Nathan Chen, down for the count after flu, amazes coach to win fourth U.S. title

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Nathan Chen, down for the count after flu, amazes coach to win fourth U.S. title

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Rafael Arutunian showed me a photo on his phone of Nathan Chen sleeping on the floor in a dressing room at Great Park Ice Arena when he was supposed to be practicing earlier this month.

Arutunian said he could have taken the same picture on eight days in the 2 1/2 weeks they spent together at his Irvine, Calif., training base during Chen’s semester break from Yale.

Arutunian would see the flu-ridden and feverish Chen curled up asleep, turn off the light, leave the room and wait until Chen woke up before trying to have him do any training.

In the past, Arutunian said, Chen could train through sickness. This time it was futile.

“He couldn’t move,” Arutunian said.

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Just when you think Nathan Chen can't get any better. . .

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Just when you think Nathan Chen can't get any better. . .

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Nathan Chen came to last year’s U.S. Championships in Detroit with a lot of uncertainty left about what would happen to his skating now that his time and energy were split between being an elite figure skater and being a freshman at Yale, 3,000 miles from his coach, trying to get training help via video chat.

Sure, he was still winning, both his 2018 Grand Prix events and the Grand Prix Final, but there were a lot of mistakes, a lot of inconsistency, a lot of questions about whether he could make his new normal work.

And then he blew the doors off the Little Caesars Arena twice, skating marvelously in both the short and long programs to win his third national title in a walkover.

Chen came to this year’s nationals after two magnificent performances at the Grand Prix Final in early December, where he routed two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan by more than 43 points. That extended his winning streak to nine – including two world titles – since his fifth place at the 2018 Olympics.

Yet Chen still carried uncertainty with him because he had been laid low by a virus for two weeks this January, and its lingering effects meant only being able to train effectively again in the past week.

And then he blew the doors off the Greensboro Coliseum in Saturday’s short program, taking a commanding lead on a day when the top five finishers all skated impressively, with five clean quadruple jumps in five attempts.

Just when you think Chen can’t be better than he has… he is.

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With gold haul from world meets, Biles and Dressel get more as best of international sports in 2019

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With gold haul from world meets, Biles and Dressel get more as best of international sports in 2019

In Globetrotting’s 33rd annual international sports awards to athletes for whom an Olympic gold medal is the ultimate prize, Simone Biles and Caeleb Dressel are the big winners.

That caveat about the highest goal and the development of the World Cup into the most important event in women’s soccer means Team USA’s brilliant championship performance in France, with Megan Rapinoe the high scorer (Golden Boot) and best player (Golden Ball), is outside the parameters applied since I began these awards in the pages of the Chicago Tribune.

But it goes without saying that the soccer team deserves a loud shout-out.

And now the medalists:

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In three-peating as U.S. champion, Nathan Chen dazzles everyone but his coach

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In three-peating as U.S. champion, Nathan Chen dazzles everyone but his coach

DETROIT – What Nathan Chen did in Sunday afternoon’s free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships looked like otherworldly brilliance to everyone who saw it.

“Honestly, it’s incredible,” said Jason Brown, who had a chance to watch Chen because Brown had skated before him.

And yet Chen’s coach, Rafael Arutunian, refused to get carried away after his skater easily became the first man since Johnny Weir in 2006 to win three straight men’s national titles.

“I am not completely satisfied,” Arutunian said Sunday. “There is so much more he can do.

“He didn’t do a quad Salchow. I still want him to try a quad loop. This was a program he has executed before. You always like to improve.”

Chen was not surprised by hearing Arutunian’s comments.

“Raf is always the overachiever,” Chen said. “That’s why I am with him. Of course, there are things I can improve on.”

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After turning life upside down, Nathan Chen landing on his feet

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After turning life upside down, Nathan Chen landing on his feet

DETROIT – For the first two seasons after Nathan Chen moved up to the senior level of international skating competition, Chen’s life revolved around his commitments to the sport.

Chen’s high school studies were done through correspondence courses, allowing him to have a schedule that prioritized his time practicing at a southern California rink with coach Rafael Arutunian. He became an immediate success internationally, and in the second senior season, he won a world title, a Grand Prix title, finished fifth in the Olympics and dazzled the world with his quadruple jump exploits.

And he also was a runaway winner in the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Championships.

At 19, Chen was ready for new academic challenges.

But he still wanted to do more in skating, a sport with time and travel demands that few elite competitors have succeeded in combining with a full course load at college.

For Chen, that meant turning his life inside out.

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