![]() And by Thursday afternoon in Beijing, the rest of the world knew it, too.īy the time he was popping and locking to a remix of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets” - wherein the rapper Logic appropriately proclaims “I’ve been runnin’ and gunnin’ for something in due time” - Chen’s dream had, for all intents and purposes, come true. He knew how much Chen wanted Olympic gold. It means something, right? So I knew it.” “When they were sleeping in a car and came to practice,” Arutyunyan added, “ mom is giving me money in this hand, and I would take this hand and give it back to him. So I knew there was a chance.”Ĭhen and his mother, Hetty, came to him with nothing except the boy’s dream, the coach said. ![]() “And then one day, he said, ‘Mom, if we do not move, I will not make it.’ He’s an 11-year-old boy. And he did this three times a year, every year,” the California-based Arutyunyan said in the thick Armenian accent he has not shed in the 20 years he has lived in the United States. “He started to drive to me from Salt Lake City. ![]() So, how did Arutyunyan know? What, 11 years ago, did he see in the fresh-faced kid from Utah, of all places, that made him believe Chen could one day pocket every accolade skating had to offer? Then he painted a picture of just how hefty a tithe Chen paid to the figure skating gods to have the gold hang around his neck Thursday. Chen had just delivered a dominant performance and story of redemption, and the air was thick with emotion. ![]() How did Rafael Arutyunyan know Chen could become the greatest figure skater in the world? The coach fielded the question less than an hour after Chen, his star pupil, had won the gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, etching his name with his toe pick in bold letters into the sport’s history. (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nathan Chen performs his routine in the figure skating men's free skate program at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. ![]()
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