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Patrick Chan Olympic News (Part 2), February 2018: Olympic GOLD!!

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Last updated: Sunday, March 4, 2018

 

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They did it! Patrick and Team Canada won the figure skating team event!! Congratulations to the new champions!! It is such a pleasure to update the headlines and other pages on this website! He is the FIRST Canadian mens’ singles skater to win gold!!

This is Part 2 of my blog posts detailing Patrick’s third and final Olympic journey. Read Part 1 here. Keep checking back for more updates as they roll in!

 

February 11-12: Olympic Gold Medalist!

HE DID IT! Patrick kicked butt with two beautiful quads and helped Team Canada win the gold! He has now fulfilled his Chinese name, 偉群, which means “Great Group”!

Medals Ceremony and Interviews

Patrick speaks French:

The Winning Aftermath

What Patrick Said About It

Patrick thanked the Chinese-Canadian community for their years of support! (See video in the NY Post article, starting at 1:22.)

“I hope it (Chinese New Year) brings me good fortune and good health, and it’s been… I couldn’t have done it without the support of the Chinese-Canadian community in Canada and… they’ve been so supportive, especially in the early years when I had very little funding and before I won any world titles. They were there every step of the way”.

“I hadn’t been that nervous in a while,” Chan said through a grin.”

“I‘m just happy I did the best I could and I left nothing, no rock unturned,” said Chan, who admitted his nerves were jangling and he “just had a conversation with myself” to get back on track.

“I achieved a big thing, which was to land the two big quads in one programme. I‘m going to hold this medal tight to me and it’s going to be as good as the individual event.”

“Let me tell you, it was nerve-wracking leading into this long program,” Chan fessed up afterwards. “Not being able to rely on the quads.”

“After a short program like that, you start to second-guess yourself. I hadn’t been that nervous in awhile.”

“We’re a very tight-knit group in Canada as figure skaters. To me, that means more than winning a medal individually. We can embrace each other and know that we collectively did something amazing.”

But he did admit: “I kicked myself for two years about it. And then I realized that this is just skating. And this is just the Olympic Games. We’re all going to move on with our lives. The team event . . . I’ve be able to hold it to my heart. Then, individual, if it’s good or bad, I’m going to have a great life.”

“We were in the dining room after his [Eric Radford’s] performance and he told me, ‘Patrick, I want you to know you do not owe us anything.’ And that’s the best thing a teammate can say. ’Cause it’s my moment, as much as it is the team. When we step on that ice, it’s our moment and we need to enjoy it. And then we get off and enjoy it as a team.”

“We’ve been dying to do this together,” Chan said. “And to step on that podium with all of us together, having grown up as junior skaters all the way up— no other country has ever had that.”

“Gosh, we’ve experienced so much together,” Chan said. “I’m talking outside of figure skating and outside of the Olympics. We’ve lived our lives together for so many years. I’ve grown up, they’ve taught me so much as a person and they’ve kind of nurtured me as a child, and look at where we are now. It’s quite a beautiful thing.”

He looked up at his mom and his dad and his girlfriend, who were in the crowd, who all saw his greatest Olympic moment.

“It’s hard to describe,” he said, grinning, of that feeling he felt while standing on the top step of an Olympic podium.

“Aah,” Chan sighed, still smiling. “It’s like a huge weight off your shoulders.”

“Looking back to last summer when I was struggling, and after Skate Canada, of getting the national title and then making the team, and then doing the team event seemed so daunting, and so far away,” said Chan.

“Now I’m standing here after all of that. I survived, and I get to enjoy a gold medal,” he said. “It’s amazing when you surround yourself with the right people, you can find a way to get it done. And that’s something I can be proud of.”

Asked on Monday if he felt he was back in the conversation, Chan said: “I think I’ve been in the conversation for a while, I’ve been sticking around for so long.”

“The one common denominator now is the triple Axel, and it’s been the challenge for me my entire life,” he said. “Looking back, when I grew up, maybe it’s the wrong technique I grew up with, or the body type I have. But I’m so determined to achieve this last challenge, and smoke a great triple Axel at the Olympics.”

“Sure, I kicked myself for two years about it, and then I realized that this is just skating, and this is just the Olympic Games,” he said. “Two weeks, three weeks from now, nobody is going to remember this. Individual (event), whether its good or bad, I’m going to have a great life.”

“The stages of getting the national title, making the team, and then getting to the team event seemed so daunting and so far away and now standing here after all of that, I survived and I get to enjoy a gold medal,” Chan said. “It’s amazing how when you surround yourself with the right people, you can find a way to get it done and I think that’s something I can be proud of.”

In addition to his girlfriend Elizabeth, who has been there when he wanted to “rip things apart”, there are also his teammates, many of whom he has grown up alongside as they came up through the ranks together. After his short program didn’t go exactly as planned – he fell on both his triple Axel and quad toe loop – it was seeing his teammates smiling in the kiss and cry that kept him from over-analyzing what had happened.

When he stepped onto the ice for his free skate, he was admittedly more nervous than he had been in a long time. But a conversation with himself calmed him down and he opened with two beautiful quad toes. Even when a couple of mistakes did happen, he was able to shift his elements around and add in the combos he needed so no points were left on the table.

Cheering on His Team for the Win

Media of Patrick During and After his Long Program

In the kiss and cry after the LP:

Audience Reaction:

The long program:

Scores and Ranks After the Short Program Competition

Other Articles About Patrick

But Radford wasn’t the only one working on Chan behind the scenes. Every time ice dancer Scott Moir saw Chan in the hallway, he hugged him and told him how good he was.

“I’ve probably annoyed the hell out of him in the last couple of days,” Moir said later. “Every time I see him I just give him a hug and I have something to say to him.”

It wasn’t a perfect skate, but as Radford put it, his most complex jumps, a pair of quads, “were amazing.” After struggling on his landings in the short program, Chan was a different skater.

“When I watched him, I didn’t move. I just sat there like a statue,” said Radford, who was rinkside. “His skate was probably one of the most important in the competition; it was really important for him to have a great skate and not leave us too far behind in the points … For him to go out there and do that, with that pressure – that’s amazing.”

“We’re pretty lucky to be able to have the relationships that we have,” Moir said.

“We’ve toured together a lot, we’ve grown up together. I mean, I went to Junior Worlds with little Patrick Chan, before he was a three-time world champion and whatever else is in his trophy room.”

Now, because of a pivotal performance from the 27-year-old Chan, who is in the twilight of his career, the Canadians have some more hardware of their own.

That the elusive gold medal finally came in the team event, and not the individual competition he coveted for so long, is fine with him.

“I’m happy to have done it with this group of people,” he said.

And he can finally admit it – he was scared.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Chan said. “But it’s important to power through it.”

 

Details of the technical elements Patrick added to his long program to maximize points (article):

　　在12日的男單自由滑中，27歲的陳偉群完美呈現開場的後外點冰4+3連跳和後外點冰四周單跳後，在一連串跳躍上出現失誤，中間一個步法串還被定級為1級，但這位第三次參加冬奧會的加拿大華裔強行“加戲”，勾手三周摔倒後直接把3+2連跳改為3+1+3，後面的後外結環三周跳也多連一個後外點冰兩周，再加上三個旋轉中的兩個和後面的步法串都被定級為4級，最終技術分累加到87.67，藝術表現力又拿到93.08的高分，被扣1分也無礙他以總分179.75領跑男單自由滑。

Some comments from Patrick’s mom in the Chinese media (Ming Pao article):
陳偉群的媽媽一直大力支持兒子﹐並陪他到世界各地比賽﹐是陳偉群的重要精神支柱。她赴南韓為兒子打氣前﹐向支持陳偉群的朋友透露﹐兒子在奧奧完畢後﹐將從競逐性比賽退下﹐接著便會在日本及加國表演花式溜冰。

她又說﹐陳偉群喜歡溫哥華﹐冬奧結束後可能在溫哥華居住。

陳母到處籌措金錢﹐更曾找到香港富商名下的慈善基金﹐但被惋拒。陳偉群今天的成就絕對是得來不易。

Patrick Chan’s mother had always supported her son, accompanying him to worldwide competitions, providing important emotional support for him. Before traveling to Korea, she told friends that after the Olympics, Patrick would retire from competitive skating and perform in shows across Japan and Canada.

She also said that Patrick likes Vancouver and may live there after the Olympics.

[In the past], she had to raise funding (for his training), and once even found a charity named after a wealthy businessperson in Hong Kong, but was refused. Today, Patrick Chan’s accomplishments did not come easily.

Moments after winning the country’s first gold medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Games… Patrick Chan searched the new gender-neutral version to “O Canada” on his phone.

“I looked it up, I Googled it really quick to make sure that I knew when it was coming,” he said with a grin. “It’s quite a change when you grow up singing it a certain way.

“It’s in with the new, right?”

A Master of His Mind

Strength of the Team

 

February 10-11: Practice and Team Support

After taking Saturday the 10th off, Patrick practiced in the morning and then went to cheer on his teammates. And yes, he will skate his “Hallelujah” LP!

Cheers for Tessa and Scott

More Support for Patrick

I love what this 6-year-old said about Patrick!

Morning Practice
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Articles of the Day

Heartwarming story about the unity of Team Canada!

They have his back.

Canada, in first place after the opening segment of the all-in event, is favoured to cop gold after settling for silver in Sochi, where the team competition made its debut. But make no mistake: much as all the skaters are keen to collectively step up to the top podium when the medals are decided Monday, this is very much about winning the thing for Patrick.

They love him, his posse, many of whom have known him for half a lifetime.

“Honestly, it was more so just getting off the ice, seeing my entire team just, like, there, and having the biggest smiles on their faces. It sounds cheesy but having them there … normally if it was just me by myself, I would start analyzing it and being disappointed in the skate. But they were all so supportive.

“No need to apologize to them or anything. That’s the greatness of the team event. We always have to remember: This isn’t about me. This is about all of us.”

Except they are emotionally attached at the heart. And Chan was top of mind for all of them.

Chan admitted the flying formation of fellow Canadians squeezing into the kiss’n’cry was “weird” but he was deeply grateful for the arm-around. A skater can feel very alone awaiting judgment.

“A group of people that everybody can look at as opposed to just you. It’s relaxing.”

“I would love to do the long program,” Chan made clear, in a serious moment.

The keen camaraderie among the Canadians, they believe, gives them an extra oomph in the team event. Not all skaters care so deeply about each other.

“A lot of the other countries don’t have that unity,” observed Duhamel. “I think that’s going to be Canada’s strength.”

More on Early Mornings and How That Affects Performances

Patrick’s Favorite Pump Up song

Not surprisingly, a song by Eminem that I like as well. See the video directly here!

Patrick: My favorite pump up song… probably “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. It talks about taking that opportunity and not letting it pass.

Yeah, I connect to that.

 

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A Little Update on Patrick’s Old Car

Around August 2017, Patrick had mentioned selling his GTR (formerly owned by the late actor Paul Walker) to a new owner. This makes his time of ownership approximately 18 months.

The new owner, Mikey Marotta, posted this photo of his car beside the GTR while Patrick still drove it in Michigan. The GTR is pictured on the left.

To read more about the fun Patrick had with the GTR, read my post, Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Figure Skaters!

 

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

 

Related Posts

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

Patrick Chan Olympic News (Part 1), February 2018

Patrick Chan Pre-Olympic News, Jan-Feb 2018

Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Figure Skaters

 

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