deep interview of Patrick Chan and short one which mentions Lambiel and Yuna Kim

[fan]

If it's that difficult for a world champ, I can't even imagine how difficult it is for skaters struggling to make it to nationals

[Proustable]

The New York Times had an article that pegged Chan's training budget at 158,000 in US dollars.

[fan]

The New York Times had an article that pegged Chan's training budget at 158,000 in US dollars.

Do you have a link? I would find it very interesting

[skatingfanfun]

My goodness you are absolutely right! Yikes.. that was an embarrassing mistake. I wrote it quickly... ahem Anyway, comments revised, thanks for noticing. I revised it with bit more detail, the cost were based on his training cost in US leading up to the Vancouver Olympics. Not clear how much it is now.

BTW I had no idea it cost so much to train! That almost half a million USD? That sound pretty insane!! Consider winning the world championship in 2010 is only worth USD $45k for either ladies or men and then $67k per pairs/couple. That doesn't sound right surely?!

Some interesting comments regarding to the scholarship and university options, thanks for sharing. I thought maybe because Patrick is not US citizen that is why it was not available to him. University of Toronto would be an amazing option, but as far as I know it is a very tough school to get into being the best in Canada.

There is nothing to be embarased about My colleague showed me his house, a big two-story house in a good neiboughood, and I tried to guess the price, and said, it must be about 40k. His face was RED after hearing my comment. I had to explain to him that I meant 400k, and the differentcounting unit in Chinese and in English anyway, I'm shocked to learn that it's so costly to train at a high level for figure skating. I mean, I knew it is expensive, but never imagined it would be sooooooooo expensive. I read about it once before but was skeptical about the accuracy. That was why I went to check it this time.

[luCN]

Glad you like the interview

S/Z's gold medal brings much more attention on figure skating in China,but most news and interviews are so terrible...I hope we can have more deep interviews like this from now on...

I'm glad skaters like Chan and Kozuka like Lambiel kind of skater,not those just concern on medals and scores.They have great skating skills and can improve to make intersting and beautiful programs.you know,earstern men always matured much later than westerns.hope they can be unique,charming,attactive and their own style when they're around 25...

btw,I saw somewhere Lambiel's training cost is around 150k per year,so maybe it's normal?

[Proustable]

Link for fan

It's behind a paywall, but if you don't go to the NY times regularly, you should be able to read it.

[barbk]

It would be very difficult for Chan to attend the University of Colorado right now in any event because Colorado Springs (where he trains) and Boulder (home of the University) are about a two-hour drive from each other.

Just to clarify -- CU Boulder is the original campus, but there is also CU Denver, the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and CU Colorado Springs. A number of athletes at the Olympic Training Center take classes at the Springs campus, and I think that there is some deal that athletes affiliated with the center get in-state tuition, thought that would not apply to Patrick.

He might get resident rates if he gets a green card and establishes residency.

[skatingfanfun]

Link for fan

It's behind a paywall, but if you don't go to the NY times regularly, you should be able to read it.

Thanks for the link! I'm just wondering why Chan could not improve his Axel with the same methods he used so successfully with the 4T?

[Proustable]

My guess? His technique on toe jumps is clearly quite strong vs edge jumps (witness his trouble with the triple loop), so getting/improving the quad is easier, relatively speaking. I suspect that now that he's doing the quad salchow in practice (talking about it, anyway) we might see an improvement on the axel. At least 50% landed cleanly, anyway (last year he was batting about 33%, fwiw, and that's just landed, not cleanly)

[ksneds]

Chan almost certainly is earning a fair bit from shows and from sponsorship deals (Cheerios, at least at one point, etc.), as well as funding from the Canadian Olympic Organization/SkateCanada.

That said, I suspect something 'got lost in translation' with regards to his training expenses. I suspect the $158,000 figure from the NY Times is much more accurate. It does not seem credible that Chan could afford close to $500,000 a year in expenses - even with income from shows, sponsorships and sports org funding. However, I'm guessing that since he spends much of the year in the US, Chan no longer qualifies for OHIP (healthcare in Ontario), so he'd have to get private health insurance. Though he may get some coverage via SkateCanada deals for elite athletes.

Also, as Canadian citizen and unless he's declared residency in the US, Chan would be paying Canadian taxes. He would only be paying US taxes on money earned in the US, and the US-CAN tax treaties provide for exemptions so you don't pay taxes in both countries. Not to mention, given the current economic situation, Chan is probably much more likely to want to keep his money and future pension up North.

As to reasons for not starting university - I strongly suspect that, as a non US citizen or permanent citizen - Chan could not legally enroll at a US university with his current visa. Both the US and CAN are very strict about not permitting persons to take any formal educational courses unless you enter with a student visa. I remember reading that Tessa Virtue is taking classes at a Canadian University despite training in the US - for the same reason I assume, as she would not have a student visa.

[kwanfan1818]

In the interview, he said all but one sponsor dropped out right after the Olympics, and this happened to many deserving athletes, not only him.