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sports Diaranson 26 Januari 2022

Chen vs Hanyu the latest in Olympic figure skating rivalries

(AP) - In the pantheon of Hanyu is the boundary-
figure skating rivalries, pushing, Winnie-the-Pooh
Nancy and Tonya soars loving wunderkind whose
like a triple lutz above the rock star status in Japan is
rest. rivaled by actor Ken Wata-
nabe, two-way Angels dyna-
Two athletes in their prime, mo Shohei Ohtani, and very
each trying to be America’s few others. Hanyu’s ability
golden girl, on the biggest to bring his best to the big-
stage in winter sports. And it gest stage was evident during
came draped in the most bi- his golden skates at the Sochi
zarre of controversies: An at- Games and four years later in
tack on Nancy Kerrigan, the South Korea.
favorite to win Olympic gold,
planned by Tonya Harding’s “He’s in a league of his own
ex-husband and executed when it comes to natural tal-
just seven weeks before the ent and his ability to adapt
Lillehammer Games. to new circumstances,” said
NBC analyst Tara Lipinski,
There was such drama that whose own rivalry with Mi-
nearly half of U.S. house- chelle Kwan culminated in a
holds tuned in to watch their showdown at the 1998 Na-
showdown. And these days, gano Games. “The longevity
few but the most ardent of and consistency of his career
figure skating fans could tell speaks volumes. He handles
you who actually won gold in pressure in a way that cannot
1994 (it was Oksana Baiul). be taught.”
And when it comes to facing rocky on the road to Beijing.
Now, figure skating’s lat- Indeed, there will be plenty Hanyu, the 22-year-old from He’s dealt with a series of Battle of the Carmens
est rivalry will climax at the of pressure on both men in Salt Lake City has won the injuries along with a bout At the same Winter Games in
Beijing Games next month, Beijing. last three showdowns. of apathy that tends to befall Calgary, world champ Katari-
when three-time reigning many athletes at the pinnacle na Witt of East Germany and
world champion Nathan The weighty expectations “Yuzuru has definitely of their sport. silver medalist Debi Thomas
Chen once more faces two- Chen felt in Pyeongchang pushed me. Long before I of the U.S. were favorites to
time defending Olympic have only grown in four suc- competed against him, he What may have shaken him win gold. Both had unwit-
champion Yuzuru Hanyu at ceeding years. He didn’t lose was that benchmark for what out of it: the challenge of the tingly chosen music from
the Capital Indoor Stadium. a single competition over that an exceptional figure skater quadruple axel. It’s a four- the opera “Carmen” for their
stretch until Olympic team- should be,” Chen said. “I re- and-a-half rotation jump that long programs, and it was
This is no ping-pong diplo- mate Vincent Zhou topped member watching him when nobody has landed in compe- Witt who outclassed Thomas
macy, though. him at Skate America; Chen I was at the Junior Grand Prix tition, but which he intends to win the title. She wound
bounced right back to win final and he was at the senior to try again in China. up with bronze behind Can-
Chen is the most decorated Skate Canada and then his final and I was amazed at how ada’s Elizabeth Manley.
U.S. men’s skater since two- sixth consecutive national good he was, how much he “Hanyu had very few events
time Olympic champion championship. commanded the audience. before he defended his title Kim vs Asada
Dick Button in the 1940s and He was a shining star in fig- at the 2018 Olympics,” NBC The long program at the
early ’50s. He’s the suave, Now, the youngest of five ure skating. I went home and skating analyst Johnny Weir 2010 Vancouver Games was
Nike-sponsored star taking a kids is one of the poster boys I was like, ‘Oh, man. That’s said, “so this isn’t foreign ter- appointment viewing in Asia,
hiatus from chasing a degree for NBC’s coverage of the what figure skating is sup- ritory. Having known him for where Yuna Kim had become
in statistics and data science Winter Olympics, right there posed to be like.’ ” many years, the only pressure the biggest star in South Ko-
at Yale to chase the Olympic alongside Alpine skier Mi- he puts on himself comes rea and Mao Asada rivaled her
gold that eluded him after a kaela Shiffrin, cross country Hanyu won his sixth Japa- from within. He’s a very popularity in Japan. Kim ulti-
calamitous short program at skier Jessie Diggins, and fear- nese championship in De- strong competitor mentally mately won the gold medal
the Pyeongchang Games. less snowboarder Chloe Kim. cember, but things have been and has so much passion for with three world-best scores,
victory that I think he only and Asada took silver after
competes against himself.” becoming the first woman
to land the triple axel during
Well, not exactly. He’ll have a Olympic competition.
certain American skater wait-
ing for him in China. The border war
Meryl Davis and Charlie
As Chen and Hanyu prepare White of the U.S. and Can-
to face off one more time, ada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott
here are some of figure skat- Moir proved rivalries can ex-
ing’s other great rivalries: ist even in the understated
world of ice dance. Virtue and
Battle of the Brians Moir edged Davis and White
Brian Orser captured the sil- for gold at the 2010 Vancou-
ver medal at the 1984 Olym- ver Games, then the teams
pics, when American rival swapped spots four years
Brian Boitano was fifth, and later at the Sochi Olympics.
the two went back and forth White and Davis subsequent-
for the next four years. That ly retired after their triumph,
set the stage for the 1988 Cal- and that cleared the way for
gary Games, where Boitano Virtue and Moir to win a sec-
upstaged the reigning world ond Olympic title at the 2018
champion in his native Can- Games in Pyeongchang.
ada by a 5-to-4 split of the
judges to win the gold medal.