Nathan Chen

[alexaa]

Funny that Raf's new students are female considering that his male students did better at Worlds.

Ashley didn't go, Mariah is at 12th place, not that bad.

The article does mention that Raf is in talks with the Chinese Fed about possible getting 2 male skaters. If it does work out, it would dispel some of the rumors/speculations on some other FF and boards the Chinese Fed do not like to send athletes overseas. It is amusing sometime to read all those speculations.

As to BO, fans of lots skaters would like their skater to go to, but I remember there seemed to an interview with BO right after the OG that he might pick up only one or two new students. It is understandable for fans to wish something, but to whine over something not going their direction rather than making the best use of the situation won't do anything good to anyone.

 

[yyyskate]

The icenetwork article says it's two upcoming Chinese mens skaters in preparation of Beijing 2022. Han Yan might be too old for this?

Also, Raf has coached Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, and Jeff Buttle etc, not exactly no name skaters. He has also worked with many high profile skaters and foreign skaters including Russian and Japanese have always come to him during off seasons for specialty training. So I don't know if we can say this is entirely due to Nathan.

I don't know any upcoming Chinese men besides Han and Boyang that is promising to be competitive in Beijing 2022. as least not in my radar.

I think it is largely due to Nathan. Just imagine without Nathan. with only Ash and Adam. Will the attraction on this scale?

Also when you talk about Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, and Jeff Buttle. who is the coach you associate these skater with. probably not Raf.

IMHO, Raf should be thankful to Nathan.

 

[Hollymolly]

I don't know any upcoming Chinese men besides Han and Boyang that is promising to be competitive in Beijing 2022. as least not in my radar.

It seems junior. Not senior.

 

[shine]

I don't know any upcoming Chinese men besides Han and Boyang that is promising to be competitive in Beijing 2022. as least not in my radar.

I think it is largely due to Nathan. Just imagine without Nathan. with only Ash and Adam. Will the attraction on this scale?

Also when you talk about Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, and Jeff Buttle. who is the coach you associate these skater with. probably not Raf.

IMHO, Raf should be thankful to Nathan.

You would think there is a reason why all these skaters chose to work with Raf, including Nathan.

There's a promising Chinese junior called Hao (last name) Yan, who is the younger cousin of Zhange He. The last time I saw some videos of him he did show great promise.

 

[yyyskate]

You would think there is a reason why all these skaters chose to work with Raf, including Nathan.

that is because high profile coaches are retiring such as Frank C. and the reason why Ashley went to Raf in the first place.

Yet low profile and upcoming coaches are too risky for high profile skaters to consider and try out.

Raf is about in the middle and with Nathan's success, that is why.

 

[shine]

that is because high profile coaches are retiring such as Frank C. and the reason why Ashley went to Raf in the first place.

Yet low profile and upcoming coaches are too risky for high profile skaters to consider and try out.

Raf is about in the middle and with Nathan's success, that is why.

During the time when Sasha Abt, Kwan, Asada, and Buttle decided to work with Raf, the SoCal figure skating scene was thriving, especially in the early 2000's with plenty of high profile coaches around. Yet they still decided to work with Raf. Yes, Raf probably should be thankful to Nathan, but shouldn't Nathan be thankful to Raf, just like in every coach-skater relationship? It goes both ways and goes without saying. There's a reason why Nathan and his family moved all the way from SLC to SoCal just so he could train with Raf.

I'm not saying Raf is the best coach there is or he's the best choice anyone could've ever made, but there's also no reason to not give credit where credit is due.

 

[yyyskate]

I wanna mention Kaetlyn Osmond's case here. Her coach is not that famous, never had any famous skaters before Kaetlyn
Yet she has won world's gold medal and olympic individually bronze medal possibly the most successful lady skater in Canada.

My point is that, sometimes, when choose coaches, the fame is not really that important. this idea could be useful to Nathan's future very complicated training situation.

 

[hhh]

The icenetwork article says it's two upcoming Chinese mens skaters in preparation of Beijing 2022. Han Yan might be too old for this?

Also, Raf has coached Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, and Jeff Buttle etc, not exactly no name skaters. He has also worked with many high profile skaters and foreign skaters including Russian and Japanese have always come to him during off seasons for specialty training. So I don't know if you can say this is entirely due to Nathan.

I recently met two huge Asada fans and they both have pretty positive views of Raf, and as you’ve listed, other great skaters have turn to him seeking help/improvement so we’ll sit back and see.

Your previous reply re: fsu bitty bug post - yes I think him showing such promising talent at an early stage definitely garnered some FS fans throughout the years. I’m going to share the post to get some friends to attend the show haha

Love the World Figure Skating cover captured his happy smiley, excellent shot!

 

[yyyskate]

During the time when Sasha Abt, Kwan, Asada, and Buttle decided to work with Raf, the SoCal figure skating scene was thriving, especially in the early 2000's with plenty of high profile coaches around. Yet they still decided to work with Raf. Yes, Raf probably should be thankful to Nathan, but shouldn't Nathan be thankful to Raf, just like in every coach-skater relationship? It goes both ways and goes without saying. There's a reason why Nathan and his family moved all the way from SLC to SoCal just so he could train with Raf.

I'm not saying Raf is the best coach there is, but there's also no reason to not give credit where credit is due.

All I said, is Raf should be very thankful to Nathan. as for Nathan's gratitude to Raf. Has Nathan made it clear in all those interviews.

 

[shine]

I wanna mention Kaetlyn Osmond's case here. Her coach is not that famous, never had any famous skaters before Kaetlyn
Yet she has won world's gold medal and olympic individually bronze medal possibly the most successful lady skater in Canada.

My point is that, sometimes, when choose coaches, the fame is not really that important. this idea could be useful to Nathan's future very complicated training situation.

Sure, but you can also say Nathan decided to work Raf, probably also because of his existing reputation, the skaters he had worked with through the years and what he was able to do with them. Chicken or egg?

 

[lurkz2]

Sure, but you can also say Nathan decided to work Raf, probably also because of his existing reputation and the skaters he has worked with up to that point and what he was able to do with them. Chicken or egg?

While fame is not that important, fit is. Whatever brought Nathan to Raf, Nathan preferred Raf to Marina and decided to continue working with Raf because they work well together.

 

[yyyskate]

Nathan has always been nothing but generous in praise toward Raf (including second father comment at worlds) and also has only taken personal responsibility if things didn’t go well. As far as I know, he has never blamed Raf for anything or said a negative word towards him.

Indeed, plus the money and fame he brought to Raf lately. Raf should be truly thankful to Nathan.

Honestly, I am a little worried about Nathan's training situation. be it still training with Raf or find new coaching arrangement, none of these will be easy.
All other skaters seems pretty settled with their coaching plans so far, Nathan's is still up in the air.

 

[yyyskate]

Sure, but you can also say Nathan decided to work Raf, probably also because of his existing reputation, the skaters he had worked with through the years and what he was able to do with them. Chicken or egg?

Absolutely Nathan is the decisive factor.

Nathan is a very rare figure skating talent. he could be brilliant with any good coach. Yet Raf cannot turn anyone into a Nathan. that is my humble opinion.

 

[yyyskate]

While fame is not that important, fit is. Whatever brought Nathan to Raf, Nathan preferred Raf to Marina and decided to continue working with Raf because they work well together.

fit, really? is it really the best fit. we will never know. Marina is mostly a Ice Dancer's coach. and there is that.

 

[Kelly]

Rafael should be very thankful to Nathan because of Nathan's trust towards his teaching and Nathan's work ethic and perseverance.

 

[discode]

I don't think Nathan wants a new coach other than Raf. They work well together and have had major success together. So yeah, I'd say they are a good fit. We'll never know if someone else could have worked just as well. It's impossible to say. Though I don't think he can make another Nathan out of anyone since he's obviously very special.

And I don't worry about it since it's not like it's a permanent arrangement and if Nathan has poor results in competitions he'll make changes.

 

[yyyskate]

Maybe Nathan and Raf know more than they’re willing to share right now?

I could see how a co-coaching situation would be a possibility, maybe they haven’t worked out all the details yet or maybe they just want to be secretive about it (nothing new I guess lol)

we need some official answers from Nathan's side (but I guess we will never have like always). but it appeared a little reckless that Nathan only started to talk with Raf about coaching arrangement during the couple days break during SOI tour? I guess it is when he is sharpening his skates.

 

[Hollymolly]

Marina is mostly a Ice Dancer's coach. and there is that.

Marina coached Patrick. She mostly coaches icedancing, but not only ice dancing. Apart from everything else, Nathan came back to Raf and He want to keep it up. So there will be something we don’t know abot their working.

 

[hhh]

While fame is not that important, fit is. Whatever brought Nathan to Raf, Nathan preferred Raf to Marina and decided to continue working with Raf because they work well together.

Fit, exactly that and only skaters themselves and coaches know. Maybe his plan will solidify after the Yale visit, Nathan doesn’t need to share his next season plan with the public and by doing so, we will probably gain another 30 pgs on speculation; he’s doing great in expanding his thread lol

Btw, I’m happy to know Nadia Kanaeva is still there AND Romain will remain on the team so more Nathan!

 

[discode]

we need some official answers from Nathan's side (but I guess we will never have like always). but it appeared a little reckless that Nathan only started to talk with Raf about coaching arrangement during the couple days break during SOI tour? I guess it is when he is sharpening his skates.

He has an interview coming up soon on IN.

Honestly Raf is really quiet for him so I wouldn't really get too worried yet. If Nathan was doing all this stuff without ever telling him, making decisions and not even bothering to talk about it you'd know he'd be complaining in interviews about it. And we all know Nathan has known about Yale for longer than they said he did. If other skaters could spill the beans it's highly unlikely it was just sprung on Raf. And Raf sounded pretty receptive to the idea of coming to him as well.