We collect cookies to analyze our website traffic and performance; we never collect any personal data.Cookies Policy
Accept
Michigan Post
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Michigan
  • World
  • Politics
  • Top Story
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economics
    • Real Estate
    • Startups
    • Autos
    • Crypto & Web 3
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Beauty
    • Art & Books
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Education
Reading: Nathan Chen Isn’t Perfect but Wins U.S. Skating Championship
Share
Font ResizerAa
Michigan PostMichigan Post
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Michigan
  • World
  • Politics
  • Top Story
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economics
    • Real Estate
    • Startups
    • Autos
    • Crypto & Web 3
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Beauty
    • Art & Books
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Education
© 2024 | The Michigan Post | All Rights Reserved.
Michigan Post > Blog > Sports > Nathan Chen Isn’t Perfect but Wins U.S. Skating Championship
Sports

Nathan Chen Isn’t Perfect but Wins U.S. Skating Championship

By Editorial Board Published January 10, 2022 8 Min Read
Share
Nathan Chen Isn’t Perfect but Wins U.S. Skating Championship
09skating men1 facebookJumbo

NASHVILLE — Nathan Chen, one of the most successful figure skaters in U.S. history, skated in his own stratosphere on Sunday at the U.S. national championships.

Five powerful quadruple jumps that launched him high above the ice. Spins as precise as a gyroscope’s. Footwork that flowed like a fast-moving river.

He fell twice — once on a quad jump early in his free skate and again during a foot-tapping choreographed sequence to an Elton John medley — but it did not matter a bit. After his second fall, Chen playfully threw his arms into the air as if to say, aah, whatever.

“Am I to expect that?” Chen said of his mistake in his footwork. “That was just a dumb little moment.”

Who cares that his performance wasn’t perfect. Chen, who has lost only once in more than three seasons, still won his sixth consecutive national title to become the first American man to do so in 70 years. He finished with 328.01 points, 25.53 ahead of second-place Ilia Malinin, the son of two Olympic figure skaters who represented Uzbekistan. Vincent Zhou, the 2019 bronze medalist at the world championships, was third and Jason Brown, a 2014 Olympian, was fourth.

Chen could have finished last at nationals, frankly, and still have been named to the Olympic team for his second Winter Games. He is simply that valuable to the United States as a potential Olympic gold medal winner, and he will be one of the most prominent American names at next month’s Beijing Winter Games.

Hours after nationals ended, Chen, 22, who is from Salt Lake City, was named to the Olympic team. Zhou, 21, and Brown, 27, will join him. It will be the second Olympics for all three men. The squad was chosen on the skaters’ body of work for the past year or so.

Get Ready for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Just months after Tokyo, the Olympics will start again in Beijing on Feb. 4.

Chen will be the gold medal favorite. He was fifth at the 2018 Olympics after coming back from a disastrous short program to rock the free skate with an amazing six quadruple jumps, adding that sixth quad at the last second just because he could.

Zhou, a 2018 Olympian, is the skater who broke Chen’s winning streak in October when he won Skate America for his biggest international victory yet. At nationals, he performed a spectacular short program for a personal best score, but made several big mistakes in his free skate.

“I was so nervous that my body froze up on me, I couldn’t get things to respond,” Zhou said about his free skate, adding that he and his coaches will go back to Colorado, where he trains, to evaluate what happened and how to fix it before the Olympics. He added that the three American men going to Beijing would give the United States perhaps the strongest male contingent of singles skaters at the Olympics.

Of the men’s team, Brown said, “I’m so incredibly proud of how dense the U.S. field has become.”

Malinin, 17, could have been a surprise pick for the third Olympic spot, but he was named first alternate after his brilliant performance at nationals, where he nailed four quadruple jumps in his free skate and showed the flair and confidence of a veteran.

“I was surprised at how this came together,” Malinin, of Vienna, Va., said of his performance at nationals. His Instagram handle is @quadgOd, and he has vowed to live up to that Quad God nickname.

On Sunday, U.S. Figure Skating also announced the three ice dance teams and two pairs teams that will go to the Beijing Games.

The U.S. Olympic ice dance teams are: Madison Chock and Evan Bates; Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker; and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.

The pairs teams are Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, and Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc.

Knierim and Frazier did not compete at nationals because Frazier tested positive for the coronavirus last week and remained in his hotel room in isolation.

Of all the American skaters and teams, though, Chen is the best hope for an Olympic gold medal. He is a three-time world champion and a force on the international stage. Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, is expected to be his biggest rival.

But at these Olympics, with the last several years of dominance in mind, Chen is poised to beat him.

His performance at nationals made that clear.

Under the pressure of trying to avoid the highly contagious Omicron variant as it surges around the world, and after at least six skaters tested positive for the virus at nationals, Chen remained calm and focused.

In the short program on Saturday, he broke his own event record by scoring 115.39 points to put himself in a position to win yet another title. And his fellow top Americans delivered personal-best results. Zhou and Malinin scored more than 100 points, hinting that the U.S. men’s team could be formidable in Beijing.

“There have been many amazing performances that have been done over the history of figure skating, so I can’t say definitively that this is for sure the best, but in my career this is definitely one of the standout few,” Chen said about the short program.

Here at nationals, Chen decided to revert to his 2019-20 programs because, he said, he feels connected and comfortable with them. After losing at Skate America in October with new programs, the move to the old standbys seemed to make sense.

He skated his short program to “La Bohème” and his free skate to snippets of reworked Elton John songs, with the crowd at Bridgestone Arena giving him a standing ovation both times. On Sunday, it looked as if Chen was genuinely having a good time — despite the two falls. When the last beat of music echoed throughout the arena, he laughed and smiled all the way to the kiss-and-cry area to wait for his scores.

“I have these opportunities and I want to make the best of them,” Chen said. “I want to be able to look back on my career some 10, 20 years from now and be like, you know, I really enjoyed the time that I was there. I had a lot of fun on the ice.”

TAGGED:Baker, Jean-LucBates, Evan (1989- )Beijing (China)Cain, Ashley (1995- )Chen, NathanChock, MadisonDonohue, Zachary (1991- )Figure SkatingFrazier, Brandon (1992- )Hanyu, YuzuruHubbell, MadisonLeDuc, Timothy (1990- )Nashville (Tenn)Olympic Games (2022)The Washington MailUnited States Figure Skating Assn
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link Print

HOT NEWS

"They're probably ashamed" Coronary heart and Fingers Meals Pantry being evicted

"They're probably ashamed" Coronary heart and Fingers Meals Pantry being evicted

Michigan
October 23, 2025
OpenAI simply gained a 2nd Australian authorities contract after being the one firm invited to bid

OpenAI simply gained a 2nd Australian authorities contract after being the one firm invited to bid

OpenAI is steadily embedding itself within the Australian authorities, with the US tech big successful…

October 23, 2025
Demise threats for former French president Nicolas Sarkozy – lower than a day into five-year jail sentence

Demise threats for former French president Nicolas Sarkozy – lower than a day into five-year jail sentence

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been the goal of loss of life threats in…

October 23, 2025
9/11 Hero Run organizers donate K to Crime Stoppers

9/11 Hero Run organizers donate $9K to Crime Stoppers

LANSING, (Mich.) WLNS -- Organizers of the Holt 9/11 Hero Run are serving to to…

October 23, 2025
Why these Sydney retirees grew to become startup founders of their 70s

Why these Sydney retirees grew to become startup founders of their 70s

After going through a serious well being scare, Sydney grandparents Ken and Adelle Alexander might…

October 22, 2025

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

How a tough season remodeled Blake Snell into the Dodgers’ October ace

For a lot of the 12 months, the Dodgers’ beginning rotation felt damaged.Largely, as a result of the pitcher acquired…

Sports
October 22, 2025

Michael Jordan says one free throw made him ‘essentially the most nervous I have been in years.’ This is why

Michael Jordan was nervous.All he needed to do was sink a free throw, however rather a lot was using on…

Sports
October 22, 2025

Dodgers’ Justin Dean has not batted but within the playoffs. Here is how he nonetheless contributes

Seems Shohei Ohtani isn’t the one Dodger who has been making historical past this postseason. Justin Dean has been breaking…

Sports
October 22, 2025

Coach-of-the-year candidates in highschool soccer maintain increasing

With two weeks left within the common season for highschool soccer, it’s develop into clear there’s a big and rising…

Sports
October 22, 2025

Welcome to Michigan Post, an esteemed publication of the Enspirers News Group. As a beacon of excellence in journalism, Michigan Post is committed to delivering unfiltered and comprehensive news coverage on World News, Politics, Business, Tech, and beyond.

Company

  • About Us
  • Newsroom Policies & Standards
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
  • Media & Community Relations
  • Accessibility Statement

Contact Us

  • Contact Us
  • Contact Customer Care
  • Advertise
  • Licensing & Syndication
  • Request a Correction
  • Contact the Newsroom
  • Send a News Tip
  • Report a Vulnerability

Term of Use

  • Digital Products Terms of Sale
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Settings
  • Submissions & Discussion Policy
  • RSS Terms of Service
  • Ad Choices

© 2024 | The Michigan Post | All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?