In potential swan song, U.S. figure skater Jason Brown vows to do things his way

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In potential swan song, U.S. figure skater Jason Brown vows to do things his way

Jason Brown is a skater for an earlier time, the one before multiple quadruple jumps became necessary to win medals at major international competitions.

And yet Brown still is a skater for all time, one who has created indelible impressions from the entirety of his programs rather than from instants of outstanding athleticism provided by the revolutionary jumps.

"I have utmost respect for what those guys are doing to push the sport technically," he said this week in China. "I’m just in absolute awe, and I wish I could be one of them as well. But I am going to push the sport in my way."

That is through performances like the one Brown gave Tuesday in the short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. His four jumps simply were part of a seamless, compelling expression of a traditional Black spiritual, "Sinnerman," as sung by Nina Simone and choreographed by Rohene Ward with references to what Alvin Ailey created for his landmark ballet, "Revelations."

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After pushing sport's limits again, Nathan Chen earned his rare celebration

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After pushing sport's limits again, Nathan Chen earned his rare celebration

His right arm came flying through the air in an arcing fist pump, a public gesture of intensity rare for Nathan Chen but one that was perfectly understandable when it happened.

"I have no idea what came over me," Chen would say. "It just felt right."

He was happy. And relieved. And expressing in one brief, emphatic movement what Chen called "a full spectrum of emotions you can feel in one moment," the moment that followed his flawless and impassioned skating.

For an athlete who admits to a predilection for keeping things bottled up, this was the time to let the cork pop.

After all, Chen had once again exploded his sport’s limits, and this time he did it in the Olympics, the competition where he had imploded four years ago.

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Lessons from figure skating team event: Quads rain, and Valieva makes a splash with hers

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Lessons from figure skating team event: Quads rain, and Valieva makes a splash with hers

This is what we learned from the 2022 Olympic team event that ended Monday with the result everyone expected, as the Russian Olympic Committee took gold, the U.S. silver and Japan bronze:

MEN’S SINGLES HAS POTENTIAL FOUR-WAY BATTLE FOR TITLE

Either Nathan Chen of the United States, who won the team short program, or Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who did not compete, still is likely to win gold.

But Shoma Uno (second in the team short) and Yuma Kagiyama (first in the free) of Japan both skated so well they could take full advantage if Chen and Hanyu make mistakes.

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With a likely Olympic team medal, Karen Chen can fill another gap in her career record

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With a likely Olympic team medal, Karen Chen can fill another gap in her career record

Karen Chen was talking before the U.S. Figure Skating Championships about filling a blank on her résumé.

“I told myself, `Karen, you don’t have a nationals silver medal yet,’” Chen said.

Coincidentally – and you will see the coincidence a few paragraphs from now – Chen noted that in answer to a question on a different topic.

It was the question of whether she hoped her performance at nationals would be good enough to earn her a spot in the Olympic team event. Chen did not get that opportunity at her first Olympics in 2018.

There was an element of not counting chickens in Chen’s response, of being more concerned about first assuring the place on the 2022 Olympic team.

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Brilliance at nationals unsurprisingly not enough to earn Ilia Malinin an Olympic spot

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Brilliance at nationals unsurprisingly not enough to earn Ilia Malinin an Olympic spot

Nathan Chen won his sixth straight national figure skating championship Sunday, a feat unmatched since Dick Button won his sixth of seven straight in 1951.

Ilia Malinin finished second, but he upstaged Chen and everyone else in the competition, both in the short program and the free skate.

That Malinin’s two stunning performances still did not earn the 17-year-old a place on the U.S. team for next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing was not really surprising, given selection criteria that broadly favored results in senior level events the past two seasons.

In a decision complicated by the free skate performances in Nashville, the U.S. Figure Skating selection committee gave the three men’s singles spots to Chen, Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown.

“I think all three of us have really shown over the past two years why we deserve this spot,” Chen said.

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