Chan back in competition, eyes Olympics
READY AGAIN: 2014 silver medallist took season off, toured with skating shows and worked on own ice wine
TORONTO— Patrick Chan won’t come right out and say he’ll represent Canada at the 2018 Olympics, but it sure sounds like that’s the plan.
The Toronto figure skater, who is returning to the competitive ranks this season after taking 2014-15 off, said the thought of entering his third Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea certainly is in his mind.
“I think it’s going to be written as if I’m committing to three years — it’s not like that. In my mind, it looks great,” Chan, 24, said at a training session media get-together in Vaughan, Ont., Tuesday. “It (competing in 2018) would be a perfect world. But you never know what happens. One year at a time.”
While he didn’t want to make any firm timeline after taking silver (a disappointing long program prevented him from winning gold) at the 2014 Sochi Games, the Ottawa-born Chan said his mindset went in a clear direction at the end of that event.
“At the closing ceremony I remember Korea presented their introduction, them receiving the next Olympics. They showed it and I was thinking in my mind, ‘I don’t want this to end. I don’t feel this is a good ending. It’s the end of a chapter, but I want to begin a new one.’ ”
But if the three-time world champion wants that chapter to feature Olympic gold, it won’t be easy. Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu won the Sochi title — and he’s four years younger than Chan. Then, there’s fellow Canadian Nam Nguyen, a 17-year-old who finished fifth at the world championship this year.
However, Chan feels he brings more to the table after a year touring with skating shows.
David Wilson, Chan’s choreographer, said life as a pro should help the Canadian as he transitions back to the competitive side. “I remember this myself when I was a young skater and did Ice Capades,” he said. “I felt like I improved when I left amateur competition and (was) performing every night. It’s a different pressure, maybe not as much, but it is a pressure ... As amateurs, you train, train, train and you might compete six or seven times (a season).”
Chan said it was beneficial to get away from the competitive grind for a year.
He did things like go surfing and skydiving, is about to introduce his own ice wine and is involved in a new skating school in B.C.
“I worked, I skated, but I enjoyed skating and I enjoyed life a little more not having to live precariously day by day and being careful of not getting injured by doing something not related ...”