Ironically the journalist still used phrases like "can easily win" and "deserved to win every competition" to describe the situation in 2018. I do not think it was an accurate assessment or the actual expectation from the skating fans. It was just the US media hype. I guess nothing will change from the outside this time around so I hope he is mentally better prepared heading into Beijing.In other news, Nathan gave a short interview with on SLC TV about his last Olympics experience and his approach to the upcoming Beijing games.
SLC Olympian may understand Simone Biles the most
Figure skater Nathan Chen says the pressure to perform as the "face" of Team USA in 2018 ruined the Olympic experience for him. He's looking forward to Beijing with a different frame of mind.www.nbcolympics.com
Nathan Chen
- Thread starter matmuh
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- Jan 9, 2017
I've been trying to tell people this for years now.Thought I could join the ongoing Nathan appreciation and share a more light-hearted story. My friend trains with a high-ranking skater who took the same edge class with Nathan. They said that Nathan’s clusters and edges were actually tighter and more precise than some skater considered to have better skating skills, and they failed at attempting his stepsGoes to show how much quality he has in things under-appreciated by even some of his own fans.
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- Mar 27, 2018
A lot of people were drawing the same conclusion between Simone and Nathan I saw. Obviously Simone is on a bigger scale considering how popular gymnastics is along with other personal issues, but I hope he's prepared for the same ole crap since NBC will 100% make him the face of the Olympics again. On top of figure skating being probably the most popular sport there they'll go with the whole redemption arc comeback story and this time he's actually the real favorite.
Unfortunately geo restricted for me in AsiaIn other news, Nathan gave a short interview with on SLC TV about his last Olympics experience and his approach to the upcoming Beijing games.
SLC Olympian may understand Simone Biles the most
Figure skater Nathan Chen says the pressure to perform as the "face" of Team USA in 2018 ruined the Olympic experience for him. He's looking forward to Beijing with a different frame of mind.
Figure skating is pretty much the only Winter Olympic sports I follow. Are there any other winter sports with big stars that are somewhat popular in US?
Or maybe Alysa Liu could have her 3A and 4lutz back and miraculously win over the Russian ladies and Rika at Skate Canada so she and Nathan can share some spotlight going into Beijing. She's got two pretty good programs this season.
Here's the accompanying article.Unfortunately geo restricted for me in Asia
SLC Olympian May Understand Pressure Felt By Simone Biles More Than Most - KSL Sports
Most people will never know the pressure Olympic athletes are under to perform but Nathan Chen does.
kslsports.com
Last Olympics Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn were much bigger stars than Nathan, but I don't know which big stars will be at Beijing. Chloe Kim or Mikaela Shiffrin? NHL players weren't allowed at the 2018 games but they may be allowed in Beijing.
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- Sep 22, 2019
I guess his best strategy is to insulate himself from the media - both the American mainstream media (with its undue pressure) and social media (where the trolls are more vocal). Although as Naomi Osaka's example shows, it's sometimes hard to do so without consequences.
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- Dec 8, 2020
Chloe Kim, a snowboarder, as sheetz mentioned, is fairly popular. Maybe not a household name, but certainly someone the US can try to market. But even though the US does decently in winter sports, skating is one of the more iconic (and interesting) sports to show on television, alongside skiing, snowboarding, and hockey. (Let's face it, I don't think people in the United States are much into curling). And since the US has a good shot at a silver medal in the team event, and gold if Russia has a really bad day, plus several podium contenders in ice dance and men, they might do a big push for skating this year. My worry is that, since NBC and NBCSN seem fixated on emphasizing the women despite the talent in other disciplines, Alysa & the women's team will have all the pressure that Nathan experienced in 2018 dumped on them, regardless of their overall success. Since Alysa is the phenomenon that the media loves to market during Nationals, plus the very high possibility that multiple Chinese-American skaters will be going to the Olympics in Beijing, it's possible that the women's team will be one of the big stories of the Olympics, which makes me really nervous for everyone on it.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2008
Hello Nathan Chen fans!
Thank you for returning the Fan Fest discussion to praise and celebration of Nathan Chen.
Please comply with Fan Fest guidelines. Nathan has issued a video apologizing for certain wording, he has explained that he realized the wording may have hurt members of the LGBTQI+ community. Nathan's Fan Fest is not the place to disagree with his apology.
Per Fan Fest guidelines for every skater, a Fan Fest is not the thread to discuss whether you disagree with the skater's actions.
Please stay on topic; posts that are off topic or do not follow Fan Fest guidelines may be removed.
Go Nathan
Thank you for returning the Fan Fest discussion to praise and celebration of Nathan Chen.
Please comply with Fan Fest guidelines. Nathan has issued a video apologizing for certain wording, he has explained that he realized the wording may have hurt members of the LGBTQI+ community. Nathan's Fan Fest is not the place to disagree with his apology.
Per Fan Fest guidelines for every skater, a Fan Fest is not the thread to discuss whether you disagree with the skater's actions.
Please stay on topic; posts that are off topic or do not follow Fan Fest guidelines may be removed.
Go Nathan
I actually heard of all the names you mentioned besides Mikaela even though I do not watch the sports they are in so they're probably bigger household names than Nathan.
I am under the same impression that NBC will promote women's figure skating stars as their headlines for Figure Skating events in Beijing. I just hope they get their statistics right and do not falsely project "an easy win" or something along the lines.
Since we got the second warning, I'm taking the initiative to post the FF guidelines here for us to self-check and become a more deserving member of GS FF community.
The Fan Fest (FF) is a place for fans to celebrate and praise their favorite skaters. As always, be respectful to each other's threads when posting. Keep discussions in the respective threads and do not bring up other skaters with the intent to bash, debate, critique, and/or compare. Keep in mind that even fans of the same skater may hold a diverse array of viewpoints and thoughts.
The Fan Fest (FF) is a place for fans to celebrate and praise their favorite skaters. As always, be respectful to each other's threads when posting. Keep discussions in the respective threads and do not bring up other skaters with the intent to bash, debate, critique, and/or compare. Keep in mind that even fans of the same skater may hold a diverse array of viewpoints and thoughts.
- Do not bash other skaters or coaches in a FF
- Do not troll or "police" fans in the FF to create discord (report only posts that are breaching GS Forum Guidelines - do not use this function to call on every post that just says things you do not agree with)
- Do not call out or otherwise refer to other posters or fans, directly or indirectly, in a derogatory manner
- Do not use FF as a combat zone for 'fan wars' (using other skaters' names for the sake of continuously arguing with each other)
- Do not create FF threads for skaters under the junior competitive age (13) so that GS is in compliance with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. 6501–6505).
For better or worse, Nathan will definitely be the headliner because he's sponsored by Xfinity, subsidiary of Comcast (NBC).
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2018
Hello everyone! I'm here to ask for a favor from any of you kind and more knowledgable people, if possible!
Not that long ago, I think around WC (leading up to or right after?) one of you guys wrote a fairly detailed post in the Edge about Nathan's transitions in his Free program. Does the kind and knowledgeable owner remember (and can link me)? Or if anyone else wants to help a fool (get it?) out by pointing out some of them? I know there's a looooot, so just a couple, especially before and after the quads would be appreciated!
Not that long ago, I think around WC (leading up to or right after?) one of you guys wrote a fairly detailed post in the Edge about Nathan's transitions in his Free program. Does the kind and knowledgeable owner remember (and can link me)? Or if anyone else wants to help a fool (get it?) out by pointing out some of them? I know there's a looooot, so just a couple, especially before and after the quads would be appreciated!
I thought Xfinity is a team USA sponsor and they probably picked Nathan among a few others. No doubt NBC will promote him just hoping that it would not reach the magnitude of 2018.
- Joined
- May 9, 2019
I still wonder which guideline makes FF "not the place to disagree with Nathan's apology" 
I hope well-constructed exchanges are not considered "policing behaviors" that "created discord" as I see them as the life force of this forum. I say this not in disobedient spirit toward the warnings (and I don't think I'm the one being warned) but to raise a genuine concern as a user who enjoys the respectfully argumentative nature of this platform.
Re media coverage: Yes NBC is fairly obsessed with the women, but I can't help but think you can't get a better hype story than Nathan's. He checks all the boxes: an undefeated history, a redemption story arc, an Ivy League school on his resume, and a comparatively uncomplicated heritage as a Chinese American. In 2018 his winning chance was nowhere as good as it is now, so I'm afraid it will only get worse from now on.
I hope well-constructed exchanges are not considered "policing behaviors" that "created discord" as I see them as the life force of this forum. I say this not in disobedient spirit toward the warnings (and I don't think I'm the one being warned) but to raise a genuine concern as a user who enjoys the respectfully argumentative nature of this platform.Think about whose skating gets compared with Nathan's most often and you have the answerLutzDance, now you need to tell us who that other skater was!
(also, I'm in no way surprised)
Re media coverage: Yes NBC is fairly obsessed with the women, but I can't help but think you can't get a better hype story than Nathan's. He checks all the boxes: an undefeated history, a redemption story arc, an Ivy League school on his resume, and a comparatively uncomplicated heritage as a Chinese American. In 2018 his winning chance was nowhere as good as it is now, so I'm afraid it will only get worse from now on.
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- Joined
- Apr 19, 2018
Personally I don’t see anything wrong with Nathan or any athlete being hyped by the media. It comes with the territory, of course the US will promote their best athletes in the media (as all countries do) as that’s the whole point of the Olympics. Expectations placed from media and audiences on certain athletes usually come from a good place as that means they believe that you can succeed or they wouldn’t bother. That’s not to dismiss the pressure this can put on the athletes and for sure the recent openness from big athletes in recent times about those struggles and how to combat them are important. But the best athletes deserve to have their accomplishments promoted so people know how great they are. They don’t work that hard to not get the acknowledgment. So personally I hope NBC promotes the heck out of Nathan, everyone should know how great he is and all that he can do and I also hope (and believe) that he and his team have put him in the best place physically and mentally to deal with all that comes with being at the top of your sport.
I know and I'm so worried about, but also annnoyed so much for him.
And it's not even good or enjoyable media tbh, it's just lame and exaggerated hype stories, that's just lazy.
Oh ok, I thought they meant another elite skater who also participated in that edge class (a direct comparison so to speak)
I admit I had some confusion about the rule violation to the extent that I went back to examine the rules. However, I have come around with it now because:
First, due to the sensitive nature of the topic, some of the seemingly respectful arguments may be disturbing to other viewers who has different personal experiences and background.
Secondly, it is a good idea to bring back the positive energy to this thread to celebrate our favorite. That’s the reason why we are here.
Foremost, our diligent GS forum staff deserve a break from monitoring this thread
First, due to the sensitive nature of the topic, some of the seemingly respectful arguments may be disturbing to other viewers who has different personal experiences and background.
Secondly, it is a good idea to bring back the positive energy to this thread to celebrate our favorite. That’s the reason why we are here.
Foremost, our diligent GS forum staff deserve a break from monitoring this thread
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