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US Olympic Gold Medalist Breaks Silence on 2026 Mega-Games Appearance

Published 11/29/2022, 11:15 AM EST

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via Reuters

Figure skating champion Nathan Chen is a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medalist from the United States. At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the “Quad King” set a new world record in the individual short program event.

After winning breaking the record and winning the gold, fans’ expectations from the skater have increased for the 2026 Olympics. However, the young star is more focused on completing his degree at Yale than thinking about his golden future.

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Nathan Chen believes it’s too early to think about the Olympics

The 23-year-old Chen is currently pursuing his majors in Statistics and Data Science at the prestigious Yale University. The figure skater is in his final year and hence very focused on preparing for his finals.

via Reuters

When People contacted Chen about his plans and the 2026 Olympic preparations, the “Quad King” was unsure about it. “I mean, it’s so early to say. Usually, that process happens at the beginning of the season, so you wouldn’t really think about it until quite later on,” said Chen. Even after gaining huge success at the Olympics, Chen mentioned that completing his education is his main priority for now.

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The young skater admitted that he is more of a “go with the flow” kind of person. He confessed, “I try not to think too much about the future, and that’s honestly the kind of the way that I’m going about it.” Does this mean Chen is not interested in competing at the Olympics? Not at all. The world champion is confident that he’ll soon figure things out.

“And you know, I guess after two years I’ll, you know, work things out and see where I’m at,” stated Chen. Besides this, Chen’s memoir – One Jump at a Time: My Story, was recently released across the globe. The skater revealed that he had fun working on the book and visiting fond memories from his skating and personal life.

How did Elton John become a fan of Chen after the 2022 Olympics?

For the 2022 Olympic free skate event, Chen chose to perform on the iconic music from Rocketman. Legendary singer Elton John, who is the artist of the medley, also wished the young figure skater for winning the gold medal.

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In fact, John was so mesmerized by Chen’s performance that, during one of his concerts in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the skater was also present in the audience.

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Watch this Story: “Been through so much”: Serena Williams leaves a huge impact on Olympic gold medallist Nathan Chen’s life

A few days ago, Chen also featured in the music video of John’s acoustic re-release of the song “Hold Me Closer”, a collaboration with singing icon Britney Spears. The young skater has caught many people’s attention in just a short period.

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Written by:

Soumya Bontra

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Soumya Bontra is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. She has been working as a sports journalist and writer for the past two years. Soumya has a Bachelor’s in Mass Media.
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Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana