OlympicTalk · Jan 27, 2020
Nathan Chen, from flu-ridden on his coach’s floor, fights for 4th U.S. title
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Rafael Arutunian showed me a photo on his phone of Nathan Chen sleeping on the floor in the coach’s office at Great Park Ice Arena when he was supposed to be practicing earlier this month.
Arutunian said he could have taken the same picture on eight days in the 2 1/2 weeks they spent together at his Irvine, Calif., training base during Chen’s semester break from Yale.
Arutunian would see the flu-ridden and feverish Chen curled up asleep, turn off the light, leave the room and wait until Chen woke up before trying to have him do any training.
In the past, Arutunian said, Chen could train through sickness. This time it was futile.
“He couldn’t move,” Arutunian said.