By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen was still a teenager when he stumbled through a disastrous short programme in his Olympic debut in 2018 and crashed out of medal contention despite being a favourite for gold.
In Beijing, expectations don’t weigh so heavily on Chen, who has won the last three world titles and is determined to make better Olympic memories this time around.
“I was a kid not really knowing exactly what the Olympics were,” Chen said of his experience at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. “I didn’t really didn’t have fun with it. I look back on that and don’t really have the fondest memories.”
Chen cleanly landed an unprecedented six quadruple jumps in his free skate in Pyeongchang to help him vault from 17th to fifth place, and left with just a bronze medal in the team event.
At the Beijing Games, Chen will renew his rivalry against Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, who in Pyeongchang became the first man to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in singles since 1952.
Chen, who last month captured his sixth consecutive U.S. national title, says the four years since his Olympic debut have helped him gain perspective on how to have more fun in and around the Games.
“Within the course of my career, I only have a very limited amount of time on the ice and in competition and especially at the Olympics,” he said. “So if I can’t enjoy it, then what’s the point of doing it?”
The Beijing Games carry additional significance for Chen and his family. Chen’s mother, Hetty Wang, was born in the Chinese capital and Zhidong Chen, his father, spent a good portion of his life there before immigrating to the United States.
“Regardless of how I skate, I want to be able to look back and be like, ‘that was a really cool experience,'” Chen said.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
