Jason Brown grew up feeling the magic of the Miracle on Ice, that unforgettable march of the US hockey team to win gold at the 1980 Olympics. in Lake Placid, N.Y. Never mind that the event pre-dated his birth by 14 years. It’s just something that lives forever in the heart of an athlete in […]
Jason Brown
Malinin: Crazy Good
How do you defeat this guy, this Ilia Malinin kid – still only 20 – who seems to have been hatched from another planet and dropped earthward? Malinin and his mop of tawny hair and an unearthly ability to rotate his body, won his second consecutive world figure skating championship title on Saturday at the […]
Nathan Chen Finds his Feet
Nathan Chen crushed them. Just crushed them. If ever there was a wobble in your thinking about Chen’s prowess on the men’s figure skating scene after Skate America, then straighten yourself in your seat, find a crutch, get a new pair of Birkenstocks, anything, and get ready to marvel again. After he finished third at […]
Nathan Chen Finds Redemption
So Nathan Chen had a couple of bad days at Skate America last week. He wasn’t about to hit the panic button, he said. His long winning streak, back to the 2018 Olympics, was bound to end sometime, he said. However, the three-time world champion got back into the saddle at Skate Canada on Friday, […]
Nathan Chen’s Epic Adventure
Nathan Chen is ever thus: calmer than a pool. And focused like a laser beam, although he doesn’t look it. He won his third consecutive world title with explosive point totals on Saturday. He had come to Stockholm, grateful to be there. He had shaken off his woolly lockdown curls, shrugged off a hiccup in […]
“Keegs”
What a night. Keegan Messing finished third in the men’s short program at Skate America. But he won much more than a placing. About a month ago, his younger brother, Paxon, a father of three little ones, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Alaska. I heard the news by text in the waiting room […]
Jason Brown: His Light Falls on Toronto
Everyone needs a little dose of Jason Brown now and again. Feeling the blues? Brown will wrap you up in the little tornado of his personality and make you forget it all. Feeling lonely and alone? Brown will bounce off to the airport and pick you up, just because that’s what he does. Loving […]
Jun-Hwan Cha Comes of Age
OAKVILLE, Ont. This weekend Jun-Hwan Cha, he a dreamy child not so long ago, grew into something else. A dreamy-eyed young man with a presence. The 16-year-old South Korean skater has been around, for sure, the dark locks of his bob flying out in all directions on a spin. At first sight of a […]
Jason Brown: bouncing back
If Jason Brown ever found himself in the Hundred Acre Wood, he would be Tigger, hopping and bopping, swinging his arms around everybody with glee, smiling until tomorrow. “Tiggers are wonderful things,” the song goes. “Their tops are made out of rubber. Their bottoms are made out of springs.” The young American is irrepressibly positive, […]
To quad or not to quad: that is the question
His Four Continents experiment – putting the quad in the short program – was a learning experience that cost Canadian champion Nam Nguyen nothing but a few lumps. He took his lumps (11th overall at Four Continents) and will compete at his second world championship with an eye to the future. In other words, although […]