
5,521 views • Jan 1, 2022 • Lindsay Thorngren performed her short program at the 2021 Rudolf Rockin Skate-Tacular at Montclair State Ice Arena in preparation for the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
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Post by Admin on Jan 3, 2022 4:28:50 GMT
Figure skaters in Ogden kicked off New Year's Eve training Friday for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships the first week of 2022. And at least one of them has his sights set on the Olympics in February.
Ahead of any competition, the stakes can seem high and the pressure overwhelming. But the countless hours of practice on the ice beforehand means everything.
2022 is an especially big year for Mitchell Friess. Depending on this week's results at the U.S. Championships, the University of Utah graduate could represent Team USA at the Olympics in February.
He said "it's a little intimidating" but knows he has put in "a lot of hard work. And a lot of time."
"It takes everything. You have to be able to spin, you have to be able to skate. You got to be able to do all of it," Friess said.
"Once you work at it long enough, it just comes naturally," said Abigail Ross, 17. "But a lot of hard work is put into it."
Ross is a high school senior who has been skating competitively since she was 2 years old and says she could "skate better than I could walk."
The Olympics aren't in her immediate plans. After competing in the U.S. Championships, she plans to focus on preparing for college. And skating her whole life has taught her that mistakes come with the territory.
"Falling is a part of skating, and you can't achieve anything if you don't fall," she said.
Kai Kovar, 15, also started skating when he was just 2 years old and is preparing to compete in the championships next week. He says he's "always had a motivation and passion to be in this sport."
"I feel the hardest part is more of the emotional part. Being able to keep yourself under control. Being able to handle the pressure."
Coach Amanda Kovar knows patience is key for these three athletes. Over the years, she's seen the sport evolve quickly and the level of competitiveness soar.
"We work hard today to be great tomorrow," she said. "You have to just think about going after every competition and doing your best skate."
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