Biography

On February 10, 2022, Nathan Chen redefined men’s figure skating, not only winning the Olympic gold medal, but finishing more than 22 points ahead of his closest competitor. His choice of music for the free skate, “Rocketman,” quite literally describes how Nathan has soared above the men’s field for the past four years, cementing his position as Quad King with the Olympic title. Nathan became the first Asian American male skater to win U.S., World and Olympic titles.

Born in Salt Lake City, home of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Nathan began skating at age 3 because Olympic spirit fueled the city. Precociously talented, he quickly built a championship resume, winning national novice and junior titles. In 2016, just his second year at the senior level, he brought quadruple jumps back to U.S. men’s skating - landing two in the short program and four in the free skate - a first for a U.S. man.

The 2016 U.S. Championships were just a preview of what was to come. In 2017, Nathan ignited the crowd with five quadruple jumps in the free skate. His record-breaking score allowed him to become the youngest U.S. men’s champion in more than five decades.

Nathan headed into the 2018 U.S. Championships with high expectations after having dominated on the Grand Prix circuit and winning his first Grand Prix Final title. He earned his second U.S. title and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team headed to PyeongChang, South Korea.

At the 2018 Olympics, Nathan contributed to the U.S. team where they won a bronze medal. After faltering in the short program of the men’s event, he performed an extraordinary first-place, five quadruple jump free skate that enabled him to rise from 17th to fifth place. That would be the last time he would lose for the next three and a half years. He won three World Championships, six Grand Prix events, two Grand Prix Finals and four more U.S. titles, all in convincing fashion.

After dominating men’s skating since 2018, Nathan returned to his second Olympic Games. He opened his 2022 Olympics in the team competition, flawlessly skating his short program, “La Boheme.”  The U.S. Team earned an Olympic silver medal, marking its best-ever team finish. 

Nathan again performed “La Boheme” in the men’s event. He followed his world record-breaking performance with a soaring free skate set to the music of Elton John, who issued a congratulatory tweet upon Nathan’s resounding victory. With the 2022 Olympic gold medal, Nathan joined elite company as only the seventh U.S. man to ascend the top step of the Olympic podium, expressing his appreciation for the champions who preceded him.

Nathan, the youngest of five children, is a junior at Yale University and is currently taking time off from competitive skating. He is the author of two books: One Jump at a Time, a memoir; and Wei Skates On, a children’s book.

In December of 2022, Elton John released a video of ‘Hold Me Closer’ featuring Nathan.