Olympics 2022: Chloe Kim and Nathan Chen win gold medals

TWITTER / NBC

Asian Americans grabbed the Olympic spotlight Thursday: figure skater Nathan Chen and snowboarder Chloe Kim won gold medals in their respective events at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. 

Kim, 21, became the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the snowboard  halfpipe.

The Princton student did her best run in the half-pipe in her first attempt. She jumped high into the air in her five tricks, two of which were 1080s. That earned her a score of 94. None of her rivals came close to the score or her athletic performance.

At the end of her run, the Californian fell to her knees and instead of a look of triumph, she expressed surprise at her almost perfect performance.

Later she admitted she was nervous after having "the worst practice of my life." 

"I was dealing with all sorts of emotions (before the contest), but I reminded myself I just have to land one run, and I was so happy to do that," Kim told NBC.

Competitors are given three runs and the highest score is the one that counts. It is a good thing because in her subsequent runs, she attempted to do a 1260, four complete revolutions. She fell trying to do what no woman has done in competition.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Chloe Kim twists and turns during her first run in the snowboard halfpipe competition.

Later in the day, the 22-year old Chen was nearly perfect in his freestyle long program.

Skating last after three Japanese skaters captured the three top spots, Chen was confident and smooth on the ice, skating to "Rocketman" by Elton John. Chen, the quad king, landed five quads with ease, jumping high and spinning four times before hitting the ice again. No other skater was able to match him Thursday.

"I mean it's a whirlwind right now - everything is happening so fast," a breathless Chen told NBC. "That program is really fun to skate. At the end, I really just had a blast out there. When I finished the last jump, I thought I was pretty close (to the win)."

SCREEN CAPTURE

Figure skater Nathan Chen finishes his gold medal performance.

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After disappointing himself in 2018 when he won a bronze medal in PyongChang, Chen trained for four years with an eye to the 2022 Olympics for the chance to redeem himself. Except for one contest, the Yale student won every competition, enroute to three world championships. 

The Beijing Olympics has been special for Chen. His flawless freestyle program Thursday was added to his record-setting short program Tuesday.

"You can't imagine how it feels," he said of his Olympic-winning moment. "This means the world to me. I have the family connection (to Beijing, where his mother was born). It's amazing to have this opportunity to do it here," said Chen.

“That’s ... beyond affirming oneself as American. That’s affirming your whole history.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: Figure skater Nathan Chen scores record in his short program

Nathan Chen gave an uncharacteristic fist pump after his record-setting skate.

Nathan Chen reminded the world why he's ranked No. 1 in the world Monday when he scored 113.97 points in his short program, the highest score in figure skating history.

Chen, normally not one to show his emotions, couldn't contain himself at the end of his record-setting program when he gave a triumphant fist pump.

"I was elated," Chen said in an interview on the NBC broadcast. "Last Olympics, both short programs didn't go the way I wanted and to finally get the opportunity to skate the programs the way that I wanted -- it feels really great. It means a lot."

"Obviously, there are always things you can improve on, there are always things you can do a little bit better, but overall, I'm very happy," Chen said.

After his bronze medal finish in PyongChang, South Korea four years ago, Chen is determined to improve his finish in the Olympics.

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Chen's score broke the previous world record of 111.82 set in 2020 by two-time Olympic defending champion, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu, who will be Chen's main competition for a gold medal. Hanyu stands in third place after the short program, behind countryman Yuma Kagiyama.

Men's figure skating will continue Tuesday with the free skate long program.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: It's complicated for Chinese American athletes in the home of their ancestors

Vincent Zhou

For the Chinese American athletes in the Olympics, competing in Beijing has significance  that goes beyond their sport.

The city of Beijing and the country of China is the ancestral home of the Chinese American athletes, many still have family there.

"My grandparents still live here. Much of my extended family does. So this is almost like a second hometown to me," says figure skater Vincent Zhou.

Speaking about her father, who fled the country for his pro-democracy activities, 16-year old Alysa Liu told the Today Show before leaving for Beijing. "Obviously we still love the country of China, even after my dad left because of the government." 

Alysa Liu

"This is still his homeland, and he's very happy that I get to go to China again ... Just going back to China will make me feel good."

Nathan Chen, the United States' top men''s figure skater has fond memories of a visit to Beijing, his mother's hometown.

"I remember going to the Beijing Zoo," when he was younger, says Chen. "So like every time when we're driving from the (Olympic) Village here, I see the Beijing Zoo and am like, ‘Oh, I was here when I was 10.’

"So it's kind of cool to be able to see that. Also just hear stories from my mom growing up in Beijing and being like, ‘Wow, you know, I'm here,’" he tells the Associated Press.

"Hopefully at some point after the Games are over, I'll be able to explore Beijing a little bit more," added Chen.

Kai Owens

“It becomes full circle when I step off that plane in China,” Kai Owens told The Associated Press before arriving in Beijing.  “When my skis touch the snow in China, it’s going to be a really special moment for me because I get to ski in the Olympic Games in my birth country. It’s crazy how life works,” said the freestyle skiier, who was adopted when she was an infant by her Colorado parents.

Madison Chock's family roots more in the rural part of China. Chock is one-half of the ice dance team currently competing for a medal. 

“Every time I’m on the bus, I’m just looking out and studying the city and just imagining my roots are here, my ancestors are here,” says Chock, whose father is Chinese-Hawaiian. “And it’s a very cool sense of belonging in a way, to just be on the same soil that your ancestors grew up on and spent their lives on.”

“It’s really special, and China holds a really special place in my heart,” she told the AP.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: 20 Asian Americans/Canadians to watch in Beijing

Opening ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Olympics were held Feb. 3.

Updated: Feb. 6, adding Josh Ho-Sang of the Canadian hockey team.

With competition underway, at least 19 Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans and Canadian Americans will be competing in the Winter Olympics in Beijing beginning on February 4 but not all of them will be representing the United States.

Although the spotlight will shine bright on American snowboarder Chloe Kim and the Asian American figure skaters, which includes reigning U.S. champion Nathan Chen, a lot of media attention will focus on Eileen Gu, who was born and raised in California, but will ski for China. 

The Peoples Republic of China, in fact, will have seven Asian Americans or Asian Canadians, competing for China.

Following are the Asian Americans,  Pacific Islander and Asian Canadians at the Olympic Games. Unless otherwise stated, the athletes are from the USA. 

Figure Skating

Nathan Chen

For most athletes, winning an Olympic bronze medal would be a crowning achievement, but for Nathan Chen was disappointed with his performance four years ago in Seoul, South Korea. He was expected to win a gold but he couldn't overcome a couple of stumbles in his short routine.He is the only figure skater to complete four quad jumps in a single routine. After winning all but one international competition in the ensuing four years, the 22-year old Yale student is determined to redeem himself in Beijing. He's off to a great start with a "perfect" short program today. Watch below:

Vincent Zhou

Vincent Zhou made his Olympic debut in 2018 at PyeongChang, where he finished sixth. He made history at those Games, becoming the first skater to land a quadruple Lutz jump in the short program. The 21-year old won his first Grand Prix title in 2021 at Skate America, beating perennial favorite Nathan Chen for the first time.

Alysia Liu

At 16-years old, Allysia Liu is the youngest of Team USA's three women's singles skaters. Liu is also the youngest woman to win the U.S. national senior title at age 13 in 2019 and successfully defended her title in 2020 with a national scoring record of 235.52, becoming the youngest ever two-time champion. She had to withdraw from the national championships in January because of COVID-19 but made the team because of her past performances. The Richmond, California teen was the first woman in history to successfully complete a triple axel and a quadruple jump in the same program.

Karen Chen

In 2018, Karen Chen was the favorite to win a medal but ended a disappointing 11th. She left South Korea vowing to try again in 2022. Injuries and her studies at Cornell made her reconsider her options  by the end of 2019. Chen discussed options with her family at their Fremont, California home and they decided to take a year off at Cornell so she could train in Colorado. “That fire just relit inside me, and I knew that it’s only going to get harder as you get older, so now is the time to chase those dreams,” she said.

Madison Chock

Beijing is the third Olympics for ice dancer Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates. Her full name is "Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock;" La-akea means "sacred light from heaven," and Te-Lan translates to "special or unique orchid." Chock is of Chinese-Hawaiian descent. At age 29, this is probably the last Olympics for Chock. The couple is the U.S's best chance for a medal in ice dancing, which unlike "pairs' has no jumps and graded on the couple's fast, coordinated movements and lefts.

Keegan Messing (Canada)

Canada's best hope for a medal in men's figure skating is Japanese Canadian Keegan Messing. Born and raised in Alaska, Canada's current No. 1 men's figure skater competed for the U.S. until 2014 when he switched to Canada. The 30-year old is the great, great grandson of Canada's first immigrant from Japan. He was awaiting to be released from COVID-19 restrictions and missed the opening team competition of figure skating.

Zhu Yi (China)

It's been a long journey for Zhu Yi to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The 19-year-old will be the sole representative for the People's Republic of China, in the women single figure skating competition. China have not won a medal in the event since Nagano 1998 when Chen Lu won a bronze medal. While Zhu, who was born in Los Angeles, is unlikely to be in medal contention, she admits "the pressure is huge" but insists she will "use the nervousness to perform better" during the Games.

Snowboard

Chloe Kim

Chloe Kim, a gold medal winner in the women’s snowboard halfpipe in PyeongChang in 2018. With her outgoing personality, she became a media favorite in the U.S.  The 21-year old Californian made a name for herself in 2018 when she became the youngest to win a gold medal. Right after the Olympics, she made Times’ 100 most influential people’s list and 25 most influential teens list. She took time off to be a first-year student at Princeton and then took a year off from her studies to concentrate on her training. She says this could be her last Olympics, according to Business Insider and she intends to go out on top. She promises more "tricks." and is a favorite to repeat with a gold medal in the halfpipe.

Hailey Langland

The other snowboarder to watch beside Chloe Kim is Hailey Langland  who willl compete in the slopstyle and big air events. The 21-year old is ready for her second Olympic Games and hopes it will go a bit differently than the first one. During her first Olympics in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games, when she was just 17 years old, she placed 6th in slopestyle and 14th in the big-air categories—not quite the result the San Clemente, California, native was hoping for. She's struggled with consistency. The Filipina American finished fourth at the VISA Big Air in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Dec. 4, 2021 but she was the top American finisher. She finished 12th in the next competition but already had enough points to qualify for the team.

Speed Skating

Eunice Lee

If everything went as planned in Salt Lake City — a big if in the sport of short track — then four women looked like pretty good bets for the Olympic team. The fifth spot, the last spot on the speedskating team, however, was anyone’s guess. Lee, a 17-year-old from Bellevue, Washington, grabbed it. In fact, the teenager is so little known that she doesn't even have a bio on the US Speedskating website yet. After all, she’s not even on the national team. Lee was eyeing the 2026 Olympics but beat all expectations by becoming the youngest member of the U.S. team since 1998 and could compete in a relay.

Andrew Heo

Andrew Heo qualified for Team USA’s men short track team was a surprise. Favorite Brandon Kim fell short of expectation at the trials in Salt Lake City and Heo took advantage and finished second at the 1500 and third in the other two distances. He is from Warrington, PA. The 20-year old is currently ranked just outside the top-50 skaters in the world and has already been a part of three U.S. world cup teams. He says short track – a sport historically dominated by South Korea – has brought him closer to his own Korean heritage as he studies to become fluent in the language.

Alpine Skiing

Kai Owens

Moguls skier Kai Owens has made her first Olympic team, giving the 17-year-old a chance to return to the country where she was born to compete for a gold medal. She was born in China where her parents abandoned her. She was adopted at 16-months old by a Colorado couple. She has already started her qualifying rounds. She failed to appear in the first qualifying round after she fell in practice.

Asa Miller, (Philippines)

Asa Miller, who was born in Portland, Oregon, is the Philippines' sole athlete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The alpine skier will be competing at his second Games after a debut appearance at PyeongChang 2018 when he was just 17. Representing the Philippines, a tropical country where most of its citizenry has never seen snow, is no joke. In qualifying to compete, Miller has incurred several injuries in international competitions in order to represent the Philippines. In Beijing, Miller wants to improve on his results in Korea, and inspire a new generation of skiers. "Ever since I began four years ago at my last Olympics, the (Philippines) ski team has grown like five or six times larger than it was. So I hope to keep on doing that and keep inspiring the next generation of Filipino skiers and snowboarders."

Freestyle Skiing

Eileen Gu (China) 

China -- never a powerhouse in winter sports -- has touted Eileen Gu as their golden girl. Her face is plastered on billboards and magazines and fashion and sport sponsors line up for her endorsement. The photogenic Gu, a first-year student at Stanford, has modeled in California, New York and France. Born and raised in San Francisco, she has won three gold medals in her skiing events -- halfpipe, slopestyle and big air -- at the just completed X Games.  She is the first athlete to win gold in all three events, noted for its acrobatic twists and turns. Her popularity, Gu, who is fluent in Mandarin, has helped generate interest in skiing in that country.

Hockey

Peter Zhong, Brandon Yip, Tyler Wong, Spencer Foo, Parker Foo (China)

Eileen Gu is not the only foreigner representing China. Eighteen of China's men's hockey team are North Americans. Asian Americans Peter Zhong and Brandon Yip have been playing on China's club teams for several years. They are joined by Asian Canadians Tyler Wong, Spencer Foo and Parker Foo. The players became dual citizens in order to qualify for China's team. Although China is ranked 32nd in the world, as the host country, China earned a spot in the Olympics.

Josh Ho-Sang

Josh Ho-Sang is the lone Chinese Canadian on his country's hockey team. He currently plays for Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Check local listings to watch the 2022 Beijing Olympics on Peacock and NBC affiliates and streaming platforms. 

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EDITOR'S NOTE: For Olympic updates, additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Olympics 2022: NBC spotlights Nathan Chen, Chloe Kim to promote Winter Games and Team USA

Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim will represent the USA at the Beijing Olympics.

In case you've been living under a rock, or you've been living on social media platforms, you've probably missed these promos for NBC's Olympics coverage featuring men's figure skater Nathan Chen and freestyle snowboarder Chloe Kim.

Coming at a time when Asian Americans are being targeted by ignorant haters, NBC's promotion of the athletes as representatives of America is refreshing and ironic at the same time. The message it sends counters the movement hate depicting AAPI as perpetual foreigners.

For the last several years, Chen has been the world's best male figure skater, consistently winning international competitions since his disappointing third-place finish in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018.

If the 22-year old Yale student can maintain his athletic performance for the Olympics -- he's the only competitor to complete six quads in his long routine -- Chen is almost a lock for a medal.

Kim's skill on the half-pipe snowboard event and her bubbly personality and sense of humor did the 17-year old well after South Korea appearing on talk shows and performing surprisingly well on The Masked Singer.

All the attention and the loss of privacy took its toll, though. To get her head straight, Kim took time off to attend Princeton University trying hard to be just an ordinary college student.

Now 22-years old, Kim took a break from her studies last year to train for this year's  Olympics. She quickly gained her old form, winning three gold medals at the X Games.

Both of these athletes representing the U.S. and AANHPI everywhere, are expected to medal in their respective events in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which begin Feb. 3.

Chen and Kim are two of the 13 Asian American athletes at the Games representing, not only the U.S. but the Philippines and China, too.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Watch for more Olympic coverage when the Games start. For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Chen wins men's skating title; five AAPI skaters named to the U.S. Olympic team

U.S. SKATING

Nathan Chen captured his record-setting sixth national  skating championship Sunday.

For the first time in 70 years, a U.S. man has won six consecutive national titles.

Three-time and reigning world champion Nathan Chen will head into next month's Olympic Games Beijing 2022 one title shy of two-time Olympic champ Dick Button's record, Button winning seven straight from 1946-52.

Chen, 22, captured his sixth title Sunday (Jan. 9) at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville: Using his 2020 routine, he earned a free skate score of 212.62 added to his score for the short program to total 328.01.

He registered a 26-point win over the surprise of the weekend in 17-year-old Ilia Malinin, who was spectacular in both the short and free programs to claim the silver medal in his senior debut with a score of 302.48.

Vincent Zhou placed third and Jason Brown fourth.

The three-member U.S. men's team for Beijing 2022 was announced Sunday evening, with Chen, Zhou and Brown getting the nod. The selection committee bases its choices off of a skater's "body of work" from the recent past, including these national championships.

Earlier on Sunday, U.S. Figure Skating announced the two teams for pair skating and the three duos headed to Beijing for ice dance. With Chen and Zhou, there will be a total of five Asian Americans on the skating team. 

The other members of the team are:

Pair skating: Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier; Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc

Ice dance: Madison Chock and Evan Bates; Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue; Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker. Chock is of Chinese and Hawaiian descent.

Mariah Bell, Karen Chen and Alysa Liu were named to the figure skating team on Saturday.

Alysa Liu and Karen Chen named to U.S. Olympic figure skating team, more AAPI athletes in contention

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won gold at the U.S. championships held in Nashville, Tenn.

Nathan Chen is back. After his short program Saturday, he's leading the men' figure skaters before the long program later today (Jan. 9, 2022) when the men's Olympic competitors will be named. 

Chen narrowly leads fellow 2018 Olympian Vincent Zhou and if all goes as expected, Zhou will join Chen when they compete in the Beijing Games next month. Zhou set a new personal best with his 112.78 score.

Asian Americans will once again be well represented in the figure skating team. As expected, Alysa Liu, who had to withdraw from competition Friday because she tested negative for COVID-19, was named to the women's Olympics figure skating team, joining new U.S. champion Mariah Bell and silver medalist Karen Chen.

Hawaii's Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates won the dance team competition over Madison Hubbel and Zachary Donohue. The two teams, who train under the same coaches, have finished either first or second in the national championships for almost a decade and will most likely be named to the Olympic team.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson will wait to hear if they make the U.S. Olympic team.

Who will represent the U.S. in the pairs competition is less certain. Filipino American Jessica Calalang teamed with Brian Johnson to win the silver in the pairs competition at the figure skating championships. They were edged by the pairs team of Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, the champions in 2019. COVID-19 forced the withdrawal of the No. 1 ranked pair of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier. While Knerim and Frazier are expected to be named as Olympians, there is only one pairs spot left for the Olympics.

The remainder of the U.S. figure skating team will be named later Sunday after the men's final.

Favorite Alysa Liu withdraws from U.S. figure skating championship due to COVID-19

Two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu might still make the Olympic team despite having COVID-19.

Sixteen-year old Alysa Liu had to pull out of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after testing positive for COVID-19 Friday.

Liu, a two-time national champion for women's figure skating, is considered one of the favorites to make the U.S. team for the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

After the short program, Liu was in third place behind Mariah Bell and Karen Chen. Liu was expected to move up with the final event, the free skate, or long program. There are three slots for the women's figure skating team.

Liu wasn't the only skater to come down with the virus. The 101` pairs champions, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, withdrew Wednesday night after Frazier tested positive. Another women's skater, Amber Glenn, also withdrew later Friday after testing positive.

US Skating will select the team members Saturday afternoon and base their decisions on skaters' performance over the last two years, not just this year's national championship.

Any skater who tests positive for COVID-19 this week can still petition to be on the 2022 Olympic team.

The fact that Liu was the U.S. champion the last two years will help her case.  Liu's agent, Yuki Saegusa said that Liu will petition to be added to the team. 

Liu, a resident of Richmond, CA, is the only American female skater to perform a quad in her routines and if she performs at her best, is considered the U.S.  best chance of getting a medal in a sport dominated in recent years by Russian skaters.

In Friday's final competition, Mariah Bell came out on top, followed by the Karen Chen, who is from Fremont, CA. and 14-year old Isabeau Levito.

Earlier Friday, Hawaii resident Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates came from behind by edging rivals Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahu to win the rhythm dance competition with the free form dance competition still to go later Saturday.

The men's long form featuring favorite Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou is slated to start for on NBC Saturday to help determine who will be going to the Olympics. The men's finals will be held on Sunday.

In the pairs' competition, Sacramento's Jessica Calalang with partner Brian Johnson are likely to make the Olympic team after winning silver at the U.S. championship the last two years.

Right behind them, the team of Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov could find their way to the medal podium after the withdrawal of Knierim and Frazier.

Ice skating: Nathan Chen stumbles, Vincent Zhou rises wins Grand Prix title

USA SKATE

For the first time, Nathan Chen beat fellow American Nathan Chen in Las Vegas over the weekend.

An Asian American came in first in the men's free skate at Skate America on Saturday at Las Vegas' Orleans Areina, but it wasn't perennial champion Nathan Chen.

A spectacular Vincent Zhou easily held off Chen’s challenge, winning his first Grand Prix title and snapping Chen’s streak of 14 consecutive titles over the span of three-plus seasons.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Zhou said. “I didn’t really expect this result. What I did expect of myself was to be as well prepared and well trained as I possibly could be, and focusing on that every day at home led to the seemingly impossible becom(ing) possible.”

When added to Friday’s short program scores, Zhou won gold with 295.56 points, and Japan’s Shoma Uno took silver with 270.68 points. Despite placing second in the free skate, Chen — who finished fourth in the short program — settled for bronze with 269.37 points.

It is the first time Zhou has defeated Chen, who is a year older, in senior competition. The win comes on the eve of Zhou’s birthday — the Palo Alto, California, native turned 21 on Sunday (Oct. 24).

Zhou credited getting an early start this season — Skate America is his fourth competition — as well as superior preparation and good health, for his win.

“My training this year has been by far the most consistent and productive training I have ever had,” he said. “Being well prepared, training to perform under whatever circumstances, is really paying off. ... It’s just all about managing the ups and downs, not letting anything get into my head, working hard, keeping the goals in mind.”

For his part, Chen shrugged off the end of his winning streak, which had stretched back to the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships.  

“It is not devastating,” he said. “It was inevitably going to end (at) some point in time. ... I am really proud of the guys up here. If anyone was going to break it, I’m glad it was (Vincent).”

The two Team USA athletes both put on powerful technical displays in their free skates. Zhou attempted, and landed, five quadruple jumps, while Chen tried six quads, landing four and doubling out of the other two.

“Trying and accomplish(ing) are very different things, right?” Chen said. “I ended up doing four. ... The more you put out, the more risky it is. Is it worth it, I don't know. It depends on the day, I guess.”

Zhou’s free skate, set to the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” soundtrack, is far more seasoned, choreographically layered and compelling than Chen’s program to Mozart selections. Zhou first performed it during the 2018-19 season, winning the world bronze medal.

“I think it’s a very strong all-around program, it fits my character — well, it’s exciting,” he said. “I’m able to move to it well, it has a strong ending.”

The judges agreed: they awarded Zhou 198.13 points for his free skate, while Chen earned 186.48 points. 

Zhou had the last word at the press conference, tipping his hat to his longtime rival.

“Obviously, I don’t expect to win everything, I’m not Nathan Chen,” he said. “It’s an honor to compete in such a deep men’s field and an honor to win the gold medal. ... We are going to take this for what it is and ride the momentum and keep moving forward.”

In the ice dancing competition, Asian American Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates, came in second to with 208.23. The pair was edged by their training mates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue who earned 209.54 points.

-- USA SKATE

Nathan Chen wins his third straight men's World's Figure Skating Championship

Nathan Chen lands one of his five quads at the Worlds Figure Skating Championship.

American Nathan Chen won his third straight men's title at the World Figure Skating Championship in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chen was favored to win and he didn't disappoint demonstrating why he earned the title, Quad King, executing five quads in the freestyle portion of the figure skating competition.

The 21-year old Chen's victory makes him the man to beat in the 2022 Olympics in chenzu, China. He has not lost a competition since the 2018 Olympics, when he earned a Bronze medal after a performing a short program short of his expectations.

His next goal is to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing, China next year. "I am looking forward to next season and what everyone else brings to the table," Chen said, "and challenging myself to be as good as I can be."

"I wouldn't say this is my best free program ever," Chen said. "But it's one I will definitely remember forever and cherish, being able to skate like that and skate this piece here at worlds."

In the women's competition, Russia dominated, sweeping all three medals on the podium. American Karen Chen fourth place finish was a surprise after U.S. champion Bradie Tennell finished a disappointing ninth. 

America's Karen Chen feels she is as getting better heading towards the Olympic year 2022.

Karen Chen and men's champion Nathan Chen are not related.

Since Chen was crowned as the 2017 U.S. champion, before finishing 11th in the 2018 Olympics. In 2019, she had an injury followed by break caused by Covid-19. In the U.S. chmpionship, she placed third.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

Chas had a very bumpy path the past three seasons, losing one to a foot injury, beginning the next in college at Cornell before taking a leave, dealing with the pandemic. She finished third at January’s U.S. Championships but earned the second world team spot in a selection procedure that weighs more than one season’s results.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

In the figure skating dance category, the American team of Hawaii-born Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates finished fourth but feel their routines will get stronger as the Olympics draw closer. Their practices were placed off-track after Chock suffered a concussion last summer in an off-ice fall.

“We are in the best possible shape of our lives, honestly,” Chock said. “We feel really strong and really confident in the work we’ve done leading up to this event.”

Their pair's performance bodes well for the U.S. skating team in 2022. The other American team featuring Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the Silver medal.

“We came here for a gold medal, and there is definitely disappointment around that … We also know that we are progressing, that we are building, we are gaining the qualities we want as a team,” Donohue said. “We look at this as momentum, creating a hunger.”

Nathan Chen skates to 5th straight U.S. championship; 7 aapi skaters will represent the U.S.

Silver medalist Vincent Zhou, left, and gold medalist Nathan Chen will skate for the U.S.

Asian American figure skaters continue to perform well in the sport with seven qualifying five athletes out of 15 for the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating team following competing in the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Las Vegas last weekend.

Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Madison Chock and Jessica Calalang will skate for the U.S. at the World's Championships in March.

Reigning U.S. champion Nathan Chen (Salt Lake Figure Skating) won his fifth straight U.S. title Sunday , becoming the first man to accomplish the feat since Dick Button won his fifth title in 1950.

Chen earned 208.36 points in Sunday’s free skate to total 322.28 points at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

“[Winning my fifth straight title] means the world to me,” he said. “[Dick Button] is a true skating icon. It feels incredible to be trying to chase something that someone like that has done. I’m nowhere near the level that he was at, but it’s cool to be mentioned in his realm.”

Right behind Chen, Vincent Zhou (SC of San Francisco) medaled at his fifth consecutive U.S. Championships, earning the silver medal with 291.38 total points. Zhou scored 183.59 points for Sunday afternoon’s free skate.

Bradie Tennell reclaimed the title for Women's Figure Skating after three years, beating out two time champion, 15-year old Alysa Liu, who wound up in fourth place.

Joining Tennell on the team for the world's championship is Karen Chen, the 2017 U.S. Champion and 2018 Olympian. It will be Chen's second appearance at World's.

Hawaii's Madison Chock and her longtime partner Evan Bates will compete in Ice Dancing.

Filipino American Jessica Calalang will team up with Brian Johnson to compete in Pairs.

Nathan Chen dominates men's skating; AAPI skaters on worlds' team

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Nathan Chen skating his short program.

Watch out! Nathan Chen is on a mission with a vengeance. Since he finished in the 2018 Olympics with a disappointing performance, winning a bronze medal instead of the predicted gold, he hasn't lost a single competition.

The Yale sophomore continued his unbeaten streak Sunday (Jan. 26) by winning the US men's figures skating championship in dominating fashion.  It was the fourth straight year he won that title. Though it wasn't his cleanest skate (Chen is recovering from the flu), he still scored an impressive 216.04 points.

Combined with his record-setting short program, Chen finished with a total score of 330.17, a whopping 37.29 points above the second-place finisher Jason Brown.

During his long performance, perhaps because of his illness, Chen appeared to hold back even though he easily landed a pair of quad toe loops, a quad flip and a quad Salchow.

He’s undefeated since placing fifth at the PyeongChang Olympics with a disastrous 17th-place short program. Only a stupendous free skate in which he performed six quadruple jumps vaulted him to third place.

There was a bit of minor controversy between the third and fourth place competitors.

Tomoki Hiwatashi, the world junior champion, jumped from fifth to third after landing a pair of quads in a clean free skate. Usually that would be enough to be named to the three-man world championships team.

But that spot was instead given by a U.S. Figure Skating committee to fourth-place finisher Vincent Zhou, who has more international experience.

Olympian Zhou finished fourth with one quad in his free skate. Zhou had minor errors on some of his jump landings. As a freshman at Brown Universitiy, Zhou skipped training for the entire autumn. He only had a month of training before the nationals after moving to Toronto in late December and had a change in coaches.

The same kind of reasoning went into the decision to drop silver medalist Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson from representing the US at the worlds. The committee awarded the second pairs spot to the more experienced team of Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, who finished fourth.

Dance team consisting of first-place finisher Hawaiian Chinese American Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates will compete in the ice dance competition at world's.

Calalang and Johnson will still be able to represent the US at the Four Continents Championships next month.

WIKI COMMONS

US champion Alysa Liu at 13 years of age, is too young for international competition.

Alysa Liu, who won the women's title, will not be in the US team for world's because she is too young for international competition. It is expected that the Oakland, Calif. skater will compete in the world junior championship.

2018 Olympian Karen Chen, who finished fourth in the women's competition, won't be on the world's team but will skate for the US at the Four Continents Championships.

AAPI skaters will continue to have a strong presence in US figure skating for the foreseeable future to at least the 2011 Olympics. In the 2018 Olympics, seven of the 14 figure skaters, seven were AAPI athletes.

The world championships are set for March 16-22 in Montreal. The Four Continents Championships will run Feb. 3-9 in Seoul. 

Chock & Bates capture dance title; Jessica Calalang captures silver medal; Nathan Chen dominates at US Figure Skating Championships

Evan Bates and Madison Chock topped the field for dance pairs in the US Figure Skating Championships.

The scorching performance of Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the free dance competition of the US Figure Skating Championships shows that they may be the dance team to be reckoned with when they compete at the World's in March.

The couple never broke character or had a misstep as they danced to Egyptian snake charmer music in front of an enthusiastic audience in Greensboro, N.C. Saturday (Jan. 25).

“It was a good night,” said Chock, who is of Hawaiian and Chinese heritage. “We are very happy to be back in Greensboro, and we had a great skate tonight. We performed, and that was our goal, to have a good performance. We really enjoyed ourselves, and we are just so thrilled.”

Defending champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished in second, followed by Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker. 

“It feels longer than five years,” Chock said of the last time she and Bates won the US title in 2015. “So much has changed, and other than us, so much has changed, as well. We are in a really good place and we couldn’t be happier with how this season is going. We worked so hard to get to this point in our careers and we feel so strong and confident.

"At this point, there is still room for more growth. I am happy we can share this moment with some of our best friends and training mates, so it’s really special,” said Chock.

Chock and Bates, a couple off the ice as well, have been to the past two Olympics, finishing eighth in Sochi and ninth in Pyeongchang. They are on the verge of making this season their best. They haven't been worse than second in 2019-20.

In the men's figure skating competition, there is no doubt the man to beat is Nathan Chen as he gave a dominating performance for his short program.

The 20-year-old Yale University sophomore topped the competitors with a score of 114.13, which broke his own scoring record. The next-closest to Chen was Jason Brown, who earned a  distant 100.99 followed by Andrew Torgashev, who notched 97.87.

Vincent Zhou scored 94.82 to capture the fourth spot narrowly beating out Tomoki Hiwatashi who received a score of 94.21.

The US men's figure skating competition will finish with their long program performances  this evening.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the competition so far is the pairs performance of Filipina American Jessica Calalang and her partner Brian Johnson.

In just their second year together, Calalang and Johnson won the free skate with 146.01 points for a total score of 213.57. It was good enough to vault them to second place, as the eventual winners, Alexa Knierim and Chris Knierim, who held on to win their third U.S. pairs’ title, edging Calalang and Johnson by only 2.58 points after holding a 10-point lead over their training partners after the short program.

Calalang and Johnson vaulted to second from fourth place after short, when Johnson fell on the side-by-side triple Salchows.

In the free skate, however, they received positive grades of execution on every element. The crowd inside the Greensboro Coliseum was on their feet before their performance music even finished.

“I don’t think either of us have had that kind of performance at a U.S. Championships,” Calalang said at a press conference afterwards.

“I definitely haven’t,” Johnson added. “The amount of audience support that I felt at the very end of that program was overwhelming. It was the most amazing thing I’ve felt on the ice. I don’t have words to describe it.”

Pairs skaters Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson surprised with their silver medal performance.

Now, Calalang and Johnson could join the Knierims at the world championships in March. The US has two berths to worlds, up from one last year. US Figure Skating chooses the teams, not necessarily (but usually) following nationals standings.

For Chock and Bates, the next stop is the World's Figure Skating Championship that will be held in March in Montreal, where they also train.

“We train with the French every day, and we know how good they are,” added Bates when asked about competing against Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron as they lost to the Russians today. “But you never know what is going to happen. Ice dance is a strange sport in some ways, it can be unpredictable, based on what the panel looks like.”

On Friday, 14-year old Alysa Liu successfully defended her women's figure skating title but because of her young age, she is not old enough to compete at international competitions.