Nguyen hoping to ride Canadian wave
Two-time Canadian champ a long shot at worlds, but he’s gunning for top-10 finish
EDMONTON — Nam Nguyen has a job to do in Montreal next week — finishing 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 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, and 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 again at Four Continents, where his sixth-place result locked up a trip to the worlds for him. 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 helps lift 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. 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 nationals was deeply flawed and he finished second to 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 worlds until after Four Continents, where Nguyen was sixth, Messing eighth and Sadovsky 16th.
Skate Canada has targeted a single medal at this worlds meet, which is hardly the norm. But that old medal collecting gang of theirs — Patrick Chan, Katelyn Osmond, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford — have retired and the rebuild is on in full. In that respect, a home worlds crowd could be an even more important factor.
“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 is most assuredly looking forward to the experience.
“I mean, Canadian fans are the best there is. They’re rowdy, they love to party,” he said. “The support that 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.”
I mean, Canadian fans are the best there is. They’re rowdy, they love to party.”
Nam Nguyen