Count Nathan Chen as somebody who predicted Ilia Malinin would land a quadruple Axel.
“I had known Ilia for a bit, and I knew he was going to be capable of doing it,” the Olympic figure skating champion said in an interview for a “Chasing Gold” episode that airs Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and is available starting Monday on Peacock.
Malinin, who in September became the first skater to land the jump, at times trained alongside Chen last season. Now, the 17-year-old Malinin has succeeded Chen as the leading U.S. men’s singles skater.
Chen isn’t competing anywhere this fall. After devoting the last two years to skating, Chen returned to Yale. He has not ruled out returning for a 2026 Olympic run.
"[School] will take up the next two years, and then after that, the door’s open whichever way I decide to go,” he said.
Chen’s memoir, “One Jump at a Time: My Story,” comes out Nov. 22.
He summed it up as a look at his upbringing as the youngest of five children in a Chinese-American family and his journey through athletics, including his growth from the 2018 Olympics to the 2022 Olympics and his support system.
“It’s not always a straight journey,” he said. “There’s moments of success, but there’s also moments of disappointment.”
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