Only an act of quad can stop Nathan Chen and the ridiculousness
American teenager pulled off an unprecedented six in his free skate but his brilliance is largely one-dimensional — and it’s not figure skating. It’s gonzo, a mutation of the sport, and the ISU needs to put a limit on them before the competition turns into a jump-off, Rosie DiManno writes.
PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA — Stomp the quad.
The Q-virus that has infested men’s figure skating.
Because this is getting ridiculous.
Six quad jumps — five of them landed cleanly — by American teenage sensation Nathan Chen in the final on Saturday, vaulting him to from 17th to fifth after his seriously amiss short on Friday. Atonement, I guess. Lived up, finally, to all the hype with a gobsmacking free skate that scored — at 215.08 — the third-highest marks in world-record history under the present system.
Looked at another way, however, an unprecedented six quads at the Olympics didn’t bring Chen a world record.
He lacks.
A freak of figure skating nature, Chen can jump over the moon. But his brilliance is largely one-dimensional.
And that’s not figure skating. It’s gonzo, a mutation of the sport. Because placing half-a-dozen quads into a four-minute, 40-second program means little time or space left over for all the other elements that imbue figure skating with its artistic and athletic essence.
The International Skating Union must address this, must put a limit on long skate quads before competition turns into a jump-off.
As Patrick Chan, who always brought the best of both worlds to his sport until the jumping juggernaut marginalized him, put it following his admittedly botched farewell performance here: “This is a really exciting path that skating is taking. But there are consequences. We’re seeing a lot of walking from one jump to the next.”
I’ll say what Chan, 10-time Canadian champion and thrice a world gold medallist, was too polite to state: Chen’s skate was ugly, stunt-ish.
Like how many freshmen can you stuff into a Volkswagen. Or how far can you run whilst on fire. (Which is a real thing, apparently.)
There was a girl up in Wasaga Beach who performed 20 grand jetes in 30 seconds a couple of years ago but that doesn’t make her Anna Pavlova.
Chen’s program was deeply unsatisfying from an esthetic viewpoint and unsightly in its choreography, despite being created by widely revered Lori Nichol to music from the film Mao’s Last Dancer. Technical wizardry, to be sure — 127.67 for that part of the score — and certainly redemptive after his error-strewn short in both the team and individual men’s event. Americans are puffed with pride. Yet the performance was all steak and no sizzle.
“The concept, the layout of the program, the structure have really been looked over,” suggested Chan, when pressed to give an opinion about a colleague with whom he often trains, a friend. “The program needs to be balanced. But when you’re doing five quads . . . I don’t blame the guys, I understand the need to brush those (other) things aside.”
Honestly, it was boring, if a sextet of quads could possible be described as a yawner, because they do require immense athleticism, precision and cardiovascular endurance.
I’ve also got to say, skating lights-out with no pressure on, was a far cry from the tension-dripping struggle at the top of the standings, amongst Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno, Spain’s Javier Fernandez, and China’s Jin Boyang, another quad savant.
“I skate with Nathan every day and he’s had such an effing week,” observed the adorable Adam Rippon, arguably the most entertaining of the top 10 skaters — certainly off the ice — and he didn’t even try a quad, reeling off a brace of luscious, if relatively modest, double Axels and a quite gorgeous triple Axel. That nemesis jump plagued many of the elite skaters in Pyeongchang — including Chan — some of whom can turn quads more efficiently than the 3A, which is actually a three-and-a-half rotation jump, and the only jump launched by skating forward into it.
“The weight of the world was on him,” continued Rippon.
Well, no it wasn’t. The weight had dropped off after his disastrous short. Saturday, Chen could skate with abandon.
Figure skating, where the pro-Qs and anti-Qs have squabbled for decades — certainly since Kurt Browning landed the first ratified quadruple jump in competition at the 1988 world championships — isn’t a one-trick pony.
Men’s victor Hanyu, successfully defending his Sochi title, struck for four quads as well, a hands down on his final effort. He’s the entire package, though, monstrously talented. Chen’s teammate, Vincent Zhou, also acquitted himself beautifully, with a sixth-place result in the segment. Fernandez out-elegances them both.
“These kids!” marvelled Rippon. “Oh my God, these kids are out of control.”
Said with admiration, totally, but relief that he made it into his first and last Games without having to jump over that quad bar.
There’s another drawback to the multi-quad craze: It’s hell on the body. These teens are going to pay for it. That, too, should concern the ISU.
“When you’re pushing the envelope this much at age 16, 17, 18, it takes a toll physically and mentally,” warned Chan. “There are consequences. I’m curious as to what the ISU will do.”
Last word to Rippon: “This is the future.”
Actually, this last word to the divine Rippon: “I’m probably going to have a stiff drink.”
