Nathan Chen | Page 929 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015

Ella5555

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Reminiscing about Rocketman
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jEKTnHfdy/

Interesting that his location is Irvine, because I've been wondering if he's moved down there with Long Beach maybe a bit too far away from the rink.
Miss his skating. He seemed really prepared for Worlds and probably would have done well there. Irvine, huh? The rink’s website states that all programming has been suspended. It’s closed to the public, but maybe one of the rinks is open to elite skaters only. Seems unlikely, but maybe a small possibility of that.
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Miss his skating. He seemed really prepared for Worlds and probably would have done well there. Irvine, huh? The rink’s website states that all programming has been suspended. It’s closed to the public, but maybe one of the rinks is open to elite skaters only. Seems unlikely, but maybe a small possibility of that.

Doubt it because Mariah's in Texas with her family. It makes sense that he'd move down to Irvine to be closer to the rink. I didn't mention it at the time but I noticed he was selling off some of his furniture on Facebook last year.
 

Ella5555

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Doubt it because Mariah's in Texas with her family. It makes sense that he'd move down to Irvine to be closer to the rink. I didn't mention it at the time but I noticed he was selling off some of his furniture on Facebook last year.

Yeah, that makes total sense. I think it’s going to be tough for these athletes to get back into skating shape for competition - whenever that might be.
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
I think Nathan would fare better than most skaters since he can draw from his experiences coming back from hip surgery. What I do wonder about is whether or not he will continue at Yale next semester. It would great if they continued with online classes so that he could train in Cali without having to take a leave of absence.
 

discode

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Loved seeing him skate again. He would have done well.

I wonder if classes will even resume in the fall at this rate. I go to a uni in Texas and they already canceled in person summer school. Really depends on how things go I guess. With this huge break in training there's going to be a lot of catch up when skaters are actually able to get back to the rink. Right now I'd guess he wouldn't go back for the fall considering everything that's happening.
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Given the fact, that his stay at Yale was unexpectedly cut short this semester and how unwilling he appeared to commit to a definite leave of absence next season (and that was before the current crisis) I would think he'd be even more eager to add another 1-2 semesters instead of already leaving Yale.
(that is, of course, should in-person classes even resume in the fall semester)

And I feel really bad for having such selfish feelings about this, because he clearly loves being at Yale, but as someone who enjoys his skating so much, I was really hoping we'd get at least two full seasons where he'd mainly focus on his skating. I'm so curious what more he could bring to the table with skating being more 'full-time'. And having Shae at his home rink seems like such a lucky constellation, too.
(again, assuming we even get a more or less regular next season and training resumes at some point during the summer)

Then again, who knows... maybe, contrary to expectations, he'd burn out and lose motivation without having this social life and that other identity at college to balance out the intense demands of elite training. :shrug:
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Nathan seems to need the mental stimulation of school, skating, music, etc. to keep himself from getting bored. I imagine his decision regarding the Fall semester will depend on what the competition schedule looks like. If the GP series gets cancelled I see no reason he can't continue at Yale for at least one more semester.
 

chanchan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Same selfish feelings. And also i wish no MFD program next szn.:slink:
Maybe Shae could choreograph both programs or Nadia choreographes one. I really like the Jackson SP. She also did a excellent SP for Ksenia Sinitsyna last szn.
 

mdr19

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 12, 2020
Given the fact, that his stay at Yale was unexpectedly cut short this semester and how unwilling he appeared to commit to a definite leave of absence next season (and that was before the current crisis) I would think he'd be even more eager to add another 1-2 semesters instead of already leaving Yale.
(that is, of course, should in-person classes even resume in the fall semester)

And I feel really bad for having such selfish feelings about this, because he clearly loves being at Yale, but as someone who enjoys his skating so much, I was really hoping we'd get at least two full seasons where he'd mainly focus on his skating. I'm so curious what more he could bring to the table with skating being more 'full-time'. And having Shae at his home rink seems like such a lucky constellation, too.
(again, assuming we even get a more or less regular next season and training resumes at some point during the summer)

Then again, who knows... maybe, contrary to expectations, he'd burn out and lose motivation without having this social life and that other identity at college to balance out the intense demands of elite training. :shrug:

I, too, would be really curious to see what he could do if could be "entirely committed" to skating for a season or two. But I also suspect that your last point could be true. Maybe having a life aside from skating actually takes away some of the stress and helps him enjoy everything a lot more. In addition, having more experience outside skating could help one grow in terms of interpretation and performance.

Regardless, I think Nathan is very smart and knows what he wants, and whatever his decides I would fully support it.
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
I think he might go back to Yale for another year, if the school year resumes as usual. Otherwise he could still take classes online and focus more on training, though who knows when the rink will be open again.

Having a busy life outside of skating has allowed him to put less pressure on himself in some ways. I’m not sure if the trade-off for focusing primarily/exclusively on skating would be worth it to him.

On a superficial note, the streaming of 2018 Worlds made me miss those nicely-fitted costumes. Remember when we (mostly) thought the Nemesis vanilla one-sleeve was quite ugly? How things have changed lol. They look nicer now (all of the black and white Veras from that season) in retrospect :p

Hopefully he’s doing okay at home! It’s a big change for him to go from college and training intensely - to staying at home, online classes, no skating, and more limited physical activity.
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Remember when we (mostly) thought the Nemesis vanilla one-sleeve was quite ugly? How things have changed lol. They look nicer now (all of the black and white Veras from that season)...

Speak for yourself. :noshake: ;)
I've always loved his Vera costumes, especially (!) the vanilla Nemesis one (I don't care if it sometimes makes his arm disappear against the ice, it's such a nice design :love:) and his Caravan costume is another favourite of mine.
The only one I really disliked was that one-big-white-stripe costume for Nemesis at Nationals, that one looked really bad to me for some reason. Oh and I wasn't a fan of the zippers and overly long sleeves from that 'early era' but I could overlook those.

And I don't even dislike the loose tops he's currently wearing, I just think that a close-fitting one would look so much nicer. And to be honest, if he's gonna wear shirts with a comfy cut, if anything, I think they should be even more loose in the shoulder/upper arm area than they currently are :devil:. More like his actual workout tops that he wears for practice, it would look more 'flow-y'.


Hopefully he’s doing okay at home! It’s a big change for him to go from college and training intensely - to staying at home, online classes, no skating, and more limited physical activity

I imagine him doing lots of strength training and going on bike rides. :laugh:


Having a busy life outside of skating has allowed him to put less pressure on himself in some ways. I’m not sure if the trade-off for focusing primarily/exclusively on skating would be worth it to him.

That is the question. Was it really school, which put skating and his sports career into perspective, and allowed him to face competitions with a more relaxed and pragmatic mindset? Or is it just his naturally calm disposition coupled with some regular 'growth' that simply came with age and more experience on the senior scene?

If skaters such as Boyang, Shoma or Dmitri resurge and get back to their past shapes or if one of the youngsters has a breakthrough season, he might need to do more.
Never mind a Yuzuru that at some point succeeds at skating clean programs at a comp where he's up against Nathan.

And his course load won't get easier or more manageable in terms of scheduling either (possible lab courses...?), plus we don't know if there weren't already sacrifices that he had to make throughout those two years in terms of his academic interests or grades.

I think right now, leaving his friends might be the toughest part of taking a break from Yale. Because he can always go back to what Yale is offering in terms of education or inspiring atmosphere, but he can't make up for lost time with that specific circle of friends.
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
And also i wish no MFD program next szn.:slink:
Maybe Shae could choreograph both programs or Nadia choreographes one.

Yes, to all of the above!

Just the thought of another MFD program makes me go :disapp:...
(he can keep Sam though :laugh: but I'm afraid it's a package deal)

And I've also entertained the idea of Nadia choreographing another program for him. Although I'm sad to say that I did not like her program for Stephen this season, because it felt kinda frumpy and old-fashioned. But I've really enjoyed several of her programs for young Nathan and if anything, she seems very versatile and doesn't have one fixed style.
 

chanchan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
I HATE Vera Wang. (sorry but not sorry...

Nathan's costumes before vera is way much better. The costumes of 2016-17 season are dedicated and fit for the music. OK, Nathan doesn't like shiny things. But the black/red shirt for Nemesis and the deep blue shirt for MLD are also better than Vera's. These shirts highlight Nathan's flow and dynamic on the ice. With Vera's, i can not feel the same way.(not to mention she cut off my favorite curls from nate for olympic:sad4:
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
I agree that his 2016-17 costumes were the best. Vera costumes really were at their worst this season, and were unflattering. Seems that they thought there was room for improvement, if he was planning to wear new costumes at Worlds. Curious what they look like - or maybe it’s better that we don’t know :p

No more MFD programs please. Nathan deserves better than one of her team’s unwanted programs.
 
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