Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. He is a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the men's and team events, a three-time World champion (2011, 2012, 2013), a two–time Grand Prix Final champion (2010 and 2011), a three-time Four Continents champion (2009, 2012, 2016), and a ten-time Canadian national champion (2008–2014, 2016–2018). He is known for his skating style which is highly appreciated for artistry and elegance. Patrick Chan is a recognized master of figure skating who has made a great contribution to this sport.
On April 27, 2011, Chan set a new world record of 93.02 points for the short program. On April 28, 2011, Chan then set a new world record for his free skating, receiving an overall score of 280.98. In recognition, he was named the recipient of the Lou Marsh Award as Canada's top athlete. Chan has repeatedly set world records in figure skating under the ISU Judging System, being the world record holder for many years. He is one of the few figure skaters in the world to break the 100-point barrier in the short program, and is the third man in the world to break the 200-point barrier in the free program. During his 15–year competing career, he has won more than 30 titles and medals of ISU competitions, including three Olympic medals. He announced the end of his career on April 16, 2018. Chan is considered by many to be one of the greatest Canadian male figure skaters of all time.
Personal life Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan was born December 31, 1990, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is the only child of Lewis Chan, a lawyer, and Karen, both immigrants from Hong Kong. Arriving at the age of four, Lewis grew up in Montreal, Quebec, and pursued table tennis, golf, and weight–lifting. Karen, who won both singles and doubles tennis championships in her native city, moved to Canada in her 20s to continue her studies.
His Chinese name is Chan Wai–Kuan. At the age of five, Chan showed talent in downhill skiing but focused on other sports after his family moved to Toronto. He has an enduring interest in many sports, including taekwondo, tennis, golf, and mountain climbing.
Chan is fluent in English, French, and Cantonese. His parents wanted him to be multilingual, so at home his father spoke French to him, his mother spoke Cantonese, and their son learned English from his daily life in Ontario. Chan graduated from École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, a French–language school in North York, Toronto, in 2009, 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. Chan tried to enroll in college a couple of times: first at Colorado College to study international economics in September 2011 and second at the University of Toronto to study social sciences in the fall of 2014.
Chan has won numerous off–ice awards for his accomplishments. In January 2008, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto (Youth Chapter) conferred Chan with the 2007 Chinese Canadian Youth of the Year award. In May 2008, Chan was named Asian of the Year in arts and sports by Asia Network magazine. In January 2009, the Globe and Mail named Chan as one of the most prominent sports personalities in their annual Power List in Canadian sports.
In 2020, Chan wed Canadian former pair skater Elizabeth Putnam. In September 2021, they welcomed a son. In 2024, they welcomed a second son.
Skating career
Early career Patrick Chan started skating in 1996. He originally wanted to learn to skate to play hockey, but soon became interested in figure skating. His coach, Osborne Colson, made him spend 30 minutes a day on basic stroking, edge work, cross-cutting, and balance drills. Chan said, "I tell people I owe the flow in my knees and the flow I generate from my edges to Mr. Colson. He knew he had to pull everything apart and start from the ground up on the basics of skating."
In 2001, aged 10, Chan won the bronze medal at the Canadian Junior National Championships at the juvenile level, the lowest qualifying level in the Canadian figure skating competition structure. He won the pre-novice national title in 2003, the novice title in 2004, and the junior title in 2005.
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.
In the 2005–2006 season, Chan made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut. He won the gold medal at the event in Montreal and placed fourth at the event in Slovakia. He qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where he placed fifth. Making his senior national debut at the 2006 Canadian Championships, he placed seventh and earned a spot at the 2006 World Junior Championships, where he placed sixth.
His first coach, Osborne Colson, guided him from the beginning of Chan's career until Colson's death in July 2006, due to complications arising from a car accident. Chan won the 2005 Canadian Junior Championship under Colson's guidance, and Colson had planned to coach Chan to the top of the sport. Chan regarded Colson as a grandfather figure, and the Chan family was at Colson's deathbed when he died. Chan wore a gold medallion belonging to Colson that was engraved with Colson's initials. Chan was then coached by technical specialist Shin Amano, who coached in the same facility. This was a temporary arrangement that lasted six months.
2006–2007 season
Aged 16, Chan decided to advance to the senior level internationally, despite having only one junior international medal. He was assigned two Grand Prix events and made his senior international debut at the 2006 Trophée Éric Bompard, where he placed fifth. He later placed seventh at the 2006 NHK Trophy.
Chan competed at the 2007 Canadian Championships in Halifax and placed fifth. This earned him his third consecutive spot at the World Junior Championships, where he won the silver medal, becoming the first Canadian men's skater since 1984 to win a medal at the event.
Chan began working with Don Laws, a former student of Colson's whom he met at Colson's funeral, in 2007.
2007–2008 season
Chan divided his training time between World Arena Ice Hall in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the Granite Club in Toronto. Chan began his Grand Prix season at the 2007 Skate America, where he won the bronze medal. He then went on to win gold at the 2007 Trophée Éric Bompard. He placed fifth at the 2007–08 Grand Prix Final. At the 2008 Canadian Championships Chan won the national title at age 17. It was incorrectly reported that he had become the youngest Canadian men's champion in history—a record still held by Charles Snelling, who was 16 at the time of his 1954 victory.
Chan competed at the 2008 World Championships in March. He placed seventh in the short program and 11th in the free skating, placing ninth overall. Canada had two spots in the 2008 Worlds. Chan's placement, combined with that of Jeffrey Buttle, who won the event, earned Canada three spots in the 2009 World Championships in the men's event.
In May 2008, Chan performed in the Festa on Ice show in South Korea, alongside show headliner Yuna Kim.
2008–2009 season
Chan won gold medals at both of his Grand Prix events, the 2008 Skate Canada International and 2008 Trophée Éric Bompard, thereby qualifying for the 2008–09 Grand Prix Final as the highest qualifier. He placed fifth in the final.
He competed at the 2009 Canadian Championships as the defending champion. He placed first in the short program and entered the final segment with a 17.00-point lead. During the free skate, he stepped out from a 3F, which was to be combined with a 3T, but landed two 3A jumps cleanly for the first time in his career. He won the free skate by a margin of 30.96 points and took gold with a total margin of 48.52 points over silver medallist Vaughn Chipeur.
At his only appearance at the 2009 Four Continents Championships, Chan placed first in the short program, in which he received level 4 for all his spins and for his straight–line footwork. His score gave him a lead of over 7.25 points above the second–place finisher Evan Lysacek. He also won the free skate, executing a 3F–3T combination, as well as a 3Lz–2T–2Lo combination and receiving level four for all his spins and straight–line footwork. He outscored silver medalist Evan Lysacek by 12.04 points to win the gold medal.
At the 2009 World Championships, Chan placed third in the short program, behind Brian Joubert and Evan Lysacek, and second in the free skate to win the silver medal behind Lysacek. He was eighteen. He also competed for Canada at the 2009 World Team Trophy. He placed fourth in the men's competition and Canada won the silver overall, behind the United States and ahead of Japan.
During the off-season, Chan performed in the South Korean show Festa on Ice alongside Yuna Kim once again.
2009–2010 season
In July 2009, Chan landed a quad toe loop jump during a warm-up session at the 2009 Liberty Summer Competition. He did not land it in competition.
Chan was assigned to the 2009 Rostelecom Cup and the 2009 Skate Canada International events for the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix season.
Chan contracted a suspected case of H1N1 swine flu during a high-performance training camp in Vancouver. The antibiotics treating the illness weakened his muscles, and Chan experienced pain while jumping. This was eventually diagnosed as a gastrocnemius tear in his left calf muscle. It was Chan's first major injury. Chan's injury rehabilitation included a treatment in which his blood was drawn, spun and concentrated, and injected back into his injured muscle. Chan withdrew from the Rostelecom Cup before the event. He placed sixth at the 2009 Skate Canada International. On January 8, 2010, Chan announced a coaching change to Lori Nichol, his long–time choreographer, and Christy Krall, a technical specialist based in Colorado. At the 2010 Canadian Championships, he placed first in the short program, 11.27 points ahead of Vaughn Chipeur, after making a mistake on a 3F and receiving level fours for all his spins and his two step sequences. He won the free skate and took the gold medal with a lead of 45.92 points. He set a record score in the Canadian Championships. He was thereby named to the Olympic team, along with Chipeur.
The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Chan's home country, Canada. Chan placed seventh in the short program and then earned a new personal best score to place fourth in the free skate, finishing fifth overall. Chan said later that the support of the audience at the event had made him realize how proud he was to be Canadian.
Chan competed once again at the 2010 World Championships. He placed second in the short program, just 1.50 behind the leader, Daisuke Takahashi. He placed second in the free skate, 8.98 points behind Takahashi, to win his second world silver medal. Chan earned US$27,000 in prize money.
During the off-season, he debuted his newest show program, skating to Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy", at the Woodstock Skating Club in April 2010. He performed in the show Festa on Ice for the third consecutive year. He also performed in the show All That Skate LA, again headlined by Kim.
2010–2011 season
Chan began his season at the 2010 Liberty Summer Competition where he debuted his new short program to the music of Take Five, a jazz piece. He placed first in the short program, landing his first 4T in competition, and was awarded a high grade of execution for the jump. In the free skate, he missed the 4T, but landed a 3A–3T combination for his first time in competition, and took the gold medal.