The Truth About The 2022 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team
The 2022 U.S. Olympic figure skating team has been an object of fascination for people around the world this year, and seemingly everyone involved is a dynamic and colorful character. From on-ice partners who dated in real life to the first non-binary athlete to reach the most elite level in the American system, fans have found a lot of individual narratives to forge emotional bonds with these talented performers. If you've just tuned in here and there, we'll help fill in some of the background so that you can come to your next viewing fully informed about all of the behind-the-scenes drama. It makes the skating even more exciting; we promise! This is the truth about the 2022 U.S. Olympic figure skating team.
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00:00Is a 25-year-old really the oldest women's national figure skating champion in nearly
00:04a century? Who is the first openly non-binary member of the U.S. Olympic figure skating team?
00:10To find out, let's meet the team.
00:12Nathan Chen, Vincent Cho, and Karen Chen are three members of the 2022 team who all attend
00:18Ivy League institutions. Nathan is a current student at Yale University while Karen is
00:23enrolled at Cornell University, and Vincent is at Brown University. In the midst of a busy
00:28training schedule to prepare for the Olympic Games, these students often take time off from
00:32their studies to dedicate themselves to skating practice. After her acceptance to Cornell,
00:36Karen opted to take a two-year gap from her studies to prepare for her aspiring Olympic career.
00:41She told U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone in 2019,
00:45"'I didn't want school to be a distraction. I wanted to make the team, and that was my mindset.'"
00:49Like Karen, Vincent also opted to take two years off from his studies at Brown to prepare for the
00:542022 Winter Olympics. Luckily for him, the university worked to establish an academic
00:59plan that would best support his athletic career and educational aspirations.
01:04Figure skater Timothy LeDuc is the first Winter Olympic athlete to openly identify as non-binary.
01:10LeDuc made headlines in 2019 when they were the first openly gay athlete to win a gold medal in
01:16the U.S. Pairs competition as well. LeDuc told NBC Sports,
01:20"[My hope is that the narrative shifts more to,
01:22queer people can be open and successful in sports. We've always been here,
01:25we've always been a part of sports, we just haven't always been able to be open."
01:29"'I never want anyone to feel shame for parts of themselves
01:34because they've come into figure skating.'"
01:36Figure skating pairs are traditionally centered around male and female dynamics that often tell
01:41romantic stories in their program's narrative. LeDuc said in an interview with Reuters,
01:46Maybe it will make a path for other non-binary and queer athletes that come into pairs in
01:50ice dance. LeDuc's skating partner, Ashley Cain Gribble, has had their back from the beginning.
01:55She told Reuters,
01:56"[Timothy has always been there for me. They've supported me through every part
01:59of my journey in my life, and so I'll always be there to support their journey."
02:04Cain Gribble is challenging figure skating gender stereotypes alongside LeDuc.
02:08The figure skater has opted for a full-body leotard on some occasions,
02:11which is unexpected for female figure skaters. The pair continues to shake up the ice skating
02:16world by making their strength and athleticism the center of their routines,
02:20rather than their gender identities and presentation.
02:24The career of a figure skater is often extremely short-lived. Figure skaters with
02:28lean and thin bodies have an easier time with aerodynamics and executing aerial spins.
02:33Most of the world's leading champions in women's figure skating are still in their teens.
02:37At age 25, Mariah Bell became the oldest women's national champion in nearly a century.
02:43According to NBC Sports, the 2022 national championship was Bell's ninth year competing,
02:48and her first year winning the title. After winning her spot on the Olympic team,
02:52she told NBC Sports,
02:53"...I'm just really, really grateful to be here and be competing. I've had so much support,
02:58and my family is so incredible, and they've just really encouraged me to keep chasing my dreams."
03:03Bell is known for her signature creative style. She said in an interview with
03:07the official Olympics website,
03:08"...wanting to push the envelope in terms of artistry is so important,
03:12because not all sports have this opportunity to be so creative and artistic and tell a story."
03:17Bell's perseverance and unique storytelling capabilities finally
03:20paid off in time for the athlete to make the Olympic team at 25 years old.
03:26Figure skater Alyssa Liu made history when she won the U.S. national championship at just age
03:3113. Now, at just 16 years old, Liu will represent the country at the Beijing Olympics.
03:37"...I started crying of joy. I was like, I thought it was over."
03:40According to the official Olympics website, Liu is the oldest of five siblings born via surrogate
03:45to their single Chinese-born father. Liu was quickly identified as a figure skating prodigy
03:50from an early age, and her victory at age 13 was accompanied by another historical moment.
03:55At the 2019 U.S. Nationals, Liu became the first American woman to land three
04:00triple axels in a single competition. Prior to Liu's historical performance,
04:04only three other American women have successfully landed a triple axel in competition.
04:09Liu encountered a series of setbacks for the 2020-2021 season after sustaining a hip injury
04:14during training and undergoing a major growth spurt. Travel restrictions in 2020 prevented Liu
04:20from seeing her usual trainer in Canada, so she instead began to work with three new coaches.
04:25Liu's coaching team helped her bounce back in her post-injury and post-growth spurt body.
04:29She told NBC Sports,
04:31"...I wasn't used to thinking so much on the ice. The way I use my arms and step into my
04:35jumps now, especially the axel, was hard getting used to."
04:39Kaitlyn Hawaik and Jean-Luc Baker, who will compete in the ice dance category,
04:43began their professional partnership in 2011, according to NBC Sports. The couple will make
04:48their Olympic debut in Beijing alongside pairs Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahue,
04:53and Madison Chok and Evan Bates. Both of these pairs have already competed at the Olympic level.
04:58Hubbell and Donahue have also competed together for more than a decade.
05:02Similarly to Hawaik and Baker, Hubbell and Donahue began working professionally together
05:06in 2011 after Hubbell's older brother and former partner retired from ice skating.
05:11Both decade-long partnerships find there are a multitude of benefits associated with such
05:16a long-term relationship. Hawaik told NBC Sports,
05:19"...we're not easily defeated. We've had triumphs in our career,
05:22and disappointment, and continually push past it. I think that's what makes us one of the
05:27strongest teams out here competing." Donahue echoed a similar statement regarding his
05:31partnership with Hubbell, telling Team USA,
05:33"...I've lucked out. I honestly have. We complement each other very well,
05:37and she's an incredible woman, and I'm very lucky to know her."
05:41The ice dance team consisting of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahue might be one of the tallest
05:46in the sport. According to NBC Olympics, Hubbell is 5'8", while her partner, Donahue,
05:51stands at 6'2". The couple began working together in 2011 after Hubbell's brother
05:57retired from ice skating. Hubbell recalled in an interview with Team USA,
06:01"...being a tall, curvy, muscular girl, I had trouble not coming across as flirtatious or
06:05too sexual to skate with my brother. When I switched to skating with Zach,
06:09it was really freeing that I could stop trying to be something I'm not,
06:12and just fully embrace who I am and my image."
06:15Before becoming an official pair, however, the two rivals reportedly loathed each other,
06:20according to Donahue. Loathing was quickly replaced with romance, however,
06:23as the couple began a two-year relationship just six months into their partnership.
06:28Their romantic relationship ended in 2018 when the two decided their on-ice partnership was
06:32more important than their off-ice relationship. Hubbell said their mutual breakup led to a
06:37stronger partnership in the end. She told Team USA,
06:40"...we realized how serious we both were about our goals and our passion,
06:44and I think that our relationship got better and even closer, just in a different way."
06:49Competitor Evan Bates is returning to the Olympics ice dance competition for the fourth
06:54time in 2022. This year's Games marks his third year competing with partner Madison Chalk,
06:59whom he teamed up with in 2011 after taking a year off to recover from a skating injury.
07:04Bates began ice skating at age four and started performing in competitions when
07:08he was just five years old. Bates recalled his first competition in an interview with NBC, saying,
07:13"...I remember being in my first ice show dressed as a leprechaun. I was so nervous that I wet
07:18myself right down my green pants. That certainly was not the moment that propelled me to dedicate
07:22my life to skating." Bates competed in his first Olympic Games in 2010 with then-partner Emily
07:28Samuelson. Later that year, Samuelson's blade severed Bates' Achilles tendon during a training
07:33session, according to ESPN. Bates described the injury as just a freak accident during a lift
07:38that we've done hundreds of times with no mishaps. He recovered quickly and returned
07:43to the ice for the 2011-2012 season with new partner Chalk. Together, the pair have competed
07:48in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, placing eighth and ninth, respectively.
07:53Madison Chalk and Evan Bates have competed in three Olympic Games as a pair,
07:57having begun their partnership in 2011 after Bates already had one Olympic Game under his belt.
08:03Ice dance couples with undeniable chemistry tend to be the most successful storytellers
08:08and performers, and Chalk and Bates certainly have chemistry. In 2017, the pair began a romantic
08:13relationship. Bates told Today,
08:15"[We actually went on a date for her 16th birthday nine years ago,
08:19and here we are, so many years later, skating together at the Olympics together."
08:23After years of cultivating a winning relationship on the ice,
08:26the two decided to make things official off the ice, too. Bates said,
08:30"[I pretty much told Maddie that I loved her, explaining how the two decided to
08:34forward with their relationship."
08:35When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020,
08:38Chalk and Bates quarantined together in their apartment in Montreal with their two dogs.
08:42Together, the pair maintained a strict home workout routine to keep in shape while in lockdown.
08:47Chalk told NBC Sports,
08:48"[When the worlds were canceled, there was a lot of sadness and uncertainty.
08:52This allowed us to channel our emotions and not let all the hard training we had done just stop
08:56and go away."
08:57In 2018, figure skater Nathan Chen made history by executing six full quadruple jumps during the
09:04men's free skate program at the Winter Olympics. Chen's six quadruple jumps brought the skater
09:09from 17th place to 5th place overall, ultimately resulting in the U.S. men's singles team taking
09:15home the bronze.
09:16I mean, the quad is the reason why, you know, I've been able to get to where I am in my sport."
09:20To prepare for the 2022 Olympics, Chen focused on consistency in his routines.
09:24He said in an interview with the official Olympics website,
09:27"...I'm just really excited for it. I'm focusing on every single step from now until the Olympics.
09:32Do the steps as best as I can and prepare as best as I can."
09:36Chen experienced some difficulties in the 2017-2018 season due to his increased time
09:42spent training. According to Chen, increasing his workload cut into his time for rest and recovery,
09:47which took its toll. Reflecting on his personal growth as he prepares for the 2022 games,
09:52he told the site,
09:53"...I think the biggest thing right now is just learning how to balance."
09:57Figure skater Jason Brown is best known for his bubbly and upbeat personality.
10:01Brown was also beloved by fans for his signature lucky ponytail, which he eventually cut in 2022.
10:07Brown joked about the whereabouts of his good luck charm in an interview with NBC,
10:10saying,
10:11"...I cut it and it went straight to the rink."
10:13Brown has a new method of connecting with fans in a major way. He began studying the
10:17Japanese language when he learned that figure skating is a big deal in Japan.
10:21He told NBC that he wanted to better connect with fans,
10:24and he now uploads videos onto YouTube that are directed to Japanese fans.
10:29In 2014, Brown made the Olympic men's figure skating team for the first time.
10:33He told Figure Skaters Online,
10:35"...It was incredible and so exciting. At that point,
10:38I was just in that anything-is-possible frame of mind."
10:41The 2018 Olympics didn't quite go as planned for Brown, however. After placing sixth in
10:46the 2018 national championships, Brown was named as a first alternate for the men's figure skating
10:51team. After not making the team, however, he quickly bounced back into his training routines
10:55with a healthier, growth-oriented mindset that would eventually land him a spot on the 2022 team.