Nathan Chen | Page 885 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

H

Hollymolly

Medalist
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Z

zebobes

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Has anyone else listened to Nathan's podcast interview? Nathan does talk fast, but since I'm a native English speaker, I had no difficulty understanding him. I thought it was the most insightful interview I've ever heard, and Lila Fear asked a lot of interesting questions. Sounds like it was recorded in John-Luc's apartment in Montreal, you can often hear JL puttering around in the background, perhaps cooking one of the meals that Nathan raved about.

It's not all skating related, a lot of it is about his family and his school. Some of the factoids that stood out to me.


  • The Skype training that was mentioned it the past was definitely exaggerated. Nathan said they probably had at most 4 Skype calls with Raf over the entire season, and it was mainly when training was going terribly, and he would be like "Raf, how DO you do a waltz jump???" (This is also probably a joke, I doubt things ever got so bad that Nathan would need help with a waltz jump) Raf focused on every skater having their own personal goals for every week, so he is used to setting his own goals, and that helps him to stay on track with his skating while he's on his own.
  • His mom plays a huge role, obviously, from motivating him with Swedish Fish as a child (which was the only sugary food he would get to eat) to long road trips to competitions, where they would have times for long talks... and long naps. At the Olympics, the night after his short program when he couldn't fall asleep, Nathan called his Mom at 2 AM, and she basically told him just to take a Tylenol PM. She also is great with math, and will help him occasionally when he doesn't understand something in his statistics classes.
  • His dad, even though he is not as involved, is very supportive. His dad is his IJS consultant, and knows all of the rules, and will give advice on program construction to maximize the points and GOE. If he is having problems getting his levels, his Dad will usually know what to do too.
  • One of the big motivating factors last season was everyone who told Nathan that he wouldn't be able to make school and skating work together, and he wanted to prove them wrong. :laugh:
  • A big regret that he has about his Olympic experience is being too focused on the skating, and missing out on a lot of the opportunities to get to know people. He usually tries to stay chill during competitions, and will sometimes do stuff for fun, but he was so focused on skating, he missed out on a of stuff. He also said that he overpacked, especially since he got so much swag at the Olympics, he didn't even really need to pack that many clothes.
Definitely check out the interview when you have a chance. I really enjoyed the interview, and it's almost an hour long.
 
discode

discode

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
That's so cute about his dad. Get them levels. :agree: And I appreciate that naysayers motivated him :laugh:

Thanks so much for transcribing. I'll have to listen to it during my commute.
 
S

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
The interview has also been summarized pretty well on twitter:
https://twitter.com/nathanchen_us/status/1171177840458358784
https://twitter.com/nathanchen_us/status/1171538336420257792

I'm fairly certain Nathan is getting sponsored by Beats By Dre (owned by Apple) as they sponsor many top athletes from various sports. The other athletes in that group photo are Tony Finau (golf), Brooke Sweat/Keri Walsh Jennings(beach volleyball), and Chris Froome (cycling).

This recent Beats promo video featured many famous athletes, including one of Nathan's idols Lebron James. It's a very illustrious group to say the least.
https://youtu.be/Dd1VIeTMGQs

But I still can't figure out why he and Yuki are in Vegas or what Toyota would have to do with it. Something involving Skate America?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETA: We now have our answer from Yuki! Nathan has joined Team Toyota!
https://twitter.com/nwcgold2019/status/1171817781622239238
Now we know why he got rid of his Acura ad on IG.
 
S

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Gogolev talks about Nathan in IFS interview:
https://gogogogolev.tumblr.com/post/187652993750/the-october-2019-issue-of-ifs-magazine-features
It's really motivating to be training right beside him. Watching him do impressive jumps and to witness how hard he works every day. I look up to him, and in the future I would like skaters to look up to me in a similar way.
Click to expand...

Fancam of performance at Michael Weiss show
https://youtu.be/cusVKWf8_pg

frida80 said:
I figured he’d get Toyota. I’ve still got my fingers crossed for Apple.
Click to expand...

After Ashley's retirement Nathan became the logical choice, but the Beijing games are still 2.5 years away and most Toyota athletes are only signed the year before the Olympics for which they are aiming. Meaning this is a huge vote of confidence from Toyota.
 
S

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
From what I could gather Nathan was in LV for the Toyota National Dealer Meeting at the Mandalay Bay.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2649465408418365&set=pcb.2649478015083771&type=3&theater

Horsing around with Sis
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2TMRc3HIA4/

ETA:
Group pic with other Team Toyota athletes.
https://twitter.com/dsntedge/status/1172176901273600000

I think you can see him on stage two persons to the right of the tall man in the white t shirt.
https://www.facebook.com/toyotaagua...6fPqXXd4VKKLTLt6E4Sri17bobfn6kC5q8ZnalDzftfRT
 
O

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
8 is an auspicious number, also the last Olympics in Beijing started on 08-08-08. Finding out about his new sponsors on this page, going into the next Olympics, is great. Super happy for him!
 
S

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
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