Winter Olympics 2022 - ‘A whirlwind’ - Nathan Chen overwhelmed by dream journey to Olympic gold

Nathan Chen says he never imagined he could become Olympic champion, after fulfilling his figure skating dream with what turned out to be a routine gold in Beijing. The American’s much-hyped battle with Yuzuru Hanyu never materialised, with the double gold medallist faulting in both disciplines. He was unable to fully execute the much spoken about quadruple axel, having fallen in the short programme.

The Japanese great simply rounded up his campaign by saying “it wasn’t fun at all”. Ad/> Chen was largely flawless, delivering a world record in the opening event before he landed all five of his quad jumps to the songs of Elton John during the free skate to score 332.60, adding the Olympic title to his three World Championship successes. /> Beijing 2022‘He’ll soon be just as famous’ — Messing’s lovely tribute to sonAN HOUR AGO “It’s just a whirlwind, everything is happening so fast,” Chen told NBC, who admitted his victory meant even more by achieving it in China.

“Just so happy. It means the world. My mum was born here.

It’s amazing to have this opportunity. I can’t even describe it, you can’t even imagine what it might feel like but it’s just amazing.” Chen was living with the demons of making multiple mistakes during his routines at PyeongChang 2018, which meant he missed out on an individual title. «I never really thought that I'd be able to actually make it this far in my career,” he said.

/> Chen paid tribute to his coach, Rafael Artyunyun, for helping him get this far — saying he has been more than just a mentor for his family. /> “My mum and I grew up quite poor. We really didn't have much money,” he said.