Nathan Chen

[NathanandMiraifan111]

According to my source

Nathan's 3A is actually looking good in this event.

But he is indeed seems tired towards FS end.

and the switch of jumps, messed up his stsq timing, which is unfortunate.

But BOI get the job done.

Just curious why you keep calling Nathan, "BOI". I've never seen anyone else call him this, and its a bit weird calling an 18 year old man "boy."


Anywho, Congrats to Nathan on his 2nd National Championship and a spectacular performance!!!!

 

[yyyskate]

Just curious why you keep calling Nathan, "BOI". I've never seen anyone else call him this, and its a bit weird calling an 18 year old man "boy."


Anywho, Congrats to Nathan on his 2nd National Championship and a spectacular performance!!!!

how do you wanna me to refer Nathan

 

[yyyskate]

Also according to my source,
Nathan's jumps seem at times lack lift. he seems cannot get the grip or the height needed in this event.
but over-all Nathan's jump is such a beauty. Looked really effortless and smooth when he hit it.
especially on first day practice. but his practice condition in this event is indeed quite mixed.

 

[sheetz]

Rinkside Reactions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwFFBaqGoa4

Post FS interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO61IE91DpI

Press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RhmcULi0wg


Both Mariah and Karen have cute IG stories congratulating their "brother" on his win.

 

[plushyfan]

well done, boy!

 

[Bookworm]

I was in the audience last night, and was quite impressed with watching Nathan's long program in person. The mood in the arena was quite somber after Adam and Jason, and it was wonderful to see Nathan's confidence and attack after a series of shaky skates. Nathan looked strong in the practice right before the final flight began, and landed a beautiful triple axel as the last jump before leaving the ice so it was a bit sad that he couldn't replicate that jump in the program. Also, if I'm being honest, it was jarring for me to see the footwork sequence (which is my favorite part of the program) start several beats late and out of sync with the music; to be fair, none of my friends (who are fairly casual fs fans) seemed to have noticed and they loved that part of the program. The spread eagles at the climax of the program were very impactful and had great ice coverage, and the pair of spins at the end were also very nicely done. Nathan was easily the highlight of my time here so far, especially after the drama of the ladies and mini-implosions by Adam and Jason. I am hopeful that he can do the more nuanced version of the program with more of the choreographic intricacies intact at the Olympics and Worlds this year. I'm also looking forward to the exhibition today; I heard he may have a new program!

(Also, I had a "Nathan Chenpion" sign that got no love at all from the cameraman.... that might have been the only disappointing part of my experience watching Nathan )

 

[1111bm]

Also, if I'm being honest, it was jarring for me to see the footwork sequence (which is my favorite part of the program) start several beats late and out of sync with the music;

On the contrary, wasn't he too early?

I am hopeful that he can do the more nuanced version of the program with more of the choreographic intricacies intact at the Olympics and Worlds this year.

Even though I always enjoy watching him skate, even if it's just plain two-footed stroking, because to me there's something special about his skating style and the way he moves across the ice... I am just SO sad how the program itself almost deteriorated from what it was in its early versions...

He is SO good and skilled at expressive skating and footwork, but he dials it back to such a great extent to be able to focus on the jumps...

Since the start of the season he's progressively substituted almost all steps in his FS with simple FI mohawks, nationals was sort of the culmination of this simplifying the program.
All the little jumps and interesting steps are gone... and there were also very little choreographic body moves compared to what he did before...
(same applies to his SP, although it's not as bad there).

So yeah, I agree that hopefully he will feel prepared and confident enough about his jumps during the olympics and worlds, so that he will be able to focus on transitions and presentation in between the jumps.
I mean, balancing those two aspects of skating is the forte of skaters like Yuzuru, and didn't Nathan say that Yuzu is an inspiration to him?

 

[yyyskate]

yes the stsq is too early

Cos he rushed his 3loop, Nathan BOI did NOT do full program run-through even one time in this event.

OKAY, I promise I won't call him BOI once he can do complete full 5 quads run-though in practices (like Vincent)

 

[Sherlock Marple]

^^^

This. I winced when he did the spin too early.

That's why I thought 4S fits better before the spin and the step sq. It flows nicely when he skated his FS in the GP series. But if his 4S isn't that stable, I'm okay with it being the 5th (or 6th - I sincerely hope not. 5 is enough.) quad.

On the other hand, congrats to Nathan for winning the Nationals and securing his spot for Olys and Worlds.

By the way, have all of you seen pics/gifs/vids of his family in the Nationals? So far, I only saw a pic of his father during his practice.

 

[Miss Ice]

YAY NATHAN!!! Man, what a humble guy. This is the true mark of a champion. Lands 5 quads with no problem, and just sits there in the KnC like he just had some tea, or something. Absolutely no frills, just skills. Absolutely admireable and classy. He didn't even do any social media updates (none since like December...).

Train healthy Nathan :luv17:

 

[sherlock trollmes]

I don’t think it’s a big deal that he didn’t do a full run through? He knew he needed to conserve his energy. And he did what he needed to do when it counted.

I found the choreographic sequence and the final spins to be really effective here, BTW. It’s my new favorite part of the program.

 

[shine]

I don’t think it’s a big deal that he didn’t do a full run through? He knew he needed to conserve his energy. And he did what he needed to do when it counted.

I found the choreographic sequence and the final spins to be really effective here, BTW. It’s my new favorite part of the program.

Did it bother anyone that basically half of his original ChSq was gone and replaced by some arm movement? I couldn't believe he took out this jump to the musical accent. It was one of THE highlights of the program, in additional to many other things he also took out.

 

[1111bm]

YAY NATHAN!!! Man, what a humble guy. This is the true mark of a champion. Lands 5 quads with no problem, and just sits there in the KnC like he just had some tea, or something. Absolutely no frills, just skills. Absolutely admireable and classy. He didn't even do any social media updates (none since like December...).

He really is, his modesty is remarkable. And it doesn't come across as if he's playing coy or something, he's just so matter-of-fact about it.

I also just noticed that on his instagram page he doesn’t even mention his titles/achievements the way other skaters do, it just says "US figure skater".

ETA:

Did it bother anyone that basically half of his original ChSq was much gone and replaced by some arm movement? I couldn't believe he took out this jump to the musical accent. It was one of THE highlights of the program, in additional to many other things he also took out.

YES!! Hugely bothered!!

 

[sherlock trollmes]

Yeah I do miss that part but I do think he’s made the spread eagles larger with the use of his arms - they seem more purposeful. That is a move I hope he would return to - not sure why it’s gone!

 

[1111bm]

Yeah I do miss that part but I do think he’s made the spread eagles larger with the use of his arms - they seem more purposeful. That is a move I hope he would return to - not sure why it’s gone!

Especially since he didn't have anymore jumping passes to do, so it wasn't about conserving energy or something... I was so disappointed and confused by that!

 

[shine]

I didn't want to be too negative here since it's his fan thread but I really have been quite disappointed with his FS in the recent outings performance and choreography-wise. Most of this could also be because I had such high expectations for it since seeing it in September. The program now looks like a skeleton of what it once was. I wish I could be more excited about him finally landing 5 quads, but I really wasn't, especially if it meant all these other things had to be sacrificed.

 

[chopinskate]

He was sick... I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he practiced his quads too much and was too tired at the end to retrain with his choreo.

I mean, there were flaws here, too... There wasn't too much flow out of his 4F3T, for eg (never mind the near perfect GOE). His Step Sequence lacked attack, too. I think we should just give him time. I hope it's not because he's out of steam like he was in Worlds 2017.

 

[sheetz]

I really don't think he intentionally leaves lots of stuff out; his step sequence from that practice video was the best I've seen. I honestly think because his layout changes so often that he's just too busy trying to keep his elements straight in his head. And then the problems are compounded when he's behind on the music and has to rush to catch up..

 

[Kelly]

I didn't want to be too negative here since it's his fan thread but I really have been quite disappointed with his FS in the recent outings performance and choreography-wise. Most of this could also be because I had such high expectations for it since seeing it in September. The program now looks like a skeleton of what it once was. I wish I could be more excited about him finally landing 5 quads, but I really wasn't, especially if it meant all these other things had to be sacrificed.

It's ok to show your disappointment because we know your are a true fan here.

But I think it may need to take Nathan more than one season to have the original sophisticated choreography intact with 5 clean quads.
That's one of the reasons I think why Yuzuru Hanyu repeats his acclaimed Seimei LP so that he has time and energy to train for more
difficult technical contents for the Olympics.

I have watched Nathan's LP at Nationals for more than 5 times. Somehow I sensed a relief from him at the end of the performance that he
knows he still possesses his biggest weapon. Like he said he really needs this confidence booster to go to the Olympics.

 

[shine]

I really don't think he intentionally leaves lots of stuff out; his step sequence from that practice video was the best I've seen. I honestly think because his layout changes so often that he's just too busy trying to keep his elements straight in his head. And then the problems are compounded when he's behind on the music and has to rush to catch up..

That's another thing that bothers me. I know he has many different quads and he prides himself with it, but I don't understand this strategy he and Raf have seemingly come up with this season where they change the layout around ALL THE TIME. One, I don't believe it helps with stablizing the program at all. Two, from the choreography standpoint I think you can have a little bit of flexibility, but you shouldn't do it the extent that he has done. I mean, isn't this also in a way making it clear to judges and the audience that he doesn't intend for most of his jump entrances to have any relation to the music? Especially since most of his jumps are quads and they take longer to be set up than triples, this problem is even more amplified.