Nathan Chen

At 24 years old, Nathan Chen has this physical status:

Skating career

Chen began figure skating at age three in a pair of his sister's skates. In 2003, he won his first skating competition. He competed in the United States from 2007 to 2009 from 2007 to 2009. At the youth and intermediate levels, the Junior Nationals are split into junior and intermediate levels. At the 2007 and 2008 Junior Nationals, he came in 10th and 3rd in juveniles. He captured the intermediate men's silver medal at the 2009 Junior Nationals.

In the 2009–10 season, Chen advanced to the novice level. He was the youngest novice champion in the United States' history. Figure Skating at age 10 at the 2010 United States Championships in Spokane, Washington. He stayed at the novice level for the 2010–2011 season, but defended his novice title at the 2011 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, owing to his youth.

Chen climbed to the junior level in the 2011–2012 season. Genia Chernyshova taught him and later went to Lake Arrowhead, California, to work with jump specialist Rafael Arutyunyan. In mid-December 2011, Arutyunyan became his main coach. Chen captured the junior men's title at the 2012 United States Championships in San Jose, California, on January 24, 2012. He won the novice men's event at the 2012 Gardena Spring Trophy in Selva Val Gardena, Italy, his first international appearance.

Chen began qualifying (13 years old) for the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series. JGP Austria in Linz was his first assignment from September 12–16, 2012. He received the gold medal with the highest score (222.00 points) ever granted at the time in the JGP series. After suffering a lower leg injury, he was disqualified from the 2012 JGP final. He earned the junior men's bronze medal at the 2013 United States Championships in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 22, 2013.

He was recruited to JGP events in Mexico and Belarus while remaining at the junior level. He earned gold medals in both events. These qualified him for the JGP Final in Japan, where he won the junior men's bronze medal.

Chen won his second U.S. junior title on January 9, 2014, beating his previous U.S. junior record of 213.76. His final combination spin in the short program earned 4.86 points, the highest among active male skaters in the world.

In March 2014, Chen was awarded a bronze medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Chen and his coworkers, Jordan Moeller, and Shotaro Omori, received three entries for the United States in the 2015 World Junior Championships.

In 2014, Chen made his senior debut. He landed a clean quadruple toe loop and double toe loop combo (4T+2T) in his free skate at the Pacific Sectional Championships in November 2014, winning the senior men's division and advanced to the 2015 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. A week before the national championships, he sustained a growth-related heel injury and competed with modified versions of his short and long programs. In his first national championship appearance in January 2015, he came in eighth overall.

Chen was invited to the United States team for the 2015 World Junior Championships after the competition. On March 8, 2015, he finished 4th at the Tallinn, Estonia, event.

Chen gained gold in both Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Logroo, Spain, in the ISU Junior Grand Prix series from 2015-2016. He was ranked No. 1 in December 2015 at the JGP Final in Barcelona, where he appeared on top of the podium.

Chen made history by becoming the first American man to land two quadruple jumps in the short program in January 2016. He became the first male singles skater to land four quadruple jumps in a long program on January 24, 1994. He came in third overall, behind Adam Rippon and Max Aaron, who was not trying any quads or the latter landing two. The figure skating community's long-running discussion about whether artistry should take precedence over athleticism reignited. Chen sustained an avulsion injury to his left hip during a jump at exhibitions on the same day, resulting in surgery on January 27. He qualified for the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, and the 2016 World Championships in Boston. Chen underwent a month of rehabilitation at the United States Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, California, and by May, he was training off-ice at OTC in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Around July, he started training again.

Chen went to Canton, Michigan, to have his programs choreographed by Marina Zueva ahead of the 2016–2017 season. "I spent a week there, and we did a good job." We discussed it and decided that it would be a good idea to go to Michigan and work on PCS a little bit." Zueva and Oleg Epstein were coaching him in Canton by September 2016, six months after his hip surgery. He began training the 4Lz and 4F in preparation for his international senior debut.

Chen earned his gold medal at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, 7.71 points ahead of silver medalist Patrick Chan of Canada. He then competed at two Grand Prix events. He converted toe and triple toe combination jumps in both his short and long programs on his debut at the 2016 Trophée de France in Paris. His short program ranked 92.85, beating Olympic champion Evan Lysacek's record of 90.30 set in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He returned to Arutyunyan, California, after finishing fourth in France. Chen finished second second second second behind Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, qualifying him for the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France, second in the 2016 NHK Trophy in Sapporo.

Chen finished fifth in the short program in December, but he took first honors in the free skate with a performance that featured four quadruple jumps. He won the silver medal, behind Yuzuru Hanyu, and became the second-youngest male skater (age 17) to medal at the GPF, earning his first GPF medal at age 16 in 1999. He spent two weeks in Canton, Michigan, modifying the element order and choreography of his courses.

Chen performed two quadruple jumps (4Lz+3T+2Lo, 4T+2Lo, 4T+4S) in the short program and five in the free skate, the first skater to do so at the 2017 U.S. Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned the U.S. title with the highest ratings in the United States. Figure Skating's history (106.39 in the short program, 212.08 in the free skate, 318.47 overall). Jason Brown and his colleague Jason Brown were voted to the 2017 World team by the United States following the incident. Figure Skating.

Chen won the 2017 Four Continents in February, becoming the third person to score over 100 points in a short program and over 300 points in an International Skating Union competition.

The boots that he had been wearing after four Continents fell apart in April, but he kept using them, using duct tape and hockey laces, because he felt that the back-up boots were still on the way. He attempted a record-breaking eight quadruple jumps, two in the short program and six in the long program, but he came in sixth overall in the tournament. In the 2018 Winter Olympics, he and teammate Jason Brown, who came seventh, gained three spots for the United States in the men's event.

Chen finished off the season with a 3rd place team and a 2nd place personal record at the 2017 World Team Trophy in Tokyo.

Chen began the 2017 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in September, his first short program "Nemesis" choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne and free skate "Mao's Last Dancer" choreographed by Lori Nichol, beginning his 2017–2018 season. He landed his first quad loop in the free skate and became the first skater to land five distinct quads (4T, 4S, 4Lo, 4F, and 4Lz) in action. At the Japan Open, he was chosen to represent Team USA alongside Jeremy Abbott, Karen Chen, and Mirai Nagasu. His free program earned second place behind Javier Fernandez.

Chen claimed his first Grand Prix title at the 2017 Rostelecom Cup in Moscow. He came in first place in the short program and second in the free skate, defeating Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the reigning World and Olympic champion. Chen claimed his second Grand Prix title at 2017 Skate America, finishing ahead of teammate Adam Rippon. He skated the short program, earning him a new personal record score, but left blade with a nick in the outside edge. He swapped the blade for the free skate but later said, "I think that was a bad call." It was a little too sharp on the inside, and every time I press into it for sal(chow), toe, and even flip, it would break the ice way faster than I was used to." Chen secured the top qualifying position for the Grand Prix Final with two victories.

Chen took the lead in the short program and finished first overall over Shoma Uno of Japan and Mikhail Kolyada of Russia in Nagoya. He became the third American to win the Final since Evan Lysacek in 2009. Chen won his second straight national championship at San Jose, California, despite having seven straight quadruple jumps (two in the short program and five in the free skate). By the United States, Chen, Adam Rippon, and Vincent Zhou had been nominated. Figure Skating will compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as part of the United States Olympic Figure Skating Team.

Chen was fourth in the men's short program of the Olympics, and he was the first skater to land a quad flip at the Olympics. Chen earned a bronze medal in the team event alongside Mirai Nagasu, Bradie Tennell, Adam Rippon, Alexa Scimeca Knierim, Maia Shibutani, and Alex Shibutani, one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic medalists in the United States. Chen failed in the short program and placed seventeenth due to nerves in the individual men's event. He made Olympic history by becoming the first man to attempt six quads and land five cleanly in the free skate. He came in first in the free skate with a score of 215.08, the highest in Olympic history, winning a total score of 297.35 and finishing in fifth place overall. Chen was supposed to attend the exhibition gala but decided against contracting the flu and leaving PyeongChang early to prevent infecting any of his American colleagues. Coca-Cola, United Airlines, Kellogg's, and Bridgestone were among the Olympics' corporate sponsors.

Chen placed first in both the short (101.94) and free (219.46) categories in March at the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Austria. He attempted and landed six quads in the free program, winning the 2018 world champion title by a score of 321.40 points, becoming the second skater to reach 320 points after Yuzuru Hanyu. In 2009, Chen became the first U.S. men's world champion since Evan Lysacek, who also took the tenth in history. In 2001, he became the youngest (18 years 10 months 19 days) men's world champion after Evgeni Plushenko (18 years 19 days) (18 months 19 days). Chen's victory and teammate Max Aaron's eleventh-place finish ensured Team USA three men's spots in Japan next year. With a margin of 47.63 points over silver medalist Shoma Uno, he was one of the most significant in history.

Chen began Yale this season by enrolling in college. Meryl Davis, the 2014 Olympic champion, spoke directly with the Olympic Channel about his education, skating, future plans, life, and other pertinent topics. "I love skating," Chen says. I adore competing. I adore training. I love to be around all my fellow skaters. However, at the end of the day, I am not going to be skating for the rest of my life. I'll have to step away from skating and focus on something else for a moment. I believe I'm trying to do both so I can close the chasm," says the author, "I can start the second half of my life when I decide my time in skating is up."

Skate America and Internationaux de France were among Chen's responsibilities for the 2018-19 Grand Prix series. Fortunately, Chen, Skate America, and Internationaux de France fell during the Thanksgiving recess. The 2018-19 Grand Prix Final began the day before Yale's pre-finals reading session began. During Yale's spring break, the 2019 World Championships in Japan were held in Japan.

Chen skated to the music of "Caravan" (choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne) in the short program and "Land of All" (choreographed by Samuel Chouinard and Marie-France Dubreuil) in the free skate in Everett, Washington). He won both parts of the tournament and defended his position as the men's Skate America champion.

Chen said, "The short course (Caravan) is a lot of fun." [...] She (Bourne) wishes that I dance to the music so that other people can enjoy it as well. [...] Because I needed something that contrasted the short, I originally selected the piece (Land of All) for the long run. [...] The soundtrack to a movie called 'Desierto' and it concerns immigration to the United States, so, at the same time, adding another layer to my skating "as a result.'

Chen lost on his quad flip in the short program and finished third behind Jason Brown and Alexander Samarin in the free skate at Internationaux de France in Grenoble in November. Chen dominated the free skate with three quadruple jumps (4F, 4T, and 4T+3T) and took the title with a total score of 271.58. He had now won five gold medals in a row.

Michael Chen, who has won both Skate America and Internationaux de France, has qualified to compete in the 2018-19 Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, Canada.

Chen competed with the other five qualifiers, Shoma Uno, Michal Bezina, Sergei Voronov, Cha Jun-hwan, and Keegan Messing, but the Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu qualified but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Chen had mistakes in both his short and long programs, including a missed combination boost in the short program and a drop in the long program, but he retained both segments of the competition for his second GPF title.

Chen is the fourth man after Evgeni Plushenko, Patrick Chan, and Yuzuru Hanyu won consecutive Grand Prix Finals since the event's debut in 1995, and the second man after Evgeni Plushenko to win every one of his Grand Prix championships in two seasons in a row.

Chen gave a good showing at the 2019 US Championships in Detroit, scoring 113.42 for a two-quad short program (official NBC Sports) and 228.80 for a four-quad free skate totaling 342.22 points. Chen became the first man to win three straight national titles since Johnny Weir in 2004-2006. "I'm happy with what I did, and I hope I can do so in other competitions," says the first two jumps, and once I'm done with that, I'll shift my attention to the music and the audience. Nationals are no joke. Any of these other skaters who are here cannot be discounted. I'm really proud of myself for all of the things I did, and it's an honor to be able to work alongside these two guys. I don't mind the school atmosphere, and I'm so grateful that Yale has given me the opportunity to explore my interests outside of school. I feel like I am bringing about an improved opposition to the game. "This gives me a lot of hope going into the future."

Chen won his world championships in Saitama, Japan, in March, and set a new record for both the free skate and total score. Chen's 11th victory out of 12 individual competitions over the past two seasons was gold in Saitama. He became the first American man to win back-to-back world championships after Scott Hamilton won four in a row from 1981 to 1984. Both Americans appeared on the men's podium at Worlds for the first time since 1996, with teammate Vincent Zhou winning gold and Rudy Galindo winning bronze in Edmonton, Canada.

Chen concluded the season at another venue in Japan, the 2019 World Team Trophy, where Team USA claimed the gold medal.

Chen started his season with a free skate at the Japan Open, finishing first in the men's event and contributing to Team North America's bronze medal appearance. Chen defended his title at Skate America in Las Vegas in his third straight victory. This was the first time anyone had won Skate America three times in a row since Todd Eldredge won four consecutively from 1994 to 1997. The 44-point margin of victory was the largest ever at Skate America. He secured his second straight Internationales de France title in Grenoble and became the first singles skater since Evgeni Plushenko won eight straight Grand Prix events. Chen qualified for the Grand Prix Final after winning two Grand Prix events.

Chen was widely regarded as the co-favorite for the title alongside Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu. Chen skated very well in the short program, scoring 110.38, 0.15 shy of Hanyu's short program world record at the time, which had been set at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. Hanyu failed to finish his combination jump, resulting in Chen leading by nearly 13 points going into the free skate. Chen skated brilliantly in the free skate and set a new world record for the free skate (224.92 points) and total score (335.30 points), defeating Hanyu for the second time since the Olympics. Chen's triumph made him the first singles skater to win all Grand Prix events in three seasons in a row.

Chen was only able to fully recover training less than two weeks before the 2020 U.S. Championships. Chen, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, won his fourth national championship and became the first man to win four straight U.S. men's titles since Olympic champion Brian Boitano in 1988. He was supposed to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but this was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ISU selected the Grand Prix series largely based on geographic location, with Chen returning to Skate America as the pandemic was raging. Despite getting two planned jumps in the free, he won both the short program and the free skate for a total score of 299.15. Chen revealed to Olympic Channel that he was taking a break from school to concentrate on skating and the next Olympics. "The Olympics (The End Goal) are the end goal," Chen said, "It's the driving force behind a lot of what we do and a lot of our decisions."

Chen won his fifth National Championship at the 2021 U.S. Championships for the fifth time in a row. Dick Button, who won seven National titles from 1946 to 1952, became the first man to win five consecutive National titles since him. Chen cited Button as an inspiration. Chen said of Button, "It's incredible to try to follow in his footsteps." "It means the world." Dick is a true skating icon, and it's just so thrilling to be trying to achieve something no one like that has attempted. I'm nowhere near where he was at, but it's just cool to be included in his sort of fame." Chen attempted five quads during his free appearance, landing four of them safely.

Chen placed third at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, after a disappointment on the quadruple Lutz. He came in first with a score of 222.03, with a clean program landing five quads, and claimed his third world title with a total score of 320.88. Chen was the first man since Patrick Chan (2011–13) and the first American (male or female) since Scott Hamilton (1982–84) to win three World titles in a row. "I think having been in that situation now going into the free skate helps me maintain some resiliency," Chen said in a post-competition interview: "I think having grown since the 2018 Olympics helps me keep some resiliency," he said. And I think that definitely came into play today, you know.

Chen competed with the 2021 World Team Trophy, where he placed first ahead of Yuzuru Hanyu with his combined scores, despite also placing first in the short program. His participation helped Team USA win the silver medal.

Chen debuted at the 2021 Skate Americas, where he ranked fourth in the short program. He crashed on his first quadruple jump. He was unable to perform the required two-jump combination because of a bad landing on the second quadruple jump. Despite doubling on two of his six planned quads, he finished in third place overall, behind Vincent Zhou and Shoma Uno. Chen said later on about the end of his winning streak since the 2018 World Championships, he said, "it's not devastating." It was obviously going to come to an end at some point in time, and here's why. Chen, who was competing in the 2021 Skate Canada International, won both segments of the tournament and claimed the gold medal with a 48-point margin over silver medalist Jason Brown. Chen's success qualified him to the Grand Prix Final, but the Omicron version was later cancelled due to restrictions imposed by the Omicron version.

Chen claimed his sixth consecutive men's title at the 2022 U.S. Championships in Nashville, a feat that was not achieved by the legendary Dick Button 71 years ago. Chen scored 115.39, a new national record in the short program, and 212.62 in the free skate for a total of 328.01 points. Chen, along with Zhou and Brown, were selected to the American Olympic team after the games.

Chen appeared in the 2022 Winter Olympics as the American entry in the Olympic team's male short program, where he had skated poorly four years ago. He came in first in the segment with a new personal record of 111.71, earning the American team ten points. After "It feels good to have a short program that actually skated well at an Olympic level," he said. Team USA will attempt to win the silver medal, Chen's second Olympic medal. Chen set a new world record in the men's short program two days later, a record of 111.82 set by Yuzuru Hanyu in 2020. Chen would win the gold medal with a free skate score of 218.63, which included five quad jumps, and a total score of 332.60. Due to injury, Chen was forced to miss the 2022 World Championships.

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Honors and awards

• Named one of Harper's Bazaar's 2022 Icons.
• Nominated for an ESPY Award in the "Best Olympian, Men's Sports" category in June 2022.
• Named to the 2022 Time 100 List (The 100 Most Influential People of 2022) Time.
• Nominated for a People's Choice Award in the category "The Game Changer of 2022".
• Honored with the 2022 Committee of 100 'Trailblazer Award for Commitment to Excellence' Committee of 100 (United States).
• Honored to appear as an Olympic athlete in the Virtual Parade Across America event at the Inauguration of Joe Biden.
• Named to the "2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports List" by the Forbes Magazine.
• Named the 2019 Male Olympic Athlete of the Year by U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
• Recipient of 2019, 2021, 2022 Gustave Lussi Award – a prestigious Professional Skaters Association's Edi Awards.
• Awarded a proclamation by Salt Lake County making May 16 "Nathan Chen Day."
• Named one of Team USA's Top 16 Men Of 2016, Top 17 Men Of 2017, Top 18 Men Of 2018, Top 19 Men Of 2019.
• Awarded Team USA's Best Male Athlete of the Month in December 2016, January, October, December 2017, January, November 2018, January, March, October, November, December 2019.
• Won SKATING magazine’s 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018-19 Readers’ Choice Award (Michelle Kwan Trophy).
• Selected one of 2018, 2019, 2020 Gold House A100 honorees and 2021 Gold House A100 Hall of Fame
• Selected one of the 2017 "Next Generation Leaders" by the Time.
• Recipient of 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009 Michael Weiss Foundation Scholarship.
• Recipient of 2012 Ron and Gayle Hershberger Award.
• Recipient of 2011 Athlete Alumni Ambassador Award.
• Recipient of 2011, 2010 Cecilia Colledge Memorial Fund award.
• Featured on ABC News' Person of the Week aired on February 19, 2010.