By Chang-Ran Kim
BEIJING (Reuters) – Nathan Chen redeemed himself at the Olympics on Friday by skating his personal best and the three-time world champion said he wanted to keep it that way to leave sport’s biggest stage with a “happy” memory.
“I’m happy to be here, and I’m happy with the way that I skated,” Chen said after racking up 111.71 points in his short programme in the teams event to give the United States the early lead.
“It feels great to be able to have a short programme that I actually skated well at an Olympic (event).”
Asked about any demons that remained after an error-riddled performance in Pyeongchang that put him at 17th place in the individual short programme four years ago, Chen said that was all part of the package.
“I think you learn the most from your mistakes. And I certainly learned a lot from that competition, and I don’t think I would be able to be here where I am now without having had that experience,” he added.
“So I think rather than that being a demon, I think that was a very helpful learning experience.”
Chen also left with just a bronze medal in the team event in 2018 despite lofty expectations.
Now 22, Chen said he was out to make happy memories at the Games with his friends and team mates while staying focused on his remaining competition.
“Overall, I try to stay present, try to stay happy and really just try to enjoy the Games experience as much as I possibly can,” he said.
“I have to compete, so that’s my main focus. But while I’m here, being around all my friends, the people that I’m rooming with and the team – they’re all my closest friends.
“It’s really great to be able to have people that you love at such an amazing event, and memories that you can share.”
Team USA’s Mariah Bell said earlier this week she had been enjoying walking around the Village with Chen and their training mate Michal Brezina, who represented the Czech team on Friday.
Chen, currently on a leave of absence from Yale University, said he was enjoying the food and the sights walking around the Olympic Village.
“Fortunately the men are done fairly early (with their competition) so we’ll have more opportunities to hopefully watch the other events and get to experience the Olympics even more than I currently am,” he added.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
