You have to know how to fall in order to take off better.

In Pyeongchang (South Korea) in 2018, the one who, at 18, was the new nugget of American skating had cracked under the pressure, weighed down by a 17th place in the short program.

"I made all the mistakes it was possible to make," he said then.

All hope of a medal lost, it was totally free that Chen had tackled the freestyle to enter Olympic history in his own way, becoming the first man to land five quadruple jumps at the Games, which had allowed him to go back to the fifth rank in the final standings.

"That season was really stressful. I was focused on the medal goal. I said to myself that if I spent four more hours on the ice - regardless of how long I would get there. But I ended up exhausting myself," he explained last year to the Olympic channel.

“I then understood the importance of finding a good balance between giving everything on the ice and giving yourself time for yourself”.

This is what led him from one end of his country to the other, from the West Coast to the East Coast, on the benches of the prestigious Yale University at the start of the 2018 school year. Far from the Californian ice rink of Lakewood, where he trained - and is training again - under Rafael Arutiunian, and Salt Lake City, where he was born on May 5, 1999.

"Quad King"

Studies put on hold to focus on the Olympic deadline but which Chen plans to resume at the start of the next school year.

It was at the age of 3, when the main city of Utah hosted the 2002 Olympics, that little Nathan, the youngest of five siblings born to Chinese parents who came to live in the United States at the age of 20 years old, put on his first skates.

Manan VATSYAYANA AFP

"I remember watching figure skating on TV, going to the rink and pretending to be in the Olympics," he says.

Pushed by his mother - "who spent her free time watching me skate" -, Chen became at 10 the youngest novice champion (under 13 category) in the United States.

Two years later, he meets Arutiunian, who will shape the future "quad king" (king of the quadruple).

United States junior champion in 2012 and 2014, he failed to do the same in seniors in 2016. But he achieved what no skater had managed to do before: four quadruple jumps in a program.

His third place then revives the debate on the balance between athletic performance and artistic quality.

Especially since a few hours later, during the gala, on a jump, he suffered his most serious injury, to a hip, which kept him away from the ice for six months.

End of invincibility

Not enough to clip Chen's wings.

A year later, he became the first skater to perform five "quads" in one program.

"I have a body built for jumping", assures the one who focuses his off-ice work on strength and power, when plyometrics (relaxation and explosiveness) are generally favored by skaters.

In 2018, a month after the failure in Pyeongchang, he overcame the disappointment and became world champion for the first time, again attempting six "quads" (one back).

American Nathan Chen, gold medalist in figure skating at the Beijing Olympics, during his visit to the ice rink at the Capital Indoor Stadium, February 10, 2022. Antonin THUILLIER AFP

Two other world titles will follow in 2019 and 2021 for Chen, who will remain undefeated in all competitions until October 2021 and a third place in the form of an accident at Skate America, the first Grand Prix of this Olympic winter.

An Olympiad at the top enamelled with controversy, when he expressed his annoyance at the stereotypes linked to being a straight skater in a "sport dominated by homosexuals".

Words for which Chen, usually smooth and not very expansive, apologized.

At university, where he majored in statistics and data science, some courses gave him ideas for ice cream.

He thus discovered pieces by composer Philip Glass, which he borrowed for his pre-Olympic season.

In Beijing, he heard the American anthem after winning Olympic gold with a total of 332.60 points.

© 2022 AFP