If anyone knows about the pressures of being a figure skater, it’s the United States’ Nathan Chen.

In 2018, he was the golden boy of the Winter Olympics. He was supposed to conquer the world and become the greatest figure skater who ever lived.

Then he choked in the short program, falling more times than a knocked-out boxer in a one-sided fight, and the narrative shifted.

Even though he had an iconic free skate that got him close to the podium, the lasting memory casual fans had of him was that he failed.

Four years later in Beijing, he was merciless in his approach, blowing away the competition to win individual men’s gold. At the same Olympics, a 16-year-old Alysa Liu retired after feeling the pressure and burnout of living her entire life through figure skating.

She unretired two years ago, though, won a world championship, and has now done what Chen did in 2022, by winning a solo gold medal for the United States on Thursday.

Chen opened up about his former teammate’s performance in Milan.

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 19: Alysa Liu of Team United States competes in Women’s Single Skating – Free Skating on day thirteen of the Milano Cortina 20…Read More

“Alysa Liu, Olympic gold medalist, that has such a great ring to it,” he said. “I am so proud of her. The U.S. is so proud of her. She really came down and put out the program that she wanted. You can just feel the joy and excitement she has. There’s no such thing as pressure in her vocabulary.”

A family skiing trip with one of her best friends helped her rediscover her love of competition and skating, which then prompted her to return with the mindset of having fun rather than treating each competition as life or death.

One key moment before Liu took the ice prompted Chen to believe that this could be her night to join him in the individual gold medalists club.

“As soon as she went out there with a gold dress, I was like, OK, you know what, this might be her Olympic moment.”

Source: newsweek.com