Patrick Chan

Personal life Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan prolonging his high school education by an extra year because of his skating. After Chan became national champion, the school created an annual sporting award in his honour. In 2024, they welcomed a second son.

Skating career

Early career Patrick Chan started skating in 1996.

His gold at the junior level of the 2005 Canadian Championships earned him a place at the 2005 World Junior Championships, where he placed seventh. At the age of 14, he was the youngest skater at the event. On April 16, 2012, news media reported that Chan had accepted Krall's resignation.

During the summer of 2013, Chan moved his training base from Colorado to Detroit to continue to work with Kathy Johnson. He beat the Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu to win Skate Canada for a record–tying fifth time. He finished fourth in his return to the Grand Prix Final, placing third in the free skate after landing one quad.

Chan easily nabbed his eighth national title at the 2016 Canadian Figure Skating Championships In January, he won a record tenth Canadian title at the 2018 Canadian Championships.

In February, Chan represented Canada at his third Olympics, in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

For the figure skating season of 2018-2019, he was named event ambassador for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Vancouver.

In 2020, he became an Olympic Committee ambassador and had the distinction of being named the Athlete Role Model for figure skating at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Chan and Elizabeth Putnam choreographed Seo Min-kyu's free skate to Le temps des cathédrales for the 2023-2024 figure skating season. They previously choreographed his programs for the 2021-2022 and the 2022-2023 seasons.

In 2023, he was named event ambassador for Skate Canada International.

In 2024, he and Joannie Rochette were named event ambassadors for 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal.

Skating technique 1994 Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov once praised Patrick Chan's skating skills by saying, "All his skating techniques are outstanding beyond all competitors and need no further improvement."

Skating skills Chan's skating skills are described as skating which is ahead of the evolution of skating that many skaters have cultivated over the years. 2016 World Champion Eric Radford once described Chan as the "Skater's skaters", whose skating technique is seen by athletes around the world as the standard of performance. He is considered by many as the "King of Skating Skills" with his high–level skating skills, which was considered as the training fruit of Osborne Colson, his first coach.

Chan's high–altitude skating skills are very famous, along with the aesthetics of his programs. Chan's ability to control his movements on the ice is extremely smooth, and is often described as movements on the edges of the skate blade instead of the entire blade like the way of moving on ice commonly seen in other skaters. In terms of harmony, Chan's programs are also often choreographed with good connection between the jumps. Since the age of 15, Chan has received a level 4 for the step sequence. His excellent steps and transitions are considered a textbook for ISU judges.

Commenting on Chan's contributions to the history of figure skating in Canada and around the world, CBC's Pj Kwong wrote: "Chan is the latest in a long line of Canadian men who have made the leap from figure skating champion to figure skating legend. The difference between the two is that champions win titles, while legends change the sport in some way."

In the early years of his senior career, during the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 seasons at the 2008 Trophée Éric Bompard and 2009 Skate Canada International, Chan once received edge calls for his 3F, but since then, he has been consistently using the right edge in Flips.

Spins In spinning skills, he has often received Level 4 since he participated in the 2006 NHK Trophy at the age of 15. Of all the spinning techniques, Chan's Camel Spin is the most highly valued.

Records and achievements Chan has broken world records seven times in his career.

Date

Event Note April 28, 2011

2011 World Championships Chan broke the previous record of 264.41, set by Daisuke Takahashi. November 16, 2013

2013 Trophée Éric Bompard Chan broke his record of 280.98. The record was broken by Yuzuru Hanyu on November 28, 2015.

Date

Event Note April 27, 2011

2011 World Championships The record was broken by Daisuke Takahashi on April 19, 2012. March 13, 2013

2013 World Championships Chan broke the previous record of Yuzuru Hanyu. November 15, 2013

2013 Trophée Éric Bompard Chan broke his record of 98.37. The record was broken by Yuzuru Hanyu on December 5, 2013.

Date

Event Note April 28, 2011

2011 World Championships Chan broke the previous record of 180.79, set by Takahiko Kozuka. November 16, 2013

2013 Trophée Éric Bompard Chan broke his record of 187.96. The Globe and Mail, Power List Top 30 (2009) Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, Syl Apps Athlete of the Year Award (2011) Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year (2011) Jean Lumb Foundation, Jean Lumb Award, 10th Anniversary Commemorative Award (2007) John Ralston Saul Award (2012) Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (2024)

Programs

Post–2018 Season Exhibition