SLC’s Nathan Chen the U.S. Figure Skating Champ on to Olympics

Salt Lake City's Nathan Chen. Photo: U.S. Figure Skating

COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. – U.S. Figure Skating announced on Sunday the men who will compete at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The U.S. men’s singles team is Nathan Chen, Jason Brown, and Vincent Zhou.

Chen, from Salt Lake City, attended West High School and skates for the Salt Lake City Figure Skating Club.

Chen is the 2022 U.S. champion, which marked his sixth-straight U.S. title. He is the three-time and reigning World champion and Grand Prix Final champion (he also qualified for the 2021 Final but the event was canceled). Chen is a 2018 Olympic bronze medalist (team event) and finished fifth in the men’s event in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he became the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in a single program with his winning free skate. He is also the first man in the world to receive credit for landing five different types of quadruple jumps in international competition.

Illinois-native Brown is a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist (team event) and placed ninth overall in Sochi, Russia.

Northern California’s Zhou is the 2022 U.S. bronze medalist and placed sixth at the Olympic Winter Games in 2018.

U.S. Figure Skating also confirmed that each member of the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team is eligible to compete in the Olympic team event. U.S. Figure Skating will work with athletes and their coaches to determine if the athlete will participate in the event.

Each team in the event will consist of one woman, one man, one pairs team, and one ice dance team to be selected from athletes who have qualified in their individual disciplines. Each team, however, will be allowed to make up to two exchanges after the short program/rhythm dance. The team event will consist of the ten best national teams from NOCs/ISU members. The five teams with the highest number of points after the short program/rhythm dance will qualify for the free skate/dance. In the team event, athletes will receive points based on their finishes in each segment of competition.