Nathan Chen

At age 17, Chen became the youngest U.S. champion since Dick Button (1946), and in 2022 became the first man to win six consecutive U.S. titles since Button (1946–52).

Nathan Wei Chen (born May 5, 1999) is an American figure skater.

He is the 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion (2018, 2019, 2021), the 2017 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), a ten-time Grand Prix medalist (8 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze), the presumptive 2022 Olympic silver medalist in the team event, the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, and a six-time U.S. national champion (2017–22).

Nathan Chen was part of an increase in the number of infant skaters following the 2002 Winter Olympics in his home town.

He started skating at the age of three in a beginners' class at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex, which served as a practice rink during the Olympics.

He entered his first figure-skating competition in 2003.

When he was seven, Chen started competing at the juvenile and intermediate levels in the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, placing 10th at the juvenile boys' level in 2007; in the same competition, he won bronze in the juvenile boys' division in 2008 and the intermediate men's silver medal in 2009.

He trained with Ballet West Academy for more than six years and competed at state level in gymnastics, placing first in the all-around at the Utah Boys' State Gymnastics Championships in St. George in 2008.

As a child, Chen also trained as a pianist and won local competitions in his age group and later learned to play guitar as an extracurricular activity.

According to Chen, he is from "a huge chess family"; as children, his siblings competed in chess tournaments, but he says he is less skilled in chess than the rest of his family.

Progressing to novice level in the 2009–2010 season, Chen competed at the 2010 U.S. Senior Championships in Spokane, becoming the youngest U.S. novice men's champion in history at the age of 10.

He remained at the novice level for the 2010–2011 season and became the first male skater to retain the U.S. novice champion at the 2011 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, finishing almost 36 points ahead of his nearest competitor.

Chen debuted as at the junior level in the 2011-12 season, and won his first national junior men's title at the 2012 U.S. Championships in San Jose.

At his first international appearance, Chen won the novice men's event at the 2012 Gardena Spring Trophy in Italy.

Chen had started working with former Czechoslovakian skater Karel Kovar, who used to train with Russian coach Alexei Mishin and taught Chen to pull his arms across his torso in a "seat belt" position when he rotated, a position Chen still uses.

Kovar introduced Chen to fellow Czechoslovakian skater Jozef Sabovčík nicknamed "Jumping Joe".

Sabovčík was the first coach who told Chen not to stop in the middle of a program during a run-through.

Chen worked with Kovar until age nine, and had begun taking lessons from Evgenia Chernyshyova, who was local to Salt Lake City and more easily accessible.

He started working with jump specialist Rafael Arutyunyan when he was 10; Chen and his mother drove from Salt Lake City to Lake Arrowhead, California, several times a year.

The family did not have much money to spend on skates, lessons, and competition costumes so Chen and his mother sometimes slept in their car.

At age 11 Chen told his mother he should move to further his career, and Chen and his mother relocated to Southern California.

At the junior level, Chen is the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, 2013–14 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, 2014 World Junior bronze medalist, and a six-time Junior Grand Prix medalist (5 golds, 1 silver).

Chen, who is regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters of all time, holds the highest-winning percentage in competitions in the modern era with a more-than-three-year winning streak from 2018 to 2021 in what has been described as one of the most-dominant four-year stretches in the sport's history.

Chen is recognized for performing the most technically difficult programs in the world and is credited for exceeding the expectations of athletic ability in the sport; he is known as the "Quad King" for his mastery of quadruple jumps.

Chen is the first skater to have landed all types of quadruple jumps, except the quadruple Axel, in competition.

He has broken world and national records, and is the current world record holder for men in all three competition segments: the short program, free skate, and combined total score under the ISU Judging System.

He currently holds the highest total scores of the major ISU competitions: the Olympics, the World Championships, the Four Continent Championships, and the Grand Prix Final.

Chen is the first Asian American man to win U.S., world, and Olympic titles in single skating.

When Chen won the 2018 World Championships, he became the youngest World Champion since Evgeni Plushenko (2001).

In 2021, he became the first U.S. man to win three consecutive world titles since Scott Hamilton (1982–1984).

After his gold-medal-winning performance at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Chen was named Most Valuable Skater at the 2023 edition of the International Skating Union's ISU Skating Awards and earned a nomination for a Laureus World Sports Award.

In 2022, he appeared in Time magazine's list of the 100 most-influential people in the world and was announced as one of Harper's Bazaar's Icons.

Chen was included in Forbes 2020 30 under 30 Sports list.

Chen has written two books: his memoir One Jump at a Time: My Story and the children's book Wei Skates On.

Nathan Wei Chen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Chinese immigrant parents Zhidong Chen—a research scientist from Guangxi, China—and Hetty Wang from Beijing.

He has four older siblings: Alice, Tony, Colin and Janice Chen—who worked for the Jennifer Doudna lab and is co-founder of Mammoth Biosciences.

Chen's mother was very involved in his skating career from the beginning; she financed his skating activities, and the pursuits of his siblings, by working as a medical translator and cleaning houses.

Chen was more active and fearless than his siblings, who he tried to copy.

He aspired to become a hockey goalkeeper after watching his older brothers play hockey but his mother gave him figure skates.

To improve his coordination and strength to supplement his skating, Chen's mother enrolled him in gymnastics and ballet classes.