The Asian American pipeline in figure skating

Tiffany Chin scanned the arena at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last month and marveled at how things had changed.

Chin won the national title in 1985. She was a happy-go-lucky teenager back then, but savvy enough to realize that the winners who had come before her had not looked like her, that few people in the rinks where she skated ever did.

The scene last month was different. Asian American skaters populated the singles and pairs and ice dancing competitions. They appeared up and down the standings in the senior and junior contests. And by the end of the week, they filled the roster of the Olympic team.

For the second consecutive Winter Games, four of the six figure skaters who arrived to represent the United States in the singles events were Asian American: Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Alysa Liu and Vincent Zhou. A fifth Asian American skater, Madison Chock, is competing in the ice dancing event.

“There are so many,” Chin said. “And that is so exciting.”

Fans applaud for Mirai Nagasu’s score at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating championships

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