Nathan Chen Fan Thread #2

[Sylvia]

Pro skater Ashley Clark taught Nathan the backflip on ice today: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1CH0-Wno4d/
Her IG stories show her assisting him with a belt/harness in the indoor rink first (ETA the story was copied by a fan for posterity here): https://twitter.com/aboutNathan0505/status/1160614772963856385

 

[Firedancer]

Not sure how I feel about Rocketman. I liked it more than I thought I would.

 

[love skating]

Wow, Nathan's backflip is very good! I don't know why I'm surprised since it seems like Nathan is good at everything he tries lol!! As to the Elton John FS, I will reserve judgment until I see a competition version. I do like that he is trying new styles/music - this is the perfect time to experiment with different styles and then find what works best for the Olympic season.

 

[meer]

I love the Bennie and the Jets part of that program. The rest is kind of unmemorable, but he said this is only part of his FS. He obviously hasn't had time to actually get everything together considering how much he's been touring this summer.

He can really sell a program well nowadays. Agree it's nice to experiment and a good time for it.

 

[VGThuy]

Nathan is providing the most interesting music selections in mens skating these days.

 

[dinakt]

Nathan and his program choices

 

[Sylvia]

Jack Gallagher's latest podcast interview can be listened to here: https://soundcloud.com/user-983930015/no-28-rafael-arutunian

Jack and Ayano speak with world renowned coach Rafael Arutunian about Nathan Chen's plans ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics...

https://twitter.com/IceTimePodcast1/status/1160213173015732224

Nathan and Pooh 44:45
Nathan and School 48:50

 

[Firedancer]

New article on Nathan from champs camp:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/olympi.../09/06/nathan-chen-elton-john-rocket-man/amp/

 

[vanillashake]

Chen is just so incredible. Long leading the field in both jump difficulty and even more than jump difficultly the quality of jumps and the huge GOE of his clean jumps which surpass all others clean jumps with the judges, but then leading the field in spins and footwork, and now leading it in musical selections, musicality, and choreography. He is so unbelievable, he is now competing only against himself. It is almost an insult to force him to have to share the ice and compete with other skaters anymore. So excited to see him this season.

 

[Japanfan]

It is almost an insult to force him to have to share the ice and compete with other skaters anymore.

Well he doesn't have to compete anymore. If he wants to accomplish more in FS at the amateur level, he has to complete.

IMO your comment is an insult to all the skaters who compete against Nathan. They may be battling for a silver or bronze medal, or they just may be thrilled to have made it to Nationals or Worlds. They have as much right to compete as Nathan does, their accomplishments likely mean no less to them than Nathan's accomplishments do to him. And every skater has to start somewhere. We may see skaters who have a chance of being dominant and it is possible for a skater to even beat Nathan. Nathan does seem to be a machine, but he is actually human and if he messes up a quad or two or more quads in a program, he could completely become unnraveled.

 

[Sylvia]

@Japanfan (re. the sentence you quoted above), vanillashake is trolling. Please ignore.

Nathan Chen - Move Fast (his new promo video for Boosted Boards was uploaded on YT today): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrSRe6rwYO0
(Video is linked from here: https://boostedboards.com/nathan-chen)

 

[sk9tingfan]

People Magazine's latest update on Nathan:

He's an Olympic Medalist and a College Sophomore: All About Skater Nathan Chen's Life at Yale

Figure skater Nathan Chen, a 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, is a sophomore at Yale where he balances math classes with training at the ice rink

people.com

 

[Firedancer]

Article mostly about Nathan’s FS:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019...-america-crown/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Dobre]

Dual triple-axeling Nathan Chen. I believe the first time I've seen him accomplish that cleanly in a FS since juniors.

 

[Firedancer]

Meryl Davis interviewed Nathan at Skate America:
https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/video/detail/skate-america-champ-nathan-chen-speaks-meryl-davis/

 

[Sylvia]

I've posted the link to this week's Ice Talk podcast, for which Jackie Wong chatted in person with Nathan for about 10 mins. at Skate America in Las Vegas, in GSD here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/ice-talk-podcast-2019-20-season-4.106124/#post-5673070

Nathan on the process of working with his choreographers, Bourne and Dubreuil (summarizing/paraphrasing):

Shae is "... very, very professional, she's very detail oriented, super type A, very serious during work although she's very creative and happy and fun to work with, she's also 'we're not going to move on from this movement until it's perfect and until I love it!' That's great to have but also kind of tiring" (laughs).
On the French song program: "It's something I'm still trying to figure out... I feel like there's so many layers to the program. Shae is allowing me to figure it out on my own but she is giving me guidance ... I'm trying to create characters for each section... it's still a work in progress and more conversations with Shae will help a lot."

Marie is like "Oh there's like a million ideas I'm just going to throw at you and see what sticks and clean it up as it goes!"
Also, Sam Chouinard "did a little a bit last year" (he added a couple of arms & movement throughout in his Woodkid medley FS). He has more input this year because of the hip hop section of Rocketman: "...he just has SO much swagger and is way too cool when he does it... that's what I'm going to try and clean up on as the season goes on."

Re. his programs in the last five years: "Now I feel like I have a lot more input into the programs and really enjoy performing the programs." He cites "Nemesis" as "the easiest program for me to get into."

He practiced his FS today in Grenoble and is planning an opening quad Lutz (fan cam video of his partial run through):

Nathan CHEN FP practice Internationaux de France 2019 31/10/2019

Nathan Chen’s fp practice at the Internationaux de France 2019 Day:31/10/2019 Link for IDF playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxHzR2SfZ90N-WgL...

www.youtube.com

 

[Sylvia]

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Announces Winners For 2019 Team USA Awards Presented By Dow, Best Of The Year (Nov. 19, 2019): https://www.teamusa.org/News/2019/N...-USA-Awards-Presented-by-Dow-Best-of-the-Year
Excerpts from the press release:

Male Olympic Athlete of the Year
Nathan Chen (Salt Lake City, Utah), Figure Skating
Chen became the first American man since 1984 to win back-to-back world championship titles in March 2019, and only the fourth male figure skater – and first from the U.S. – to win consecutive ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final titles (2017, 2018) after securing wins at the 2018 Internationaux de France and 2018 Skate America, where he topped the field by 41.06 points – the largest margin in Skate America history. He also won his third consecutive U.S. title, smashing the record for the highest margin of victory at 58.21 points.

The eight awards were presented during a live recording of the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Year ceremony, held tonight at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. The awards show – which features Olympic wrestling champion Jordan Burroughs as host – will be televised from 2-3 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 22, on NBC.

 

[Alexa]

2019 Team USA awards video, Olympic and Para Olympic male athletes of the year

2019 Team USA Awards, presented by Dow | Olympic & Paralympic Male Athletes of the Year

The USOPC Male Olympic Athlete of the Year – Nathan Chen, figure skating; Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year – Ben Thompson, Para archery. Team USA: http://...

youtu.be

 

[A.H.Black]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hmpWYy0-WI

A public service announcement organized by the Utah Jazz. I was happy to see that Nathan Chen was included among the football, basketball, and soccer stars - plus a golfer.

 

[Cayuse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hmpWYy0-WI

A public service announcement organized by the Utah Jazz. I was happy to see that Nathan Chen was included among the football, basketball, and soccer stars - plus a golfer.

Go Utah Jazz for such a great message. Just a shame this country still needs such a message.

 

[Firedancer]

Pre GPF article with Nathan:

Before Yale final exams, Nathan Chen faces a different test: Yuzuru Hanyu

Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu go head-to-head at the Grand Prix Final for the first time this season.

olympics.nbcsports.com

 

[jlai]

I watched Nathan's short three times already!

 

[AxelAnnie]

I watched Nathan's short three times already!

I am at #4. He is simply amazing..................and cute!

 

[aftershocks]

Nathan's more than amazing. There aren't enough superlatives. And yet, he laid his performance down seemingly almost matter-of-factly!

Nathan and Kevin were the only two men at GPF who skated lights out in the sp!

 

[Fiero425]

I watched Nathan's short three times already!

I'm watching the GP Final now; Nathan just skated his short! Surprised he's kept it passionate even though going to Yale! Hanyu will have to battle against real jumpers out there! He won't be able to survive with just the choreography! Looks as if he should have been ahead of Nathan except he missed his combination! Can't wait for the LP's! Funny seeing Trusova behind in the SP when everyone knows what's coming later to soar past the others! Poor Bradie can't compete with these girls!

 

[Sylvia]

1 Nathan CHEN USA 335.30 1 1
FS scores: 224.92 129.14 95.78 9.57 9.39 9.68 9.61 9.64 0.00 #6

Just... Wow.

 

[Firedancer]

Congratulations to Nathan on a third GPF title and new world record!! Love seeing Nathan compete. Every thing just looks so easy!

 

[sk9tingfan]

Did not get up in time to watch the FP on NBC Sports Gold, and will save it to watch later with a friend(TG for replay). Nathan must have nerves of steel to have gone into this situation and blown away the rest of the field. I hope that Johnny and Tara gave Nathan the respect that he's due.

 

[believed]

So so proud and happy for Nate!!! Congrats!!!

 

[bcash]

Did not get up in time to watch the FP on NBC Sports Gold, and will save it to watch later with a friend(TG for replay). Nathan must have nerves of steel to have gone into this situation and blown away the rest of the field. I hope that Johnny and Tara gave Nathan the respect that he's due.

I caught the live-stream on YT and it was pretty awesome. Hanyu performed beyond expectation and the audience went wild—again took extra long to clear the ice. And I thought well anyone going after that has got to be impacted somewhat, but then Nathan showed what a superlative competitor he has become. So much respect for him. But that costume is distracting.