A quick look at Nathan Chen's figure skating resume reveals that he has won a medal in either his first or second appearance at every competition he has entered except one: the Olympic men's singles event. It may seem like a foregone conclusion that he is training for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, which would be his second attempt, with nothing but gold on his mind.
That assumption would be wrong.
"I think that was my goal for 2018 – gold or bust – and that did not turn out well for me, so I definitely don't want to put myself in that mindset again," Chen said.
Leading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Chen had won the 2017 International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which served as the Olympic test event at Gangneung Ice Arena, and the 2017 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series Final. He was primed to medal at his Olympic debut.
Chen succumbed to the pressure, saying he was too focused on what he could not control – medals and placements – and had a disastrous short program. He finished 17th with a performance that was 29.41 points from first and only 7.54 higher than the final athlete who qualified to the free skate. The following day, Chen channeled his anger into a historic free skate that included six quadruple jumps. With the highest free skate score, he finished fifth overall.
While Chen said that experience did not change him, all of his experiences since then have been preparing him to be just that – prepared – and simply put out programs he's proud of come February 2022.
"From a skating perspective, I really just want to do the best I can," he said. "Don't put so much pressure on thinking I have to go there to win. At the same time, I want to be able to do everything I can to put myself in the best position to skate as perfect as I can. …
"I'm not saying I don't care about the results, but I would care more about putting out good programs. Let's say I won in 2018 but did that disastrous short, I don't think I would've been really satisfied with how I performed. I wouldn't think I deserved it. Even if in 2018 I skated two perfect programs and got like sixth, I think I would be much more satisfied with the way that competition went than I am now."
Chen's biggest goal for Beijing, however, is to create lasting memories of his Olympic experience. The nerves of his Olympic debut in Korea prevented him from enjoying the food, seeing other venues or even being able to remember his time with fellow athletes at the Olympic Village.
"I think the main thing I really lacked when I was at the 2018 Games was fully enjoying my experience at the Games," he reflected. "Obviously that's easier said than done, but once you're there it's like you're so stressed out about competing that it's hard to recognize that you're literally at the Olympics, the coolest competition ever. The entire time I was there, I couldn't think, I couldn't enjoy myself."
Now 21, Chen is preparing for the eventual end of his competitive skating career, as well as what will follow. It's something he has been thinking about his whole life, really. For as long as he knew he wanted to compete at the Olympic Games, Chen also knew he wanted to attend university. He accomplished both in one year, starting his college career at Yale University in August 2018.
It is a rarity for a figure skater to attend an Ivy League school and simultaneously compete at their sport's highest level, and Chen has done more than the bare minimum in both arenas. He has gone undefeated since winning his first World title in March 2018, notching 12 consecutive individual wins, and he maintains a high GPA in the classroom. He was on track to earn a 4.0 for the spring semester earlier this year until classes went virtual due to the pandemic and became pass or fail.
After successfully balancing the two worlds for two years, Chen is now focusing on one at a time. He has stepped away from Yale to focus on his preparation for the 2022 Games, and after Beijing he will complete his college degree and leave the ice – at least for the time being.
"I think it will be highly determined by how I feel after '22," Chen said on the topic of retirement. "Do I still have the drive? I feel like if I don't have the drive anymore, then there's no point. It'll really depend. As of now, definitely the plan is to go back to school, and even then, probably take one or two years off skating for sure, and then reevaluate."
Chen has several ideas about where his life could go post-skating, though is giving himself some grace in determining exactly what that will look like.
He is majoring in statistics and data science, which he initially selected as a placeholder major but is now likely to pursue all the way through to graduation. Though it was a challenging choice for a placeholder major, Chen enjoys statistics and is excited about the wide array of options it presents him. He has considered applying it to finance or biostatistics – or even a role with U.S. Figure Skating or the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee related to jump count tracking and applying rotational velocity data to skaters' training methods.
Chen is also interested in medical fields. A busy schedule between training, competing and studying has kept him from taking any pre-med classes, but he is eager to start volunteering at a hospital once it is safe to do so and is considering pursuing a post-graduate degree in some type of medicine.
No matter when his skating career ends and where he lands after, Chen intends to give back to the sport that has given him so much. He has a passion for teaching and although full-time coaching is not in the cards, he would love to consult with skaters or help out friends who intend to go into coaching. He also hopes to find himself in a mentorship role, potentially with U.S. Figure Skating or through the USOPC's Athlete, Career and Education program.
"I would still love to be involved in sports one way or another," Chen said. "Skating has taught me a lot. I don't think that many 'normal' kids my age would have gone through this many life experiences: having been able to travel, having been able to work with this many people, having been able to be so disciplined on the ice every single day for so many years. … Skating has definitely taught me determination more than other extracurriculars might have. It has also taught me more practical things, like communication and teamwork, that I know will help me as a full-time employee one day. People have different approaches, so trying to get people to understand different viewpoints and put together the best plan to help me or whatever athlete to go forward – that's all great stuff you learn as an elite athlete."
