Quotes from Nathan Chen

Once I really understood what skating was and what the Olympic really entailed, I knew that's what I wanted to do: I wanted to be there; I wanted to represent the U.S.

I'm the baby for sure. My siblings are looking out for me, making sure I'm not doing something stupid. They are making sure my head is set straight and that I'm a good person outside of skating and inside of it, too.

When I watch my skating when I was younger, I definitely see all this balletic movement and this artistry come through.

I think that ballet and skating definitely go hand in hand, especially growing up at Ballet West, which is an incredible academy.

The Olympics have really motivated me, ever since I started skating as a little kid.

Skating in itself is a difficult sport, and the amazing athletes within the sport are very challenging.

There's a lot of skaters that I look up to, and I think my biggest skating role models were the two Russian competitors at the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City. They really motivated me to follow my passion in skating, and it really blossomed from there.

My skating career won't last forever.

I began skating when I was 3. It was during 2002, the year the Olympics were held in Salt Lake City.

I don't think the demographic for skating really entails a lot of basketball watching.

Skating is a very beautiful sport, and I love watching new programs.

In terms of, like, interviews, I used to struggle a lot with interviews; I never knew what to say.

Skating is a sport that I found a lot of interest in from a very, very young age. Ultimately, I think that being on the ice, being in the cold, and trying things and challenging myself in different ways is something that made me really interested in skating.

I really enjoy traveling to... I went to Spain. That was really cool. Japan was really cool. France was really cool.

Throughout the day, I'll snack a lot. I always have some breakfast cereal, like Kellogg's cereal, something on hand, so that I can just quickly get some carbs in.

A lot of the things I do outside the rink are just to relax and recover. We spend so much time at the rink, so it's nice to decompress a little.

Maybe it's innate: I have a body built to jump.

Once you land a jump, you put it straight in the program. That's the way I've always been doing it.

If the jump is perfect, you come out, and you feel like you took a three-pointer in basketball or doing the perfect thing in whatever your sport is. You just get that adrenaline rush, a sense of satisfaction, like you want to do it again and again.

I've been working on it a lot, trying to find the artistic balance, trying to find purpose in my movement combined with the jumps.

I love jumping. I have always loved jumping. I love watching jumps. I love doing jumps.

It's like you get a high off the jumps, and you crave it, and you want to do it again and again and again.

To have all of these jumps in my arsenal is very beneficial. I can always alter my program so I can either play it safe, or I can play it risky with high reward. It depends on what I feel like I need that day.

Never give up. There are always tough times, regardless of what you do in anything in life. Be able to push through those times and maintain your ultimate goal.