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Patrick Chan 2017 Skate Canada International Short Program!

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Gif of Patrick Chan's quadruple toe jump at Skate Canada 2017 short program competition
Last updated: Wednesday, November 1, 2017

And so SCI 2017 has begun! Patrick missed his flight and lost his luggage, but he spoke about looking forward to life after competitive skating and said to his fans, “thank you for liking me for who I am, not just for my skating.” But after a “crazy and not comfortable week”, he did well in the short program, scoring 94.43 and taking second!

 

October 27: Short Program Competition Day!
Video Links

Short Program with no commentary:


American NBC commentary: (link)

Japanese commentary: (link)

Korean SBS commentary: (link)

Russian Telesport commentary by Yulia: (link)

Before the short program:

Introduction before warmup:

Scores and Ranks After the Short Program Competition

What Patrick Said About It

According to this ISU article he said:

“This week has been a little crazy with trying to get organized and settled… I actually didn’t really feel comfortable until the six minutes warm up today. I’m really happy with the performance, with the situation I’ve been given, first event of the year. I actually enjoyed it and it was nice to stay on my feet.”

According to a report from Weibo (thanks to Violet Bliss for the translation):

#爱滑冰-新闻资讯##花样滑冰大奖赛加拿大站# 男单短节目第二名 加拿大选手Patrick Chan赛后混采区内通：
昨天没有到达的行李今天中午终于送来了，感谢WestJet和Air Canada，加急将比赛服装送到，能够穿着自己的比赛服上场是个很大的安慰。今天早上训练不太顺利，感觉不好，可能是因为旅途劳顿，还有些心神不宁，练习中也没有做后外点冰四周，因此 对于晚上的比赛没有什么期待。今天还是有些失误，但并不因此难过，考虑到之前几天经历的一切，很高兴自己证 明了自己能够克服困难做到今天这样。自己是一个有时需要“跟着感觉走”类型的运动员，今天自己的身体告诉自己，如果做四周跳，从肌肉感觉到发力 时机，状态都不理想，因此决定不加入任何四周。但是自己也知道有时候这是个弱点。今天比赛前觉得就听天由命 吧，把关键的技术做好就可以。

“My missing luggage finally arrived at noon today. Thanks to WestJet and Air Canada for rushing my costumes to me. It’s a comfort to be able to wear my own costume for the competition.

The morning practice didn’t go too well and didn’t feel good. Maybe it’s because of the stress from the travel and also my unsettled mind, I didn’t do the 4T during practice and so I didn’t have high expectation for tonight. There were mistakes today, but I’m not too upset. Considering what happened these last few days, I’m glad I could overcome the difficulties to have done what I did. I’m the kind of athlete who goes with the feelings. My body told me today if I attempted quads, the muscles just didn’t feel right at time of activation, so I decided not to include any quad (at practice). At competition time, I felt that as long as I executed the important technical skills well, the rest was up to God.”

What Viewers Said About Patrick

Short Program and Press Conference Photos

Pointing at Shoma:

Reading social media or texting?

After the short program:

In the kiss and cry:

His face at the beginning and end of the short program:

Short Program on the ice:

#Patrickchan#figureskate#figureskating #skate#figureskater#skateCanada

A post shared by patrickchan_fanphoto (@patrickchan_fanphoto) on

Not sure if this was taken before the competition:

One of my favorite parts of the program – during the part of “Dust in the Wind” that says “don’t hang on…”

GIF of Patrick Chan's step sequence at 2017 Skate Canada
Mens’ Warmup

I couldn’t believe how many seconds elapsed before we were finally able to get a glimpse of Patrick’s new costume! But I like it!

Men’s Short Program Skating Order

Morning Practice Session

Dust in the Wind! No jumps, just a runthrough. Hopefully everything was all right at 1:58.

Another short clip:

Patrick’s Video Essay: My Moment

I thought that this video, shot two months ago, was beautifully done, and Patrick looked so calm and serious on the water! Very zen, one might say. I could tell that Patrick worked hard to narrate it. Some of what he said was heartfelt and sincere. Other parts were the “hero’s journey” type of words. See below for a transcript.

Patrick: When I paddle out, I watch the water. I stand there and I realize this is always going to be here. No matter what happens anywhere else, I can always come back here.

But the storm’s unpredictable. There are so few guarantees. I know that now. I have to be ready. I had so much fear at my first two games. I was young, and I didn’t know what I was doing… couldn’t control my own body… thought I deserved gold, and it should come to me, because I wanted to be the champion that everyone else wanted me to be.

I couldn’t remember why I trained so hard for so long. I didn’t know what I was doing for me. I let my storm consume me. But when it clears, I realize… I can jump and I can rise, and sometimes I will fall, but life goes on.

I control my own story, if I embrace the things that remain to exist, no matter what. Like the water, like the ice, like me.

These are my last games. I still feel the fight or flight sensation before I compete, but it’s natural.

This is my moment. These are my movements, and this is for me. Instead of dreading the end, I look forward to the beginning.

I am Patrick Chan. Nothing defines me… but me.

 

Behind the scenes stills of the making of the video:

#Patrickchan#figureskate#figureskating#figureskater#canada#surfing

A post shared by patrickchan_fanphoto (@patrickchan_fanphoto) on

#Patrickchan#figureskate#figureskating#figureskater#canada

A post shared by patrickchan_fanphoto (@patrickchan_fanphoto) on

Promotional Video of the Mean

Starting with Patrick, of course!

 

October 26: Practice Day

Patrick was not at morning practice, but not surprisingly, a slew of interviews were released today! He did attend the afternoon practice, where he marked most of his jumps during a runthrough of “Hallelujah”.

About the Late Arrival and… Lost Luggage!

It seems that circumstances beyond Patrick’s control caused him to arrive late and be costume-less! Luckily, he had packed his practice clothes and skates in his carry-on bag. Looks like he’ll need to take two carry-ons from now on instead.

According to Sportsnet:

“The three-time world figure skating champion missed Thursday morning’s practice after his flight out of Detroit on Wednesday was delayed. He missed his connection in Toronto, and spent the night there before flying to Regina on Thursday.

Watch the video of him speaking about his experience:

“Chan, who’s aiming for his seventh Skate Canada International title, said the hectic two days of travel are “a good test”… and an adventure.”

A test, indeed. Hopefully, airline agents are working hard to restore his luggage to him!

Afternoon Practice

See the full men’s practice session here. Did Patrick gracefully avoid colliding with another skater?

Another short video clip:

If I had my life to do over again, I’d find you sooner so I could enjoy you longer. 😭 • • • • • 📸: mimi

A post shared by The Best is Yet to Come (@patrickchanforever96) on

Oh, hey Patrick 👋🏻 #patrickchan #skatecanadainternational2017

A post shared by Leslie Dueck (@lesliedueck2) on

Watching the Men's practice #sci17 #skatecanada #patrickchan

A post shared by Kathlin T. Simpkins (@nilhtak) on

Despite the lack of full jumps, Patrick still mesmerized his audience!

Interview Before the Blue Jays Pitch

Oddly, Sportnet decided to release their interview with Patrick three months after he threw the first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game (read about that here). Nevertheless, I welcome the opportunity to learn more about Patrick’s plans and mindset, now that he is preparing to complete one journey and begin another. And what he said to his fans (quote below) is music to my ears!

Parts of the interview in the video were not in the article itself. Below is a transcription.

SN: Throwing out the first pitch at the Rogers Centre… now you know you officially are a Canadian celebrity if there was any doubt. The emotions going in are what?

PC: Anxiety, a little bit of stress, excitement. I’ve been trying to practice. I’m asking all my friends, giving them a glove. They would be like, “just throw it around with me,” and… trying to be accurate, and yet fast, maybe throw a fast ball, but it’s hard to be accurate, right, when you’re throwing 60 feet.

SN: You’re an Olympic athlete, so that’s why I’m surprised to hear that you’re nervous. You’ve performed on literally the world’s biggest stage…

PC: Sure, nervous to the leadup, then I think when I step on the mound, I’m going to feel good, I’m going to feel confident.

SN: Did you play baseball as a kid?

PC: No, never, actually. Played a little in high school, just at lunch and stuff, but never… Baseball wasn’t as big as it is now, unfortunately, but I think it’s picking up a bit. I always followed the Jays, though. Out of all of the professional sports teams, Jays have always been my diehard Toronto team.

Every time someone comes up to me and thanks me or talks about my skating, it’s humbling because I never imagined that my skating could affect people in that way.

SN: For you as a top athlete watching other top athletes in their trade, do you watch with a different eye than the average man would?

PC: Sure, I’m more critical. I think, when you’re getting paid millions of dollars to do something, where 180, you go to amateur athletes… I’m lucky I can do shows and so on, but if I’m looking at friends that are skiers or lugers or speedskaters, they’re struggling sometimes to do sport, and they have part-time jobs. So I get critical because I’m like, man, you’re making millions of dollars and you missed the catch. Like a catch that… it would be like me missing a double axel or something like that, so… Of course, it’s not fair in the moment, I get really rattled, but at the end of the day, I’d be like, you know what, they go through a hard time and they have a lot of pressure being a professional team in Toronto.

SN: What’s it like for you in an individual sport where a lot of that conversation is just in your own head with no other team mate to bounce that off of?

PC: I spoke to Jonathan Toews once in at the Olympics in Sochi. We were in the cafeteria and it was the highlight of these games. He came up to me and the first thing he said was, “I have so much respect for you figure skaters because you have nobody to fall back on. I have a goalie, a defenceman to fall back on if I mess up, if I lose the puck and it gets stolen away.”

So, it is a huge mental game. I worked a lot with a sport psych a lot last season leading up to this season noticing that I went in to the last two games fearing the competition instead of enjoying and just being eager. It’s like the first pitch today. I’m eager to throw the pitch. I’m a little nervous but the excitement takes over the fear.

SN: What’s it like for you in this part of your career, where you are now one of the most recognizable athletes in this country? How has that transition been?

PC: Fun, it’s been fun. I don’t have that much recognition where it is overwhelming, it’s just the right amount. Every time someone comes up to me and thanks me or talks about my skating, it’s humbling because I never imagined that my skating could affect people in that way. I just can’t wait to somehow give back.

Thank you for liking me for who I am, not just for my skating.

SN: So we’re here. You can see the mound behind us. How are you feeling?

PC: (laughs) Did a couple of throws with my agent. I am still a little nervous. I think once I walk out there in front of everyone, I think it’s going to be a little scary but… I don’t know, I think… this is what dreams are made of, I guess.

(He throws his perfect pitch.)

PC: (hugs mascot) Oh, that was close! (shakes hands) Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I was nervous.

SN: Good run!

PC: Thank you!

SN: So how do you feel?!

PC: It feels like after a program! Like, it feels after competing. Seriously, like a euphoric feeling, you know? Adrenaline rush, adrenaline rush.

SN: You got top marks from all the judges. You got gold, you got…

PC: Thank you. Thanks, man.

I just can’t wait to somehow give back.

Some highlights from the article, which covers the rest of the interview:

“Now I’m like, no, I have to let go of some things sometimes. You’ve got to trust your gut.”

“I tell people I’m old. And they say, “are you kidding me, you’re 26.” But in my sport, I’m competing against Nathan (Chen) who I’m almost a decade older than. It’s frustrating at the beginning because it comes so easy.”

“I’m already 99 per cent sure what I’m going to do after, no matter the medal, no matter the result in the team event. My best performance I’ve yet to give outside of skating. I’m looking forward to adapting these tools I’ve learned in skating for this beautiful life I have ahead.”

PJ Kwong’s Article and Interview Video Release

The Official Poster

 

Related Posts

Countdown to Skate Canada International!

Patrick Chan Summer News Update, July 27, 2017

Patrick Chan 2016 Skate Canada International Wrap-Up

Patrick Chan 2016 Skate Canada International: Day 3 Free Skate

Patrick Chan 2016 Skate Canada International: Day 2 Short Program

Patrick Chan 2016 Skate Canada International: Day 1

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