Nathan Chen, 22, who won the Olympic gold medal for men’s figure skating, thanks his mother, Hetty Wang, for the support she has shown for his career.
“Absolutely none of this would be at all remotely possible without her support,” Chen said according to Today. “Since day one, 3 years old, I stepped on the ice, and she’s been by my side ever since.”
Chen also reflected back to when his family moved from Salt Lake City to Lake Arrowhead, California, so he could train with coach Rafael Arutunian when he was 11-years-old.
“We didn’t always have the funds to be able to support coaching,” Chen said to Today. “So she was basically my coach throughout that whole period of time I was growing up. She drove me back and forth in our trusty little Prius, so a lot of miles put together and a lot of time put together, but this is a result of her.”
Chen won his first Olympic gold medal on Thursday with a world record-breaking short program and free skate score of 218.63 at Beijing, his mom’s hometown.
“It means the world to be able to be here,” Chen said according to CNN. “I know that they did everything that they could to give us – I’m the youngest of five – to give all of us… opportunities to pursue (our dreams), without having many resources themselves.”
His family could not come to Beijing because of COVID-19 restrictions. However, Chen shared he was able to celebrate with them over a video call while waiting for his mandatory drug testing, according to Today.
“That was the only free moment after I got off the ice, and it was really special to be able to see them,” he said.
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