Olympic champion Nathan Chen, Rafael Arutyunyan to be inducted into US Figure Skating Hall of Fame

Olympic champion Nathan Chen and his longtime figure skating coach Rafael Arutyunyan will be inducted into the U S Figure Skating Hall of Fame when it celebrates its th anniversary at the national championships next month in St Louis Joseph Inman who helped to develop the current scoring system after the Olympics judging embarrassment also will be inducted The -year-old Chen helped to usher in the era of quadruple jumps in men s skating becoming the first athlete to land five different types of quads in competition He set several Olympic and world records during a competitive career spanning years and his overall outcome of set during the Grand Prix Final still stands to this day While he won three world titles and six consecutive U S titles Chen will forever be known for the Olympics He helped the U S win club bronze at the Pyeongchang Games but struggled in the men s competition then used that bitter disappointment as fuel to win the men s competition and help to deliver crew gold four years later at the Beijing Games Chen stepped away from competition shortly after the Olympics though he still skates in occasional shows He graduated from Yale last year and is pursuing a career in medicine and the Salt Lake City native is part of the athlete advisory committee helping the city prepare to host the Winter Games Chen may have been Arutyunyan s majority notable protege over a coaching career spanning years at least until reigning world champion and Olympic favorite Ilia Malinin who has come along and threatened to wipe out numerous of his compatriots records Arutyunyan competed for the former Soviet Union and coached the Russian national gang in the late s before moving to the U S and settling in California he became a citizen six years ago Arutyunyan has coached multiple U S champions including Michelle Kwan Ashley Wagner Sasha Cohen Adam Rippon and Mariah Bell and international star such as Mao Asada and Jeffrey Buttle Arutyunyan is the head coach of the high performance company at Great Park Ice and Five Point Arena in Irvine California Inman a classically trained pianist was appointed to the committee charged with overhauling figure skating s scoring system after a disagreement erupting over the pairs competition at the Olympics The longtime judge referee and technical controller helped to create a system that championed objectivity while bringing scheme components to the forefront Inman also served years with the United States Army band as its lead percussionist and substitute pianist The Class of holds the prestigious distinction of being the golden class of inductees as we celebrate the Hall of Fame s th anniversary explained Richard Dalley the Hall of Fame s nominating committee chair In every category this group features legendary recipients whose impact and legacy elevate the significance of this milestone celebration AP Winter Olympics at https apnews com hub milan-cortina- -winter-olympics Source