Patrick Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian figure skater. He is the 2011 World Champion, 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2009 Four Continents champion, the 2009 and 2010 World silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior silver medalist and a four-time (2008–2011) Canadian Champion.
At the 2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, he was nominated to represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He placed 5th in the men's event.
As of April 2011, he is ranked 1st in the world by the International Skating Union (ISU). On April 27, 2011, Chan set a new World Record of 93.02 points for the Short Program. Chan then set a new World Record for his Free Skate, receiving an overall score of 280.98. Chan was crowned World Champion in Moscow on April 28, 2011.
Career
Early career
Patrick Chan started skating at age five. He originally wanted to learn to skate to play hockey, but soon became interested in figure skating. In 2001, he won the bronze medal at the Canadian Junior National Championships at the juvenile level, the lowest qualifying level in the Canadian figure skating competition structure, at the age of ten. He moved up to win the pre-novice Canadian national title in 2003, the novice title in 2004, and the junior title in 2005.
His gold at the Junior level of the 2005 Canadian Championships earned him a place at the 2005 Junior Worlds where he placed 7th. At the age of fourteen, he was the youngest skater at the event'
2009–2010 season
Chan had a difficult 2009-2010 season, which was disrupted by an injury and a last-minute coaching change before the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In July 2009, Chan landed a quad toe loop jump during a warm-up session at the 2009 Liberty Summer Competition. He did not land it in competition.
Chan was assigned to the 2009 Rostelecom Cup and the 2009 Skate Canada International events for the 2009-2010 ISU Grand Prix season.
Chan contracted a suspected case of H1N1 swine flu during a high performance training camp in Vancouver. The antibiotics treating the illness weakened his muscles, and Chan experienced pain while jumping. This was eventually diagnosed as a gastrocnemius tear in his left calf muscle. It was Chan's first major injury.Chan's injury rehabilitation included a treatment in which his blood was drawn, spun and concentrated, and injected back into his injured muscle. Chan withdrew from the Rostelecom Cup before the event. He competed at the 2009 Skate Canada International, where he received 198.77 points and placed a disappointing sixth.
In January 2010, Chan competed in the 2010 Canadian Champinoships. He placed first in the short program with 90.14 points, 11.27 points ahead of Vaughn Chipeur, after making a mistake in a triple flip and receiving level fours for all his spins and his two step sequences. He won the free skate with a score of 177.88 points to earn 268.02 points overall. He won the gold medal with a lead of 45.92. He set a record score in the Canadian Championships. He was thereby named to the Olympic team, along with Chipeur.
2010–2011 season
Chan began the 2010–2011 season at the 2010 Liberty Summer Competition where he debuted his new short program to the music of Take Five, a jazz piece. He placed first in the short program with a score of 78.88 points. In the same program, he landed his first quad jump in competition and was awarded a high grade of execution for the jump Chan earned 149.91 points in his free program, in which he missed the quad toe loop jump, but landed a triple axel-triple toe combination for his first time in competition. Overall he took first place with 228.79 points.
Chan was assigned to the 2010 Skate Canada International and to the 2010 Cup of Russia for the 2010–2011 ISU Grand Prix season.
At the 2010 Skate Canada International, Chan had a collision with Adam Rippon during the morning practice before the short program. He placed fourth in the short program after with 73.20 points, after falling in his quad toe loop jump, his triple axel and his step sequence. He won the free skate earning a new personal best of 166.32 points after landing a quad toe loop jump and five more triple jumps, and was first overall with 239.52 points. It was his first time landing a quad in international competition.
At the 2010 Cup of Russia, Chan was first in the short program with 81.96 points, where he landed a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination. He then dropped to second place overall behind Tomas Verner following the long program, where he scored 145.25 points. His combined placements have qualified him for the 2010-2011 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
Coaching changes
Chan was first coached by Osborne Colson, who had previously worked with Barbara Ann Scott and Donald Jackson. Colson trained Chan from the beginning of Chan's career until Colson's death in July 2006 from complications arising from a car accident. Chan won the 2005 Canadian Junior Championship under Colson's guidance, and Colson had planned to coach Chan to the top of the sport. Chan regarded Colson as a grandfather figure, and the Chan family was at Colson's deathbed when he died. Chan wears a gold medallion belonging to Colson that is engraved with Colson's initials. Chan was then coached by technical specialist Shin Amano, who coached in the same facility. This was a temporary arrangement that lasted six months.
Personal life
Chan was born in Ottawa, Ontario to Lewis Chan and Karen Chan, immigrants from Hong Kong. He is of Han Chinese descent. His Chinese name is Chan Wai-Kuan (traditional Chinese: 陳偉群; Yale: Chan4 Wai5 Kwan4). His father, a lawyer, immigrated to Canada at the age of 4 and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, while his mother immigrated at the age of 21 in order to study.Chan is an only child. His mother won both singles and doubles tennis championships in her native city, while his father pursues table tennis, golf, and weight-lifting. At the age of 5, Chan showed talent in downhill skiiing, but focused on other sports after his family moved to Toronto. He has an enduring interest in many sports, including taekwondo, tennis, golf, and mountain climbing.
Chan is fluent in English, French, and Cantonese, and is learning Mandarin. He graduated from École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, a French language school in North York, Toronto in 2009, prolonging his high-school career by an extra year due to his skating. After Chan became National champion, the school created an annual sporting award in his honor.Chan was most proficient in physics in high school and considered taking mechanical engineering at university. As of 2010, Chan plans to enroll in college in September 2011 and is considering a business degree. He will study international economics at Colorado College, taking one course at a time so as to facilitate his training.
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