Column: Defending champion Nathan Chen falls four times in practice
The first time Nathan Chen fell during his official practice Wednesday at SAP Center, he easily shrugged it off. But when the defending U.S. men’s figure skating champion and favorite to win a Pyeonchang Olympic berth tumbled to the ice three more times during the session, he became concerned.
“It’s a little frustrating because you think that you’re doing everything right,” he said. “You’re technically going through every single step. Everything you’re supposed to be hitting, I’m supposedly hitting, and then it still doesn’t go right. Those are the times you have to give yourself a moment to just calm down, recalculate and just try it again.”
Chen’s efforts improved as he became more accustomed to the surroundings he will face on Thursday, when the men’s competition begins with the short program.
“I’m glad that I was able to have bad crashes like that to give myself time to think about how to fix it and how to do a good performance [Thursday],” said Chen, who trains in Lakewood. “Whether you have a good practice and skate bad or have a bad practice and skate well, it doesn’t really matter what you do before the competition. It matters what you do in competition. And that’s where my mind is currently, and hopefully [Thursday] will be better.”
Vincent Zhou, the 2017 men’s runnerup, knows how Chen felt. Zhou, also a powerful quadruple-jump specialist, was tired during his practice on Tuesday and didn’t skate particularly well. He paced himself better on Wednesday and skated a strong session.
“I’ve had that too, where one day I don’t skate so well and then the next day I come in and I just feel like I proved myself,” Zhou said. “So, having a bad practice may be a blessing in disguise sometimes.”
Unlike Chen, Zhou hopes his practice performance carries over. “What I did in the practice today, that’s the way I’ve been training,” Zhou said, “and hopefully I can repeat it in the actual competition.”
Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen
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