Nathan Chen wins World Figure Skating Championships

19-year-old skater defends title with flawless free skate.



Nathan Chen does it again. On Saturday, the 19-year-old skater performed a flawless free skate to successfully defend his title and win the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan.

Chen, who was first after the short program, made no mistakes and landed four quadruple jumps to set a record score in the free skate with 216.02 points, finishing with a total of 323.42.

Chen, the U.S. national champion, opened his program with a quad Lutz and followed with a quad flip. He then added two quad toe loops, one in combination, to solidify his lead.

"I'm proud of myself for being able to put out two good programs, the short and the long," Chen told AP. "Ultimately, I'm just happy with how this event went and I hope to have more experiences like this."

More here: Chen defends title in men's free skate at worlds

New York Times Editor Thinks American-Born Mirai Nagasu Is An Immigrant

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Perpetual Foreigner stereotype alert: shortly after US figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel in an Olympic competition, New York Times Opinion section editor Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) tweeted "Immigrants: they get the job done," a line from Hamilton.

The implication from Weiss' tweet was obvious: Nagasu should be celebrated as an American immigrant. One problem, though: Nagasu was born in Montebello, California. And yet, for Weiss, the place of Nagasu's birth doesn't seem to matter: instead, the colour of her skin appears to have marked Nagasu as foreign.

Why is it that American media personalities commenting on the Winter Olympics can never seem to remember that Asian Americans are American, too? Let's not forget the infamous headline: in 1998, MSNBC published a headline declaring that "American Beats Out Kwan," implying that US figure skater Michelle Kwan wasn't an American. Now again, a mainstream media commentator can't seem to figure out that Mirai Nagasu isn't an immigrant.

Her name is Mirai Nagasu and this is her triple axel

She is the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics.



See that face? That's the fierce, fiery "fuck yeah!" you get to proclaim, right there in the middle of ice, when you make history. On Sunday, figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics, helping the U.S. secure the bronze medal in team figure skating.

Nagasu, who landed the notoriously difficult jump in the first minute of her routine, joins Midori Ito and Mao Asada as the only women to ever complete the triple axel in Olympic competition. The judges rewarded her with a personal-best and season-best score of 137.53.

The 14 Asian Americans Competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Representing Team Asian America in PyeongChang.



The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea kick off on Friday. Of the 244 athletes representing Team USA in 15 disciplines across seven sports, 14 are Asian American, competing in figure skating, snowboarding and speed skating. And some are serious contenders for gold. (Did we mention the fact that half of the U.S. figure skating team is Asian American?) Here they are, representing Team Asian America. [UPDATE: Team Asian America's athlete count in PyeongChang has been bumped up to include long track speed skater Jerica Tandiman and Chris Kinney of the men's bobsled team.]

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 32: They Call Us Tiffany Chin

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

On this episode, we welcome champion figure skater, former Olympian and coach Tiffany Chin. We talk about Tiffany's journey to becoming, as Jeff puts it, "The First Great Asian American Hope" of skating, the changing state of the sport, and why so many Asian Americans are now excelling on the ice.

Look at these All-American skaters going to the Olympics

Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock, and Maia and Alex Shibutani.



Look at all those all-American faces on the podium at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championship! And by all-American, I mean Asian American, set to represent the U.S. next month at the Winter Olympics.

Team USA's 2018 Winter Olympics Figure Skating Lineup Has Been Announced

The U.S. will send three ladies, three men, three ice dance and one pairs team to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea. For the interests of this blog, skating on behalf of Team Asian America are Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock, and Maia and Alex Shibutani.

That time figure skating got a little crunk

Jimmy Ma performs to "Turn Down For What" at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.



A few years ago, the International Skating Union changed its rules to allow skaters to use songs with lyrics in their routines, a decision designed to shake up traditional performances set to classical music.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before somebody performed to Lil Jon.

For Jimmy Ma, the time is now. On Thursday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 22-year-old skater from Queens competed in the mens' short program with a routine that included "Turn Down For What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. And nothing will ever be the same again.

Asian Americans dominate at U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, and Maia and Alex Shibutani take gold.



Gold, baby. In what has to be an unprecedented, historic moment for the sport of figure skating, Asian Americans took home gold in three of the four events this weekend at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Karen Chen won the women's title, Nathan Chen took gold in the men's event, and Maia and Alex Shibutani nabbed their second consecutive national title in ice dancing. Whaaaaaat.

Nathan Chen is the future of U.S. men's figure skating

16-year-old is the first American skater to land four quadruple jumps in his long program.



Nathan Chen made history Sunday at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships by landing four quadruple jumps in his long program, more than any American skater ever. Still apparently not enough to win though.

Nathan Chen jumps his way into history at national championships

Despite the unprecedented four quadruples, Chen finished third with a score of 266.93. Veteran Adam Rippon, who is considered a more lyrical skater, won his first national title without landing any quads, earning a total score of 270.75, while runner-up Max Aaron had two quadruples jumps and a total score of 269.55.

Here's video of Nathan Chen's historic long program:

I want to feel all the feelings in this photo

This is what it looks like to learn you are the best


Behold, the face of a man who has achieved his best. A camera caught Yuzuru Hanyu and his coach Yoshiko Kobayashi just as they learned that the 19-year-old Olympian from Japan earned a record-shattering score of 101.45 in Thursday's men's figure skating short program -- the highest score ever recorded. The result is this awesome photo.

A Classic Photo Of The Moment A Figure Skater Realized He Set The World Record

Classy, Ashley. I'm sure Mirai felt the same way.

"Bullshit."



Whether or not you feel Mirai Nagasu got snubbed [raises hand] when Ashley Wagner was picked for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team, you'll probably find this pretty amusing. Over the weekend, cameras caught Wagner's unmistakable, brutally honest reaction to her short program score during ladies team competition.

Ashley Wagner's "Bullshit" Moment Is The First Meme Of The Sochi Games

Wagner received a score of 63.10, putting her in fourth place behind Mao Asada of Japan, who actually fell during her routine. It's clearly apparently she thought she'd do better. Simply put, she thought her score was "bullshit." Hey, I can't blame a competitive athlete for being honest. Of course, the moment was captured, instantly gif-ed and proliferated throughout the internet. Infamous.

Figure skater Mirai Nagasu snubbed for U.S. Olympic team

Ashley Wagner named to American squad despite fourth-place showing at U.S. championships



I watched figure skating over the weekend. I tuned in because there's a handful of awesome Asian American athletes to watch in the sport, and the outcome of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships is traditionally a significant factor in determining who is selected to represent the United States at the Olympics.

I also tuned in, apparently, to see Mirai Nagasu get screwed over.

Ashley Wagner, a two-time national champion and heavy favorite to make the Olympic team, fell to the ice twice during Saturday's free skate program and finished a distant fourth behind Gracie Gold, Polina Edmunds and Mirai Nagasu. Meanwhile, Nagasu delivered a solid skate and took home the bronze.

But on Sunday, it was announced that Wagner was selected for the Sochi Olympic team, with Gold and Edmunds, over Nagasu. So how does that work?

Patrick Chan wins third straight world figure skating title

On Friday night in Ontario, 22-year-old Canadian skater Patrick Chan won his third consecutive world figure skating title, becoming the first men's singles skater in 13 years to win three straight championships: World figure skating championships: Canada's Patrick Chan wins third straight title.

Victory number three wasn't flawless. Heck, it was pretty darn dreadful -- he fell twice during his free skate to La Boheme -- but he came into the evening with a huge seven-point lead, thanks to a strong world-record short program score of 98.37: