Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
AT THE GAMES — Twenty years removed from the 2002 Winter Olympics that brought the world home, Salt Lake City is still producing more than its fair share of Olympic athletes.
None may be bigger this month than former West High student Nathan Chen.
A three-time world champion, Chen was regarded as one of the top skaters in the world coming into the 2018 Olympics, a prime contender for a medal when he fell twice in consecutive short programs during the team and individual events and failed to clear a single clean pass on six attempts.
He finished 17th in the men's short program to take him out of contention — then promptly performed six quads with five flawless landings during the free skate to finish fifth overall.
In one moment in PyeongChang, the teenager from Salt Lake City showed his potential — and just how hard living up to that potential would be.
"That put skating and competition and all that in perspective," Chen told NBC. "As a kid, I thought if I bombed an opportunity to skate well in the Olympics, that's basically the end of everything to me, and it's the only reason I compete.
"I finished the competition and went to worlds and another competition and then another competition. Then I realized, OK, yeah, I wish I could have gone back and changed it, but my life continues moving forward and skating continues moving forward."
Skating, and also life. The two are intertwined, and Chen, who moved from West High to Rim of the World High School in California as a teenager, has re-discovered that since 2018. He enrolled at Yale University in the fall of 2018, majoring in statistics and data science.
In New Haven, Connecticut, Chen not only progressed academically at the Ivy League institution, but also take advantage of the social and campus signs of life. He also rekindled his love of playing the guitar.
"School made me realize that there's a fun, happy side of life that doesn't revolve around grinding all the time," Chen said. "I think that's really good for mental health: just being happy in general."
Heading into Beijing, Chen is skating as well as he has in his career. He cleanly landed five quads during the free skate at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, to propel him to a title-clinching score of 320.88, becoming the first American since Scott Hamilton in 1982-84 to win three consecutive world titles.
His winning streak came to an end at 2021 Skate America. But even then, Chen fell on his first quad attempt of the short program before rallying strong to finish third overall. He followed up on disappointment a week later by taking the gold medal at the 2021 Skate Canada International, setting up his record-setting title run at the 2022 U.S. Championships in Nashville — Chen's sixth consecutive men's title, the most since legendary Dick Button 71 years earlier.
But the first skater to land five separate quad jumps in competition has a goal as he heads to China. He may step away from competition after this season, focusing on his studies after a two-year academic leave.
His immediate future isn't fully clear yet. But it may also depend on the Salt Lake City native checking off a major bucket-list item: winning an individual Olympic medal for the first time in his career.
"It kind of depends on how the Games go and how the season goes," Chen said. "I hope the answer will be more clear when I finish the Olympics."
Thirteen Team USA athletes bound for Beijing were born in Utah, including Chen, skier Isabella Wright, bobsledder Kaysha Love and snowboarder Faye Gulini, who all hail from the Salt Lake Valley.
Here's the complete list of native Utahns that will compete with Team USA, courtesy of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and Utah Sports Commission:
- Isabella Wright, Alpine Skiing, Salt Lake City
- Kaysha Love, Bobsled, Herriman
- Rosie Brennan, Cross-Country Skiing, Park City
- Nathan Chen, Figure Skating, Salt Lake City
- Ashley Farquharson, Luge, Park City
- Cole McDonald, Moguls, Park City
- Nick Page, Moguls, Park City
- Jared Shumate, Nordic Combined, Park City
- Stephen Schumann, Nordic Combined, Park City
- Colby Stevenson, Slopestyle/Big Air Skiing, Park City
- Marin Hamill, Slopestyle/Big Air Skiing, Park City
- Faye Gulini, Snowboarding, Salt Lake City
- Casey Dawson, Speed Skating, Park City
Because of its proximity to world-class training sites for most winter sports, several non-native Utahns also live and train in the Beehive State when not competing in the Games. Add to it Olympic-partner programs at Westminster College and the University of Utah, and 75 of the United States' 223-member delegation — roughly one-third of the team — has ties to the state of Utah.
"Utah is the State of Sport and has built a robust culture for athlete training and competitions over the past 20 years," said Utah Sports Commission President and CEO Jeff Robbins in a statement from the organization. "Since 2002 we have partnered on almost 1,000 sports events in the state, making it a key competition and training site for Team USA and athletes from around the world."
On average, an athlete with ties to the state of Utah will be participating every day of the Winter Games in Beijing. Most of them will compete for Team USA, but the state is also host to several international athletes — including Nathan Ikon Crumpton, a skeleton racer who lives and trains in Park City and will represent the island nation of American Samoa.
Crumpton, who raised more than $5,000 in crowdfunding for his trip to Beijing, is the only winter sport athlete from the South Pacific island territory.
Utah native Brendan Newby will represent Ireland in Olympic halfpipe skiing, while Irish teammate Seamus O'Connor, who lives and trains alongside Newby in Park City, will compete in his third Winter Games in snowboarding.
Here are the U.S. athletes who live and train in Utah for at least six months a year, including several who were or are being educated at one of the state's high schools or universities:
- Ashley Caldwell, Aerials
- Kaila Kuhn, Aerials
- Christopher Lillis, Aerials
- Eric Loughran, Aerials
- Megan Nick, Aerials
- Justin Schoenefeld, Aerials
- Winter Vinecki, Aerials
- Bryce Bennett, Alpine Skiing
- Keely Cashman, Alpine Skiing
- Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Alpine Skiing
- Katie Hensien, Alpine Skiing
- Breezy Johnson, Alpine Skiing
- Maureen "Mo" Lebel, Alpine Skiing
- Kevin Bolger, Cross-Country Skiing
- Jessie Diggins, Cross-Country Skiing
- Luke Jager, Cross-Country Skiing
- Soophia Laukli, Cross-Country Skiing
- Novie McCabe, Cross-Country Skiing
- Alex Ferreira, Freestyle Halfpipe
- Birk Irving, Freestyle Halfpipe
- Devin Logan, Freestyle Halfpipe
- Carly Margulies, Freestyle Halfpipe
- Chris Mazdzer, Luge
- Olivia Giaccio, Moguls
- Jaelin Kauf, Moguls
- Brad Wilson, Moguls
- Taylor Fletcher, Nordic Combined
- Jasper Good, Nordic Combined
- Ben Loomis, Nordic Combined
- Maame Biney, Short Track
- Andrew Heo, Short Track
- Eunice Lee, Short Track
- Julie Letai, Short Track
- Ryan Pivirotto, Short Track
- Kristen Santos, Short Track
- Corinne Stoddard, Short Track
- Andrew Blaser, Skeleton
- Kevin Bickner, Ski Jumping
- Anna Hoffmann, Ski Jumping
- Casey Larson, Ski Jumping
- Mac Forehand, Slopestyle/Big Air Ski
- Nicholas Goepper, Slopestyle/Big Air Ski
- Alex Hall, Slopestyle/Big Air Ski
- Darian Stevens, Slopestyle/Big Air Ski
- Maggie Voisin, Slopestyle/Big Air Ski
- Alex Deibold, Snowboarding
- Mick Dierdorff, Snowboarding
- Hagen Kearney, Snowboarding
- Courtney Rummel, Snowboarding
- Giorgia Birkeland, Speed Skating
- Brittany Bowe, Speed Skating
- Ethan Cepuran, Speed Skating
- Kimi Goetz, Speed Skating
- Erin Jackson, Speed Skating
- Mia Manganello Kilburg, Speed Skating
- Austin Kleba, Speed Skating
- Emery Lehman, Speed Skating
- Joey Mantia, Speed Skating
- Ian Quinn, Speed Skating
Competition for the 2022 Winter Games beginning Wednesday morning and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for Friday at 4:30 a.m. MST, the first-ever live morning presentation of the ceremony in the broadcaster's history.
