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Patrick Chan Olympic News (Part 1), February 2018

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Last updated: Tuesday, April 3, 2018 Whereby we now come, strangely enough, to the end of our hero’s journey to Mount Olympus. Good luck, Patrick! Use the days well!

**Does Patrick have a geopolitical advantage at the Olympics? Use my Olympic Geopolitical Advantage Calculator to find out (link)!

 

February 8-9: Team Short Program Competition and Opening Ceremonies

A rough start due to times and conditions, but Patrick still feels confident! What a gorgeous portrait with the flag (below)!

Patrick Chan Portrait by Nikki Ormerod 2-2018

Photos with Fans and Friend

Ravi with Patrick and Kaetlyn:

And so many others:

With friend Yura Min:

Opening Ceremonies

Patrick walked and looked at his phone at the same time…

Patrick in the Olympic Team Promo
Air Canada Promo

Watch the video here: (video link)

A Different Way to Promote Canada…

Black and White Portrait of Patrick

I like this portrait – Patrick has a more natural look here – very nice!

Short Program Video

Watch Patrick’s first performance of these Olympics on YouTube here.

The Results

What Patrick Said

Direct link to article (here).

โ€œItโ€™s interesting when this sort of thing happens, there must be a common denominator. I think the only difference than usual is the early morning competition, not to say itโ€™s a bad thing or Iโ€™m mad about it,โ€ Chan said of the 10:00 am local start time for the menโ€™s short programs. โ€œFor me, even though itโ€™s my third Olympics, it still feels like the early jitters of the Olympics and competing for the first time.โ€

Despite his jump issues, any disappointment Chan felt didnโ€™t last long once he saw the smiles of his teammates in the kiss and cry.

โ€œNormally if itโ€™s just me, by myself, I would start analyzing it and being disappointed in the skate but they were all so supportive,โ€ he said. โ€œNo need to apologize to them or anything and I think thatโ€™s the greatness of the team event. You always have to remember this isnโ€™t about me. This is about all of us. Each discipline can support each other even if some of us have mistakes or bad days.โ€

Chan says he instantly felt better after teammates greeted him with a standing ovation and their Crest commercial-like smiles. Ice dancer Scott Moir gave him a ton of back pats, too. โ€œThat really helped me kind of get out of that negativity that we usually have getting off the ice after a bad skate,โ€ Chan says. โ€œIโ€™m looking forward to future performances after today.โ€

After an afternoon nap (20 minutes top) and spending time with family and friends, heโ€™ll march in the opening ceremony tonight. This is Chanโ€™s third Olympics. He knows what to expect. And he knows how to battle back from tough skates like his debut here.

โ€œIโ€™ve gone to bed every night with a huge smile on my face,โ€ Chan says, flashing those teeth again, just before he walks off, still wearing his black figure skates. โ€œI hope to continue that.โ€

“He’s handling it really well, so I hope he knows that it’s very normal to have not a great skate,โ€ said Patrick Chan, a three-time Olympian and three-time world champion from Canada. โ€œIt’s part of the experience. It’s part of the Olympics. You have a long time before any of these Games, so just cherish the moment even if it’s not the best one.”

About That Ice… Ugh…

Since so many skaters fell, I wondered if ice conditions were partially to blame. Sure enough, see what German EuroSport commentators said!

Fans noticed, too!

Support for Patrick

Photos of the Day

Cheering on Eric and Meagan!

“Patrick Chan, first Canadian to jump on the ice for the team event. Disappointed because the jumps were not there but he felt good on the rink. Promise to return for the rest after a day off tomorrow!”

With the team in the box:

 

On the ice!

The warm up:

 

Picture Perfect Patrick Chan

Patrick: Holy moly… yeah, this was in China. I was on tour and had the wonderful chance to meet Yao Ming. I’ve never been so intimidated to ask someone for a picture, but he was super welcoming and clearly you can see I’m… height-deficient. So yeah, it was such a great experience… what a sight!

Patrick Being Quizzed on Korea

He got most of them right!

Patrick: Ding! Ding!

Question: In what winter sport has South Korea won its most Olympic gold medals?

Patrick: Short track speed skating [correct]

Question: In what sport has South Korea won its most total medals?

Patrick: Short track speed skating [incorrect]

Question: What is the most popular Korean family name?

Patrick: Um… C, Kim. [correct]

Question: What is the name of the region that divides North and South Korea?

Patrick (with a big smile): Demilitarized Zone is DMZ. [correct]

 

Other Articles of the Day

Olympian Elena Vaitsekhovskaya had what I thought was a very important and valid perspective on the pressure skaters face at the Olympics. It is not just another competition…

Donโ€™t rush to scold Patrick Chan.

You ask, what Patrick Chan has to do with it? Only though in the strongest warm-up he was the first. The first who failed to do what he should, and whose performance reminded: itโ€™s Olympic Games. The most terrifying and unpredictable of all existing competitions.

For someone, he becomes the happiest, but this is certainly not the case of a three-time world champion. The Canadian won two silver medals in Sochi, but to put it mildly, here from the skating point of view he was unconvincing. If you add Vancouver to these memories, everything fits perfectly into the standard formulation for most athletes: โ€œNerves donโ€™t withstandโ€.

โ€œWhy do you like to compare the Olympic Games with the war? After all war is quite different thing,โ€ I was asked once by some acquaintance. At the Olympics many side-by-side aspects regarding the inhuman stress, the ability to endure pain and deprivation, after all the ability to sacrifice themselves are such that it is simply impossible to imagine such things in ordinary life, but easy to imagine at war. Perhaps that is why the champions of the Olympics are often either those who have seen everything, mature fighters, or very young athletes โ€“ children, without feelings of fear and self-preservation.

Since then, nothing has changed in the essence of the Olympic Games. Games exhaust you, burn you from inside, they are able to crush any person who got into this pot with the thought: โ€œItโ€™s not a big deal, the same competitions as any otherโ€.

Because Tarasova knows more than anyone else: Games are war. Where the coaches have their own, no less difficult task: to do everything possible so your athlete return from the battlefield, if not with a victory, then at least alive. Not trampled, not torn to shreds.

 

The early competition timing wrecked havoc for the men…

Competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time, so that means athletes are setting their alarm clocks and coffeemakers for 5 a.m. That gives them about an hour to wipe the sleep from their eyes, get dressed and board the bus to the arena for 7 a.m. practice.

Figure skaters are accustomed to practicing in the morning; Italian skater Carolina Kostner said she actually prefers it. But usually that means getting to the rink at about 9 a.m., and usually they have an entire afternoon to rest and recover before the evening’s competition.

That’s not the case during these Winter Olympics.

 

Patrick is apparently a millionaire!

How well off is he? From what we can gather, Patrick Chanโ€™s current net worth is around the $1 million mark.

Assuming that this article is true, the title of my blog post about his GTR car was right!

Promos

Pre-Competition Support for Patrick!

Patrick Explains Dust in the Wind

Men’s SP Skating Order

Pchiddy’s Book Recommendations

 

February 7: Sunny and Freezing – But a Warm Welcome in Gangneung
Official Team Canada Welcome

TSN’s Matthew Scianitti Interviewed Patrick:

Yeah, I think it’s just letting everyone know that we’re like a fun group, and we’re just having a blast jumping around, dancing and… we’re here to compete, and yes, it’s serious but it’s important to remember you have a full team and a support staff behind you and it’s important to have fun while you’re doing it.

Ninety-nine percent of the athletes I meet that are outside of my sport are so relaxed and… they’re just so grounded, and also just here to have fun. But being the best in the moment when you’re competing and on the biggest stage but, other than that, we’re normal people. We’re just having fun and catching up and really feeling like we’re at home.

Great, I mean, I’ve had two days of practices now, legs are starting to feel a little better, and I go day by day. I don’t look too far ahead to… the team short it’s coming up fast, I guess, but on the same time part of the success is just by taking it day by day, relaxing, and enjoying this part of the Olympics as well.

Just, take my time. Just take it all in, savor it. Not think about it being my last. It’s also just, it’s another experience, it’s a new one. It will feel just as good as the first one so… I’m just so proud to have grown up with three Olympic games with this group of people. Some of us, it’s their third or fourth and, I don’t know, it’s… They’ve helped me grow up in a way, so it’s really beautiful that way.

Behold the Man!
Interview
Daily Practice on the Ice

First four photos – Patrick’s form is unmistakeable!

 

February 6: Get to Know Patrick Day

Did you know that Patrick’s always wanted to be a scuba diver? He would also love to be an alpine skier. It is very interesting to look at his handwriting and drawings!

Fan Intros

Articles of the Day

“I’ve never skated a clean program [at the Olympics] or gotten off the ice feeling really proud of what I’ve done,” Chan said. “That’s all I want.”

Chan has two quads in his long program for Pyeongchang โ€“ both quad toe loops, along with two triple Axels โ€“ and said he wouldn’t be opposed to adding a quadruple Salchow depending on how he was feeling. “I have been practicing it a little bit,” he said. But it’s not his preference.

“Patrick Chanโ€ฆ Please leave the ice.”

“I just hope, either in the team event or in the individual event, to be able to, like, take a deep breath and take the whole moment in โ€“ and not be drawn away from the joy of the Olympics by a disappointing performance,” he said.

โ€œAt Skate Canada, at that time I was really uncomfortable and unhappy,โ€ he said. โ€œI was just unhappy about skating. Period. I did not like it.โ€

After withdrawing from the grand prix event in Japan in November — a move he said was needed to โ€œget organized mentallyโ€ — Chan parted ways with Marina Zoueva, with whom he trained in the United States, moved to Vancouver and hired Canadian coach Ravi Walia.

โ€œIt has ended up being enough time to be trained to be really comfortable and confident,โ€ he said.

โ€œIt feels a little more normal,โ€ he said. โ€œI donโ€™t feel as like, โ€˜Oh my God, this is the Olympicsโ€™. Itโ€™s just like another… itโ€™s a job almost. Iโ€˜m just coming in, doing my plan and Iโ€˜m focused on my practices every single day.โ€

โ€œAll I can think about is how I can contribute my best. I feel confident because of what I can offer because Iโ€˜m confident in myself.โ€

Coach Ravi Comments on Patrick

He understands Patrick pretty well!

Patrick Chanโ€™s new coach has said that the Canadian figure skater had fallen in love with his sport again after relocating to his homeland to train for his third and final Olympic Games.

โ€œI think moving back to Canada gave him a change of scenery and I think he just fell in love with skating. I didnโ€™t expect that.โ€

โ€œI think the last two Games he had a lot of pressure on him,โ€ Walia said. โ€œI think that itโ€™s a priority for him to skate for himself, with that freedom to enjoy it. Because I donโ€™t think he had that. Itโ€™s kind of like ending on his own terms.โ€

โ€œHeโ€™s put the work in and now he can enjoy it,โ€ Walia said. โ€œThatโ€™s the main thing. I want to see him have the Olympic moment that he didnโ€™t have before.โ€

 

February 4-5: Arrival in Korea

Checking out the ice!

Patrick arrived at Incheon Airport a bit disheveled but still in good spirits.

With Eric at the airport:

With Steve of TSN:

Fans Are Ready With Banners

 

Related Posts

Patrick Chan Olympic News (Part 3), Golden February 2018

Patrick Chan Olympic News (Part 2), February 2018

Patrick Chan Pre-Olympic News, Jan-Feb 2018

 

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