The Rinks Figure Skaters Nathan Chen & Adam Rippon Nominated to U.S. Olympic Team
THE RINKS’ FIGURE SKATERS NATHAN CHEN & ADAM RIPPON NOMINATED TO U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM WITH ASHLEY WAGNER & MARIAH BELL NAMED AS ALTERNATES
ANAHEIM, Calif. – This past weekend, two of Rafael Arutyunyan’s figure skaters, Adam Rippon and Nathan Chen were nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team with Ashley Wagner and Mariah Bell named as alternates. All four skaters are currently training at THE RINKS – Lakewood ICE facility where renowned figure skating coach Rafael Arutyunyan, along with his team, wife Vera Arutyunyan and Nadia Kanaeva, have taken up a coaching residency leading into the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 taking place Feb. 9-25. Arutyunyan and his team were named “U.S. Figure Skating/PSA Coaches of the Year” two years in a row in 2015 and 2016 by the Professional Skater Association.
Chen is the 2018 U.S. champion, successfully defending his 2017 title. He entered the 2018 U.S. Championships as the only undefeated male skater in the 2017-18 season, winning two Grand Prix Series titles and the Grand Prix Final. Chen is the only man in the world to receive credit for landing five different types of quadruple jumps in international competition.
Rippon a former U.S. Champion (2016), placed fourth at the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After winning silver at both of his Grand Prix Series assignments this season, Rippon earned his second-straight trip to the Grand Prix Final, where he placed fifth.
Arutyunyan and his team started their coaching residency at THE RINKS - Lakewood ICE in the summer of 2016. He is acknowledged around the world for his success in teaching jump technique and employs a systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to the skill of jumping on ice. Rafael uses his skater’s height and distance to determine proper take-off velocity as it relates to timing, angle direction, and position. His methods have proven to be effective with many of his athletes being named to various countries Olympic Teams beyond the U.S. Team, including Michal Brezina (Czech Republic), Amy Lin (third alternate for Tai Pei) as well as Romain Ponsart (France), who is still contending for a spot on the Olympic Team at the European Championships this weekend.
Launched in February 2009, THE RINKS Development Program now consists of eight local skating facilities operated by the Anaheim Ducks: five ice rinks (THE RINKS – Anaheim ICE, THE RINKS - Lakewood ICE, THE RINKS - Poway ICE, THE RINKS – Westminster ICE and THE RINKS –Yorba Linda ICE), as well as three inline facilities (THE RINKS – Huntington Beach Inline, THE RINKS – Irvine Inline and THE RINKS – Corona Inline). For information on THE RINKS program, visit www.TheRinks.com.