Nathan Chen | Page 482 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

Kolyada was recently asked by Japanese fans what he thought of Shoma and Nathan.
https://twitter.com/spk0906/status/998212606853705729

His answer: Shoma is a cheery, cool guy. Really. He was constantly speaking during the Milano EX rehearsal. Nathan is the same. Friendly and open. Aside from winning many awards they are both quite ordinary kids. I really enjoy talking to them. We speak in English. When Nathan addresses the English reporters, like during the press conferences, he speaks very quickly so I have no idea what he says after the first few words. But for the rest of us he speaks slowly.
 
Nathan looks so mature in nemesis, both his moves and facial expression, feels like 24-26 years old instead of 18/19.

Nathan's spins are so beautiful, they are getting better and better during SOI. I only watch other skaters occasionally and randomly, but I honestly think Nathan's spin is at a different level now.
 
heyheyhey said:
He did, he looked a lot less boyish (maybe that’s why people were not happy with it? Idk), more sleek to me. Those costumes I don’t think would go with his hair super curly (like say Cup of Russia hair) but they go well with either the short cut or the slightly longer hair with slight curls ( like in Worlds which I think was his best look so far. His hair was perfect cut, length, right amount of curls. The perfect ratio 😂)

Also as a general observation, Nathan looks different to me since olympics in the sense that he had more of a baby face before and I feel like that experience alone aged him 10 years (in a good way, like more mature even with his extra curls).
Click to expand...

Oh I disagree, I’m one of those who think that the short hair made him look way younger, like a schoolboy.

To me he looked way more mature with the curly hair. In fact, I assumed he was a bit older, in his early twenties maybe, when I first noticed him and saw him perform back when his curls were really wild. I think the curls make his features look more sharp and chiselled, less boyish (unless he’s smiling of course, because honestly, he has such a baby-like smile, no matter which haircut :laugh:).

And as others have noted, I think the reason people freaked out when he cut the curls was because it didn’t feel like it was him and something he’d want, more a requirement, that he had to comply with (also: well, who doesn't like some tousled curls… ;)).
 
Thanks for the Kolyada piece, me too, can’t wait to see them train together since they and Shoma create a sunny and feel-good energy when they’re together.
 
I heard that Kolyada is finishing college in July - so I'm not sure exactly when he will be coming to Team Raf. So there might not be a lot of overlap between him and Nathan being at Lakewood (or new facility in Irvine). But I hope they will be able to train together some.

Nathan, Misha, and Shoma were so cute together at worlds! this photo (and Nathan wearing JAZZ shirt):
https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/978722637516963841
 
read this Kolyada interview and was reminded of yyyskate's very high expectations for Nathan to achieve Cizeron-level in ice dancing :)
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...rviews/11861-mikhail-kolyada?templateParam=15

'Figure skating is such a smooth sport, everything should look like a knife cutting through butter. You need to strive for being like the dancers. They are flying over the ice. Ideally we all should strive to be like they are. I watch the ice dancers, how they are doing all this, so softly how they stretch their legs and arms and it is all beautiful.'


Kaetlyn's outfit from All That Skate show reminds me of Nathan's oversized white shirt look 😍
https://twitter.com/SoFIgureOut/status/998127144306802689


smooth backwards skating from Shape of You - and this was so great to watch live:
https://twitter.com/nathanchengifs/status/998238469951401984
 
oatmella said:
read this Kolyada interview and was reminded of yyyskate's very high expectations for Nathan to achieve Cizeron-level in ice dancing :)
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...rviews/11861-mikhail-kolyada?templateParam=15

'Figure skating is such a smooth sport, everything should look like a knife cutting through butter. You need to strive for being like the dancers. They are flying over the ice. Ideally we all should strive to be like they are. I watch the ice dancers, how they are doing all this, so softly how they stretch their legs and arms and it is all beautiful.'


Kaetlyn's outfit from All That Skate show reminds me of Nathan's oversized white shirt look 😍
https://twitter.com/SoFIgureOut/status/998127144306802689


smooth backwards skating from Shape of You - and this was so great to watch live:
https://twitter.com/nathanchengifs/status/998238469951401984
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah I’ve read another one of his interviews before and he also talked about how he loves watching ice dancers. I loved reading that. I just wish Nathan also felt the same instead of telling us to watch ice dance if we wanted artistry tsk tsk. But maybe he feels differently now:)
 
shine said:
Haha, yeah I’ve read another one of his interviews before and he also talked about how he loves watching ice dancers. I loved reading that. I just wish Nathan also felt the same instead of telling us to watch ice dance if we wanted artistry tsk tsk. But maybe he feels differently now:)
Click to expand...

He meant if you ONLY want artistry and are not interested in jumps/athletics at all than you should watch ice dancing (which is objectively true). He’s always maintained gaining artistry is something important to him and that he wants to improve on (since way back) and he’s never claimed that it wasn’t necessary, just that pushing the boundary technically is also important. It’s kinda annoying (in general I mean) that people keep using that quote against him when that was obviously not what he meant.

From the same article where he says the ice dancing comment:

“Which is not to say that Chen is downplaying the artistic element of his skating. He says he pushed hard to improve that aspect last year, working with noted choreographer Marina Zoueva. "That's something I don't want to put aside," he said. "I want to continue work on that. I think that's a longer process to work on and will gradually mature over time."

http://www.espn.com.au/olympics/figureskating/story/_/id/19017406/how-teen-figure-skater-nathan-chen-us-national-champion-spun-quad-jumps-gold
 
Yeah, but I still don’t fully agree what he said. I think a lot of the people who have criticized him and the direction of FS want a BALANCE between artistry and tech, not just one or the other. I think you would find very very few FS fans who just wanted one or the other (like what he was suggesting there—that people only wanted artistry). The reason I love watching the men’s is because I think it has always been the best combination of artistic expression and athletic excitement. It would be the most ideal if he, or all the skaters, could push the sport forward both athletically AND artistically, without sacrificing one for the other.
 
What he said doesn’t contradict that so I guess I’m confused what you don’t agree with. He thinks there should be artistry and technical, if you only want artistry, watch ice dancing. Basically if you only want one thing, go to the one discipline that only showcases one aspect. Otherwise he’s gonna continue to strive for both, just that one aspect is gonna be a longer process than the other. He makes that pretty clear.

I’ll say that in general I’ve found men’s skating to usually be utter disasters (at least in the last decade) for the most part so I disagree that it has the best combo of athleticism and artistry of the disciplines overall (to me, that’s usually pairs) but they have higher highs than the others (which is then offset by the ridiculous level of low lows)
 
oatmella said:
read this Kolyada interview and was reminded of yyyskate's very high expectations for Nathan to achieve Cizeron-level in ice dancing :)
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...rviews/11861-mikhail-kolyada?templateParam=15

'Figure skating is such a smooth sport, everything should look like a knife cutting through butter. You need to strive for being like the dancers. They are flying over the ice. Ideally we all should strive to be like they are. I watch the ice dancers, how they are doing all this, so softly how they stretch their legs and arms and it is all beautiful.'


Kaetlyn's outfit from All That Skate show reminds me of Nathan's oversized white shirt look 😍
https://twitter.com/SoFIgureOut/status/998127144306802689


smooth backwards skating from Shape of You - and this was so great to watch live:
https://twitter.com/nathanchengifs/status/998238469951401984
Click to expand...

Kolyada should take Nathan to sauna.
 
Nathan looks fine in last night m&g, is there something I’m not seeing, like that Nike Ts, anyhoooo, I feel Adam is always dressed to impressed haha in men and Maia is the most casual among the ladies.
 
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