NGUYEN IS COUNTING ON ‘ROWDY’ CANADIAN FANS
Two-time Canadian champ a long shot at worlds, but he’s gunning for top-10 finish
Nam Nguyen has a job to do in Montreal next week: finishing in the top 10 at the World Figure Skating Championships. And he’s banking on some home ice help.
So, if everybody at the Bell Centre could send along some positive vibes before he tries his quad in the short program, that would be great. And if you happen to be along the glass and Nguyen stares directly at you during his long program, don’t look bored.
“I’m very observant with how the audience reacts. I even go out of my way to make eye contact with a couple of them and have fun with them during my program. Only if I’m skating well, though,” he said with a laugh. “I notice everything. I notice their claps, their cheers. Really, nothing goes unnoticed when I’m on the ice, and I appreciate everything the fans give for us.”
The 21-year-old from Toronto is similarly engaged in practice every day at his rink in Richmond Hill, Ont.
“In training, I’m such a clown. I always skate by my friends and we make bets. Like, if I don’t land this jump, then I’ll buy you lunch, or give you a certain amount of cash.
“I have that similar energy with the audience. I obviously don’t go up to them and start wagering with them. But I’ll give them a certain look, and if they lock eyes with me, I’ll most definitely be able to do that element.”
He said the strategy worked for him in Kelowna, B.C., at
Skate Canada earlier this season, where he finished second to Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu. And it worked again at the Four Continents competition, where his sixth-place result locked up a trip to the worlds. But the fans don’t always play their part.
“There have been a few odd ones not paying attention,” said Nguyen. “Maybe I’m just super boring to them and they’re about to fall asleep. I can’t blame them. I’m not high up there, like the top men in the world. Hopefully, one day we’ll have everybody’s attention. But I think we have the majority of them.”
If home ice advantage lifts him into the top 10 in Montreal, Nguyen will secure two spots for the Canadian men at the
2021 world championships in Stockholm, which is always Skate Canada’s stated goal. Indeed, top 10 is a more likely finish than the podium for Nguyen, given the dominant presence of Hanyu, defending worlds champ Nathan Chen of the U.S., Japan’s Shoma Uno, Russia’s Dmitri Aliev and France’s Kevin Aymoz.
“I’m going to be real with you,” said Nguyen. “I honestly think this medal possibility is like way out there for me. It’s not a big possibility. But here’s the thing. My job obviously is to regain our two spots back. But at the same time, it’s to put out two performances that I can be proud of.
“Do I feel the pressure? A little bit. I honestly don’t feel as much pressure as I did heading into nationals.”
His long program at the nationals was deeply flawed and he finished second to Toronto’s Roman Sadovsky and ahead of Keegan Messing. Given Sadovsky’s dearth of senior Grand Prix experience, Skate Canada chose to delay naming their men’s representative for the worlds until after Four Continents, where Nguyen finished sixth, Messing eighth and Sadovsky 16th.
Skate Canada has targeted a single medal at the worlds, hardly the norm. But that old medal-collecting gang — Patrick Chan, Katelyn Osmond, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford — has retired and the rebuild is on. In that respect, the home crowd could be an even more important factor in Montreal.
“Home ice advantage is a real thing,” said Virtue, who won a silver medal with Moir in her hometown of London, Ont. at the 2013 worlds. “You feel the support, you feel the love. There is an electricity in the building that lifts you up. That kind of adrenalin is sometimes hard to manage, but it’s also sometimes a once-in-a-lifetime experience for athletes, and I just know that it will be a really warm welcoming environment at the Bell Centre.”
Nguyen assuredly is looking forward to the experience.
“Canadian fans are the best there is. They’re rowdy, they love to party,” he said. “The support they give to their skaters is unreal. At Skate Canada in Kelowna, those people were extremely supportive and I could feel their energy when I was going through my program. So I’m looking forward to a great week in Montreal.”