To say that Nathan Chen is a different person since finishing in fifth place at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 is an understatement. The 22-year-old captured his first of three World titles a few weeks after those Games and has completed two years of rigorous coursework at the prestigious Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
A favorite for the podium in PyeongChang, Chen took himself out of the running for a medal after the worst short program of his career, landing in 17th place. In the free skate, Chen moved the barometer of what was possible in skating, becoming the first to land six quadruple jumps in a single program, winning that segment of the competition.
Since that day, Chen has amassed a string of 11 international titles, and missed the top spot on the podium only once when teammate Vincent Zhou dethroned him for the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Skate America title in Las Vegas in October.
"I've certainly grown a lot and gained a lot of experience over the past four years," said the six-time U.S. champion. "The Olympics are such an extraordinary competition so to be able to have one experience of that already and be able to have four years in between that to continue growing is I think a really great thing."
Chen's opportunity for redemption is just days away, as he, Zhou and 2014 Olympian Jason Brown will represent Team USA in Beijing at the Olympic Winter Games 2022, opening later this week.
"I think this team is incredible—just the amount of experience we all have and the amount of work that we've put in. I think that regardless of anything we're going to be able to have great skates there," Chen said in Nashville last month.
"When I've been to events for the first time, things didn't necessarily go the way that I wanted them to—like with the World Championships and the Olympics. Going in for the first time (can be) daunting, so I think having had the experience of going to one and knowing what to sort of expect and having guys like (Zhou and Brown) to sort of back me up and give me some confidence if I need it, it's great to have a team like this."
In Nashville, Chen competed with both of his programs from the shortened 2019-20 season. The short program to Charles Aznavour's "La Boheme" was picture-perfect and earned the highest score in U.S. Championships history. Chen fell twice in his Rocketman free skate, but his technical fire power held up for the Salt Lake City native to claim the title.
"Every season my goal is to keep trying to improve off the previous competitions and I definitely have a way to go before the Olympics," he said. "I'm really just looking forward to going back home and then working for whatever goals I have for the Games."
Zhou will also make his second Olympic appearance in Beijing and will look to improve from his sixth-place finish in PyeongChang four years ago, when he was the youngest member of the Team USA delegation at just 17 years old. With his first Grand Prix title under his belt, Zhou has certainly created some chatter that he might be able to challenge for the podium in Beijing as well.
"Last time around sixth place was definitely an unexpected and really good finishing spot for me," said the 21-year-old. "I think now the field is even deeper, and while I've gotten better, so has everyone. Just because I've taken a step up this season doesn't mean I'll magically move up from sixth place. I have to work for every single point that I'm going to get."
After failing to qualify for the free skate at the World Championships last year in Stockholm, Sweden, Zhou sat down with his coaching team and family and reassessed the trajectory of his career. Rather than give in to disappointment, the 2019 World bronze medalist crafted a plan of attack for the new season.
"We sat down and started listing out different variables and different factors—thinking about how we can control those and how we can streamline every part of my training, every part of my lifestyle," he explained. "We came up with an action list and one by one got all that stuff taken care of and the results were pretty immediate."
The strategy worked, and Zhou broke the 300-point barrier at the Broadmoor Open last summer and qualified for the canceled Grand Prix Final for the first time in his career. In Nashville, he held his own with Chen in the short program but faltered in the free skate and ultimately settled for the bronze medal.
"I've been practicing different layouts of my long program just trying to find something that I feel like I have more command over while skating so that I can head into these major events with more confidence," he said. "I used nationals (U.S. Championships) as a test to try out the two quad Lutzes. I learned some things from that and now heading to the Olympics I have a better idea of how I want to approach the free skate so that I can have a better chance of skating a clean program, or a good program where I have control and command the whole time."
Beyond the significance of qualifying for a second Olympic team, Zhou has a special connection with the city of Beijing and hopes that he will be able to perform well in front of what he calls his "second hometown."
"My parents grew up there, they went to Tsing Hua University which is China's most prestigious university," he shared. "My grandparents and my extended family still mostly live in Beijing, so even though there is extra pressure, there is also extra excitement and a special significance to the situation. I really hope that once I get there, I feel like my whole family is there even if they're not in the crowd. I hope that I can feel that they're there to support me and use that to perform at an even higher level."
After missing the team in 2018, Brown's path to a second Olympic team berth has been paved by the 27-year-old's path to self-discovery.
"I think for me it was about finding my self-confidence again," Brown said. "Coming off 2018 where I felt so broken, I was just trying to figure out who I was—not just in sport but in the world. When you make a team at such a young age—I kind of became an Olympian out of nowhere and then anything less than that somehow was a failure. In the last four years I really found who I was and proved to myself that I didn't need accolades to be fulfilled or to feel like I had succeeded. I feel really proud of what I've done and the work that I have done."
After his free skate in Nashville, the Illinois native was emotional during his final bows.
"I gave everything I had, and I was so proud of the performances," Brown said of the U.S. Championships. "I allowed that feeling of gratefulness and the fact that I gave it my all just added to the intensity of those feelings. I gave it my all and how the chips are going to unfold are going to be how they unfold, but I was no longer tied down to my success feeling like it was wrapped up in whether I was going to the Olympics or not. I wanted to be on the team so badly, but it wasn't like I wasn't questioning my identity based on it any longer."
In Beijing, Brown is hoping to experience things in a new way that his 19-year-old self was not ready to absorb in Sochi, Russia, back in 2014.
"I spent the entire time with my feet off the ground—that feeling almost like I was floating. I was soaking up everything and with each experience my eyes got bigger and bigger and bigger," he remembered. "I was just in absolute awe of not only the people around me, but it was also the first time I was competing against all these people I had looked up to for so many years. I think that what I learned was a lot about pacing—how to stay grounded and focused and really focus on what I want to accomplish. Obviously, I want to place as high as I possibly can, but I think for me it's about going out there and putting on a show for the audience at home, and doing the best performances that I possibly can."
