Patrick Chan article | Golden Skate

Patrick Chan article

GF2445

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Feb 7, 2012
Figure skating: Patrick Chan puts pressure in perspective, thanks to Sidney Crosby’s advice

"World champion figure skater, who opens his season next week at Skate Canada, credits a phone conversation with Sidney Crosby prior to the Vancouver Olympics for helping him to narrow his focus..."

This article also touches on his stance on the Russian Propaganda Laws as well as his move to Detroit and how that has been going. On a personal note, I love Patrick's comments- they are raw, real and you can respect him for that! There is much honesty and he is not afraid to talk about the hard times too.

Article Written by Lori Ewing for the Canadian Press
Published on October 15, 2013

Link to Article Below
http://www.thestar.com/sports/skati...spective_thanks_to_sidney_crosbys_advice.html
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
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Sep 28, 2013
I'm not much of fan of Patrick, but that's a very interesting read.

I often think that the winners at World's and the Olympics has a lot to do with which skater has the best state of mind, or the most mental strength and stability. Given that... didn't Patrick just give away some hugely helpful advice to all his Olympic rivals?!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
... didn't Patrick just give away some hugely helpful advice to all his Olympic rivals?!

Oh, I don't think so. Focus on the task at hand, don't let the pressure get to you. It's not like it was a big state secret or anything.
 

phaeljones

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Apr 18, 2012
Figure skating: Patrick Chan puts pressure in perspective, thanks to Sidney Crosby’s advice

. . .

This article also touches on his stance on the Russian Propaganda Laws as well as his move to Detroit and how that has been going. On a personal note, I love Patrick's comments- they are raw, real and you can respect him for that! There is much honesty and he is not afraid to talk about the hard times too.
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This is a good read. Reading it makes me feel like the old Patrick (his pre-Krall personality) is back again. His statement regarding RPL are a breath of fresh air.

If Patrick talks to any reporter from the Star, this is the one to talk to. (Avoid talking to DiManno and instead talk to Ewing.) Great writing.
 

Icey

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Nov 28, 2012
Hard to believe that as long as he has been around he's just getting around to thinking this way. Rachael was his friend in Colorado while she was there. He even had Xmas dinner with her family. I'm sure there were others there who would have been open to being his friend too.
A rather innocuous interview imo.
 

Nigel

On the Ice
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Feb 21, 2006
Hard to believe that as long as he has been around he's just getting around to thinking this way. Rachael was his friend in Colorado while she was there. He even had Xmas dinner with her family. I'm sure there were others there who would have been open to being his friend too.
A rather innocuous interview imo.

I wonder how much of his mind set is a result of the team training camps that take place in the autumn leading into the competitive season. The national governing bodies are all "go team, go" and very focused on nationalism at those camps...ie "Team Canada" "Team USA" so, there is a rally call or a sense of national pride that comes out of those events, and I suspect that carries over, to some degree, into the competitive season. On the other hand, this is a singular sport more or less ..singles and pairs/dance...and it really is all about what the individual athlete/team puts out on the ice. It isn't hockey, where you train together, day after day, as a team.

"When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates...and the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your head. AGAIN!" Herb Brooks -Miracle-

Chan has had access to all the top trainers/sports psychologists that Team Canada can offer to him. I don't necessarily see this comment of his as an excuse...just a lack of focus on his part. And, quite frankly, driving into the rink in Vancouver was NOT the time to be calling Crosby. That should have happened months before. It takes months/years to learn to focus like that. And, Chan did like training in Colorado, IIRC. He spent a lot of time hiking, biking with friends there, hung out with Flatt and her family (didn't he accompany her to some dance in CoSp?). He met Kathy Johnson in CO when she was coaching there. I think the change in venue to DSC was probably due to a number of things....perhaps Chan was winning, but not with the consistency of programs and narrow focus that he had hoped he would obtain while training in CO.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Jan 25, 2013
I think this is a great article that shows him returning to his previous sensibilities. He knows an Olympic gold is on the line. He knows the field has caught up. He knows that he can't rest on the laurels of his 3 Worlds wins. I like how he's treating each part of his program individually; if he manages to do that, he will hopefully lose less focus after landing the first two quads. Crosby was a great athlete to chat with - there was immense pressure on the men's hockey team and Crosby as captain, just as there will be on Chan. And of course, the stuff he said about Russian propaganda laws was great too. As if there were any doubt, figure skating is full of gays or gay-friendly skaters, and while Chan didn't denounce the laws explicitly, he made it very apparent that he's a straight ally and firmly believes in the right for everyone to compete without fear of scrutiny and discrimination.
 

noskates

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Jun 11, 2012
I think Patrick's comments show a more mature and self-assured person than he has been in recent years.

As for feeling alone, you can be in a crowd of acquaintances and still feel alone. I think he did the right thing by moving to Detroit. I hope it works out for him.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Interesting article! I really got a sense of how much pressure is on him as a Canadian male skater. For decades, Canada has had some of the finest male skaters in history, and yet not a single one of them won the OGM (though I think at least one them should have been declared the winner, but that's another story). So after all these years of immortal Canadian skating, it's still all on him. At least in Vancouver, though it was on Canadian soil, Patrick was a teenager and didn't have the kind of track record he has now. So I think the pressure has ratcheted up considerably this time around. I hope he's able to hold onto his cool, because he's going to need it.
 

GF2445

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Feb 7, 2012
To bad he doesn't have a gold medal coach.

Technically not gold medal. patrick is insistent that his coach is knowledgable about the technical aspects of skating. We'll see how his jumps are this season. Artistically, Patrick has thrived due to Cathy Johnson and is had and shoulders above his competitors in terms of artistic considerations. Shows that there are some benefits of having a modern dance teacher as a coach.
 

WeakAnkles

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Aug 1, 2011
As a gay man this attitude just, well I'll be polite and say gets my dander up:

"I always believed, it doesn’t matter what colour, what race, what gender, or what’s your opinion on gays, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the talent and you work hard and you have something to show and something to prove. Anyone deserves to be on the field, and especially in the Olympic Games,” Chan said. “That’s my opinion. Figure skating, we’re full of gays, and I train with a lot of gay skaters, and some of them are my best friends, and honestly it doesn’t bother me. I just honestly believe everyone deserves to be on the ice to compete.”

I know he means well, but really, "some of them" are his "best friends"? It doesn't "bother" him there are gay athletes in figure skating. Oh thank goodness, now I can sleep tonight. But let's substitute "Asian" for gay and you can see how condescending and annoying those remarks are.

YMMV of course.
 

Moment

Final Flight
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Jan 18, 2013
That's what he said...? My gosh. Patrick is incapable of making a good interview.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Jan 25, 2013
As a gay man this attitude just, well I'll be polite and say gets my dander up:

"I always believed, it doesn’t matter what colour, what race, what gender, or what’s your opinion on gays, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the talent and you work hard and you have something to show and something to prove. Anyone deserves to be on the field, and especially in the Olympic Games,” Chan said. “That’s my opinion. Figure skating, we’re full of gays, and I train with a lot of gay skaters, and some of them are my best friends, and honestly it doesn’t bother me. I just honestly believe everyone deserves to be on the ice to compete.”

I know he means well, but really, "some of them" are his "best friends"? It doesn't "bother" him there are gay athletes in figure skating. Oh thank goodness, now I can sleep tonight. But let's substitute "Asian" for gay and you can see how condescending and annoying those remarks are.

YMMV of course.
Ashley Wagner made similar comments about how "I have gay family members and a lot of friends in the LGBT community”. I think he's acknowledging that there are many gays in figure skating, and pointing out many of his friends are gay. I think the "it doesn't bother me" comment is in the context of how gays are stigmatized and how gays at the Olympics is a hot topic. It's like if somebody said "I'm fine with gay athletes being proud of who they are" and people taking that as "Well, thanks so much for being okay with gays being comfortable with themselves". I think it might have been better if he added "it doesn't bother me, nor should it", but that's scrutinizing somebody who simply means well. Semantics aside, he's genuinely showing support, and not many athletes have done that. If you happen to not like Chan, that's fine. But if every athlete said something like Wagner and Chan and Bode Miller have said, that's how we slowly bring intolerance to its knees come Sochi.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Ashley Wagner made similar comments about how "I have gay family members and a lot of friends in the LGBT community”. I think he's acknowledging that there are many gays in figure skating, and pointing out many of his friends are gay. I think the "it doesn't bother me" comment is in the context of how gays are stigmatized and how gays at the Olympics is a hot topic. It's like if somebody said "I'm fine with gay athletes being proud of who they are" and people taking that as "Well, thanks so much for being okay with gays being comfortable with themselves". I think it might have been better if he added "it doesn't bother me, nor should it", but that's scrutinizing somebody who simply means well. Semantics aside, he's genuinely showing support, and not many athletes have done that. If you happen to not like Chan, that's fine. But if every athlete said something like Wagner and Chan and Bode Miller have said, that's how we slowly bring intolerance to its knees come Sochi.

Agreed. Patrick doesn't know that some word combinations are less felicitous than others, but his heart is in the right place. Amazing that there's such a difference between "Some of my best friends are gay" and "I have many gay friends," but there it is. Regardless, I think the fact that some of his best friends are gay is the sign of huge progress in the world. That he was willing to wade in and make a statement at all is heartening.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Jan 25, 2013
Yup. Usually it's when somebody is defending racist or homophobic remarks that they say the cliche "I can't be racist/homophobic because my best friend is black/gay." But in this context he's saying simply that he skates with a lot of gay skaters, and they should have the right to compete and not worry just like any other athlete.
 

Bluebonnet

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Aug 18, 2010
As a gay man this attitude just, well I'll be polite and say gets my dander up:

"I always believed, it doesn’t matter what colour, what race, what gender, or what’s your opinion on gays, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the talent and you work hard and you have something to show and something to prove. Anyone deserves to be on the field, and especially in the Olympic Games,” Chan said. “That’s my opinion. Figure skating, we’re full of gays, and I train with a lot of gay skaters, and some of them are my best friends, and honestly it doesn’t bother me. I just honestly believe everyone deserves to be on the ice to compete.”

I know he means well, but really, "some of them" are his "best friends"? It doesn't "bother" him there are gay athletes in figure skating. Oh thank goodness, now I can sleep tonight. But let's substitute "Asian" for gay and you can see how condescending and annoying those remarks are.

YMMV of course.

"I always believed, it doesn’t matter what colour, what race, what gender, or what’s your opinion on Asians, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the talent and you work hard and you have something to show and something to prove. Anyone deserves to be on the field, and especially in the Olympic Games,” Chan said. “That’s my opinion. Figure skating, we’re full of Asians, and I train with a lot of Asian skaters, and some of them are my best friends, and honestly it doesn’t bother me. I just honestly believe everyone deserves to be on the ice to compete.”

I'm sure it doesn't bother Asians.:rolleye: It is the talent and the hardworking that have made the rest of the world see Asians differently from over 100 years ago. Now Asians are on the risen not because they run around protesting and fighting everywhere for the rights but because they are willing to sacrifice the leisure time and work so hard. They earned places by their talent and hardworking.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
^ The problem is, why would anyone think that his friend's Asian-ness might conceivably "bother" someone? The very fact that the question is raised at all indicates a perception that there is something not quite Kosher about being Asian.

As for Patrick, he's a credit to his race -- not that there's anything wrong with it. ;)
 
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