Beijing Olympics 2022 spotlight - Nathan Chen 'unintentionally pushed’ by rival Yuzuru Hanyu ahead of skating showdown
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Updated 03/02/2022 at 11:57 GMT
The American is the triple world champion but he will be taking on a legend of the sport in Beijing when Hanyu is likely to try and pull off a clean quadruple axel for the first time in competition, as he attempts to secure a third straight Olympic gold medal. Chen admits he has been pushed by the Japanese athlete. Watch every moment of the Games on discovery+.
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Nathan Chen has nothing but respect for Yuzuru Hanyu - but at the Winter Olympics, he will be looking to deliver a blow to the Japanese figure skating legend and his passionate fan base.
On paper, and for the uninitiated, the American should be the favourite for the title, having won the world title in the blue riband singles event on the past three occasions. But Hanyu is the reigning and double Olympic champion and for most, he is the GOAT - the greatest of all time - and many argue there has never been a talent like him.
Hanyu is likely to try and become the first skater ever to cleanly land a quadruple axel in competition, a goal he has targeted for his entire life. The move requires four and a half revolutions in the air, and he has admitted in the past that training to achieve it has taken its toll on his body.
Chen does not agree when it has been put to him that pulling off the move has become an obsession for the Japanese athlete, but speaking to NBC, he was in awe at what he is trying to achieve.
“Listen, if I was two-time Olympic champion, I would not be in this sport anymore, you know. I would be long gone,” Chen said.
“If I was in his position, if I could do one quad toe and still try to medal, okay, I’m good. The fact he is still trying to push himself to do something no one has ever done before is unreal.”
As of Thursday, the day before the opening ceremony, Hanyu is yet to be seen in practice in Beijing. It has prompted a trending topic of ‘where is Hanyu?’ on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. Chen, meanwhile, has been training - fully masked - at the venue.
Chen knows the focus will be on Hanyu, but he says without him, he would not be the skater he is. The rivalry has pushed him on to another level, and though the Fanyus (his loyal fan base) will likely disagree, Chen has given Hanyu something to think about. He cannot just turn up and have the gold handed to him - the American is a supreme talent too, and he is ready to pounce.
“I think Yuzuru completely pushed the sport into a different position, not just how he shaped me as an athlete, how he shaped the sport,” Chen said.
“Everyone is doing bigger and better things because of him. Figure skating is definitely indebted to him for all he has done to progress the sport.”
Chen has admittedly been helped by Hanyu’s body letting him down in recent years. He suffered a bad ankle injury in 2017 and damaged the same joint earlier this season. Figure skating is a young athlete’s game - and at 27, Hanyu is still going.
Hanyu’s 22-year-old rival is hoping his slightly more relaxed approach will help him this time around. In Pyeongchang, his debut Games, Chen came away with team bronze.
“Last Olympics go-round, I was so stressed about the results,” Chen recently told GQ.
“When you do that, you're focusing on something that you can't control. It’s just going to cause you anxiety and worry and stress. I think this time around, as much as I can, [I’m going to try to] keep recognising how sick that experience is.
“When I look back on the Olympics, I don't really even remember how cool it was to be there, and that's something that I dreamed about for a long time.
“I want to be able to,10 years from now, look back on my career and look back on my time at the Olympics and be like, ‘Man, I really had a great time there. And a lot of times when I look back on my competition, I don't even really remember what I did in competition. I remember the experience of being there a lot more than I remember what I actually did.’ So I think that's my goal for this run around.”
Hanyu v Chen is the marquee event of the Beijing Games. The short programme takes place on February 8, followed by the free skate on February 10.
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