List of career achievements by Nathan Chen

Nathan Chen is an American figure skater who made his senior debut in international competition in 2016. Chen, the reigning Olympic champion (2022) and a three-time world champion (2018, 2019, 2021), was the first skater to land five different types of quadruple jumps in competition, the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in a free program, and the first skater to land eight quadruple jumps across a single competition. Chen has broken multiple world and national records and is the current world record holder for two competition segments in the senior men's discipline; the short program and combined total score, and former world record holder in the free skate.

When Chen captured his first U.S. title at the 2017 U.S Championships at age 17, he became the youngest national champion since Dick Button (1946). That same year, he won the Four Continents title and the first of three successive grand prix final titles. Chen won his first world title in 2018 and became the youngest world champion since Evgeni Plushenko (2001). He repeated as world champion in 2019, and in 2021, he was the first U.S. man to win three world titles in a row since Scott Hamilton (1982–1984). In early January 2022, Chen became the first man to win six consecutive U.S. championships since Button (1946–52), and a month later, at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he was the first Asian American man to win Olympic gold.

Chen has received numerous accolades in recognition of his achievements and impact. In the ensuing months after he stood atop the podium in Beijing, Chen earned nominations for several notable awards, including a Laureus World Sports Award, a People's Choice Award, an ESPY, and a James E. Sullivan Award. He was named Most Valuable Skater at the International Skating Union's ISU Awards in 2023, and Time magazine included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.

World record scores
Chen set seven world record scores in the +5/-5 grade of execution (GOE) system; one in the short program, three in the free program, and three in the combined total score.


 * SP – Short program
 * FS – Free skating

Honors and accolades
Laureus World Sports Awards


 * Breakthrough of the Year Award (nominated in 2023)

ISU Skating Awards


 * Most Valuable Skater (2023)

ESPY Awards


 * Best Olympian, Men's Sports Award (nominated in 2022)

People's Choice Awards


 * Game Changer Award (nominated in 2022)

Amateur Athletic Union


 * James E. Sullivan Award (nominated in 2022)

Committee of 100


 * Trailblazer Award for Commitment to Excellence (2022)

Gold House


 * A100 Honoree (2018, 2019, 2020)
 * A100 Hall of Fame (2021)

Professional Skaters Association


 * Gustave Lussi Award (2019, 2021, 2022)

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee


 * Male Olympic Athlete of the Year (2019)

U.S. Figure Skating


 * Ron and Gayle Hershberger Award (2012)
 * Athlete Alumni Ambassador Award (2011)
 * Cecilia Colledge Memorial Fund Award (2010, 2011)

Media


 * Time: Named to the Time100 List (the 100 most influential people in the world) (2022)
 * Time: Named to the Time Next Generation Leaders List (2017)
 * Forbes: Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports list (2020)
 * Harper's Bazaar: Named to their list of "Icons" (2022)
 * SportsPro: "Most Marketable Athletes" (#65 in 2022)
 * The Salt Lake Tribune: Nominated for "Utahn of the Year" (2022)
 * SKATING Magazine: Recipient of the "Reader's Choice Award" (Michelle Kwan Trophy) (2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–2019)
 * ABC News: Named Person of the Week (February 19, 2010)

Municipality


 * Sun Valley: Presented with a key to the city (2022)
 * Utah: Awarded a proclamation, making May 18 "Nathan Chen Day" (2022)
 * Salt Lake County: Awarded a proclamation, making May 16 "Nathan Chen Day" (2018)

Yale University

 * Statistics and Data Science Outstanding Thesis Award

Medals and major titles
Throughout the years, Chen has won all major competitions at the junior and senior level except for junior worlds.

Medal record by event

 * The list records medals and participations in senior and junior events.
 * Medals at team events are included only by team result, not individual result.

Medal record by season

 * The list records medals and participations at national and international events.
 * Medals at team events are included only by team result, not individual result.
 * Withdrawals and cancelled events are not included in the list.

International record scores by segment
Chen holds all current records except for the program component score in the men's short program which was set by Yuzuru Hanyu. Chen holds the historical record for the technical element score in the men's free skate. The other historical records were all set by Yuzuru Hanyu.
 * TSS – Total segment score
 * TES – Technical element score
 * PCS – Program component score
 * World record scores are highlighted in bold and italic
 * Highest total segment scores (TSS) are recognized as world records by Guinness World Records.

International record scores achieved at main events
The major international events include the Olympics (men's individual event), World Championships, Four Continent Championships, and the Grand Prix Final, but exclude the European Championships as Chen is ineligible to compete. Chen currently holds eight of the twelve records. Yuzuru Hanyu has the records for the short program and total combined score at Four Continents, and Shoma Uno achieved the highest scores for the free skate at Four Continents and the short program at Worlds. Chen set three of the twelve historical record scores at main events. The other nine records were set by Hanyu.
 * SP – Short program
 * FS – Free skating
 * World records highlighted in bold and italic

Technical element scores
Each technical element of a program is assigned a base value, which gives skaters credit for every element they perform. Some elements, such as spins, and step sequences, have levels of difficulty (level 1 is the lowest, level 4 is the highest) on which the base values are established. A judging panel grades the quality of each element using the grade of execution score (GOE) within a range of −5 to +5 (the historical system prior to the 2018–19 season had a range between +3/-3), which is added to or deducted from the base value. GOEs are proportional to the base value of each element. The highest and lowest scores for each element are thrown out, and the remaining scores are averaged to determine the final GOE for each element. The GOE is then added to or subtracted from the base value for each element, and the sum of the scores for all elements forms the technical score. In the current +5/-5 system, Chen has received 4 perfect scores for two technical elements in international competition, his choreographic sequence and level four step sequence. Prior to the system change (before the 2018–19 season), Chen achieved one perfect score for his level four step sequence at the 2017 Grand Prix Final.
 * SP – Short program
 * FS – Free skate
 * Unanimous +5 GOE marks from the judging panel highlighted in bold

National record scores
Chen is the historical national record holder for the senior men's short program, the senior men's free skate, and accumulative score. He also holds the current national record scores for all three segments for the senior men's discipline at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
 * SP – Short program
 * FS – Free skating
 * World record scores are highlighted in bold and italic
 * Scores achieved at domestic competitions are not recognized by the International Skating Union as personal best scores. Only scores at sanctioned international events are considered as official and ratified national records.

National maximum scores
Chen has received a total of seven perfect scores for technical elements at the U.S. Championships. In the current +5/-5 GOE system, Chen was awarded maximum scores for a step sequence, a choreographic sequence, a jump and a jump combination. In the old +3/-3 GOE system, he received perfect scores for two step sequences. Furthermore, Chen was awarded perfect 10.00s in the performance component for his free skate at the 2019 U.S. Championships.
 * x – 10% bonus in the base value for a jump executed in the second half of the program
 * Unanimous +5GOE marks from the judging panel highlighted in bold
 * Unanimous +3 GOE marks from the judging panel highlighted in bold

Absolute best scores
Chen has achieved combined total scores above 300 points seven times since the implementation of the +5/-5 system in the 2018–19 season, twice in the +3/-3 system season prior to that season.

Chen passed the 100 mark in the short program ten times since the 2018–19 season and five times in the historical system prior to that season.

Chen received more than 200 points for his free skate six times since the 2018–19 season, three times in the previous system.

Senior level in +5/-5 GOE system

 * Small medals for the short program and free skating are only awarded at ISU Championships.
 * Medals at team events are awarded for the team results only. Individual placements at team events are listed in parentheses.

Senior level in +3/-3 GOE system

 * Small medals for the short program and free skating are only awarded at ISU Championships.
 * Medals at team events are awarded for the team results only. Individual placements at team events are listed in parentheses.



Junior level in +3/-3 GOE system

 * S – senior level
 * Small medals for the short program and free skating are only awarded at ISU Championships.