Nathan Chen

Nathan Chen is an American men's singles figure skater who redefined the technical landscape of elite skating while building championship programs that paired exceptional jump density with responsive choreography. Born May 5, 1999, in Salt Lake City, Chen began skating at age three and grew up in the Olympic atmosphere surrounding the 2002 Winter Games. His athletic education was unusually broad: alongside figure skating, he competed in gymnastics and trained for more than six years at Ballet West Academy, developing rotation, air awareness, line, and coordination that would distinguish his skating throughout his career.

Chen rose through novice and junior competition before reshaping senior men's skating. By 2017, he became the first skater to land five quadruple jumps in one program and the first to land five different quad types in competition—a technical range that allowed more strategic distribution of difficulty across both the short program and free skate. That year he won the Four Continents title and began a run of six consecutive senior U.S. championships, along with three consecutive Grand Prix Final titles.

At the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, Chen finished fifth in men's singles after a difficult short program, though he earned team bronze with the United States. He responded decisively, winning the 2018 World Championship and defending the title in 2019. While enrolled at Yale, he maintained an international winning streak and captured a third World title in 2021 after the pandemic canceled the 2020 championships.

Chen's 2022 Olympic campaign brought the performance most firmly defining his competitive legacy. He set a record short program score of 113.97, then completed five clean quadruple jumps in his *Rocketman* free skate to win the men's singles gold medal with 332.60 points. He also competed in the team event; after the Kamila Valieva case reached final resolution, the United States team was awarded gold, making Chen a two-time Olympic gold medalist alongside one team bronze.

After stepping away from competition following the 2021–22 season, Chen returned to Yale and graduated in 2024 with a degree in statistics and data science. He confirmed in 2025 that he would not defend his title at the 2026 Olympics. U.S. Figure Skating inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2026, recognizing a competitive record of six consecutive senior national titles, three World championships, three Grand Prix Final titles, two Olympic gold medals, and groundbreaking firsts in quadruple-jump performance.