Futures unclear for top U.S. pairs and dance teams after clear-cut wins at figure skating nationals

/
Futures unclear for top U.S. pairs and dance teams after clear-cut wins at figure skating nationals

SAN JOSE, California – They have both begun the new Olympic cycle as the undisputed national leaders in their figure skating disciplines, cementing that status with U.S. titles Saturday – the fourth for ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the second for the pairs’ team of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier.

At this point, their respective paths to the 2026 Winter Games seem free and clear of challengers.

The question for the dancers and the pair is how far down that road they intend to go.

Read More

Nathan Chen won’t bite off more than he can chew with next Olympics soon on his plate...and 6 other takeaways from 2021 figure skating worlds

/
Nathan Chen won’t bite off more than he can chew with next Olympics soon on his plate...and 6 other takeaways from 2021 figure skating worlds

What’s next for Nathan Chen after yet another stunning performance, this one with five clean quadruple jumps, a striking interpretive affinity to his music and the mental strength to forget the fall in the short program that had left him some eight points behind longtime rival Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan?

Pandemic-related uncertainties make his planning uncertain. He would like to go to the World Team Trophy, still scheduled for next month in Japan. He has no idea if there will be any shows for him to do this summer. Even the usual fall events could be affected should there be resurgence of COVID cases.

That means Chen’s attention could turn completely to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics before he expects.

Read More

Long and short (form) of it: Nathan Chen's brilliance surpassing in both at worlds

/
Long and short (form) of it: Nathan Chen's brilliance surpassing in both at worlds

With a baker’s dozen of tweets, I wrap up Day 4 of the World Figure Skating Championships, a big one for Team USA:

*Nathan Chen (gold), who was simply otherworldly, and Vincent Zhou (bronze), confident and solid, gave the U.S. two men on the podium for the first time since 1996, when Todd Eldredge and Rudy Galindo went gold/bronze.

*Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue’s bronze extended the U.S. streak of world dance medals to five years.

I’ve enjoyed covering the meet this way. I hope you enjoyed reading about it this way. (High-quality, uninterrupted NBC Sports Gold live stream made it possible.)

I’ll have more about Chen’s victory Monday on nbcsports.com, and there also will be a link to it here.

Read More