A former competitive figure skater, Patrick Chan emerged as one of the world’s best men’s figure skaters. He is best known for his incredible combination of athleticism, technical skills, and artistry.
To date, he has bagged several titles. He is a three-time World champion (2011, 2012, and 2013), two–time Grand Prix Final champion (2010 and 2011).
Chan is also three-time Four Continents champion (2009, 2012, and 2016), and ten-time Canadian national champion (2008–2014, 2016–2018).
Not to mention Patrick is the master of figure skating with a world record overall score of 280.98 in free skating.
Before we set to discuss the details of his life and career, let us go through a quick dose of facts on one of the greatest Canadian male figure skaters of all time.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Patrick Lewis Wai-Kuan Chan |
| Chinese Name | Chan Wai–Kuan |
| Date of Birth | December 31, 1990 |
| Birth Place | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Nick Name | PChiddy |
| Religion | Unknown |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Ethnicity | Asian |
| Zodiac Sign | Capricorn |
| Age | 33 years old |
| Height | 1.71 meters (5 feet 7 inches) |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Build | Athletic |
| Father’s Name | Lewis Chan |
| Mother’s Name | Karen Chan |
| Siblings | None |
| Education | School Secondary Étienne-Brûlé Colorado College University of Toronto |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Elizabeth Gale Putnam |
| Kids | A son; Oliver |
| Profession | Former figure skater |
| Club | The Granite Club |
| Coach | Ravi Walia (current) Former Coaches: Marina Zueva, Johnny Johns, Oleg Epstein, Kathy Johnson, Eddie Shipstad, Christy Krall, Don Laws, Shin Amano, Ellen Burka, Osborne Colson, Mei Yang |
| Choreographers | Current: David Wilson Former: Pasquale Camerlengo, Jeffrey Buttle, Christopher Dean, Lori Nichol, Kurt Browning, Osborne Colson, Mark Hird |
| Active Years | 1996 – April 16, 2018 |
| Net Worth | $1.5 million |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
| Merch | Magazine |
| Last Update | March 2024 |
Family Background
Chan Wai–Kuan was born on December 31, 1990, under the star sign of Capricorn. He was born to his Chinese parents in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The skater is the only child of Lewis Chan and Karen Chan. Both his parents are immigrants from Hong Kong, as his father moved to Canada in his youth, and his mother didn’t move until her late 20s.
At present, Patrick’s father, Lewis, is an attorney who also played ping pong and coached a Quebec-based ping pong team. Talking about his parents, Lewis arrived in Canada with his parents at the age of four.
His father, Lewis, grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He pursued table tennis, golf, and weight–lifting during his tenure. As for Patrick’s mother, she initially moved to Canada in her 20s to continue her studies.
Karen is also the winner of both singles and doubles tennis championships in her native city.
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Early Life & Education
Being of Chinese descent, Chan is multilingual as he is fluent in English, French, and Cantonese. His parents wanted him to be multilingual.
Hence, his father taught him French while his mother taught him Cantonese. In the meantime, he learns English from his daily life in Canada.
Chan enrolled in a French-language school in North York, Toronto. He graduated from École secondaire Étienne–Brûle in 2009.
As for his collegiate year, Patrick thought to enroll in college a couple of times. At first, he studied international economics in September 2011 at Colorado College.
Following it, he studied social sciences in the fall of 2014 at the University of Toronto.
Body Measurements
Patrick Chan is a man with a physically toned body of medium-built. Well, he stands at a decent height of 1.71 meters (5’7″ ) while weighing 67 kg (148 lb).
He is handsome with his black and shortly-maintained hair and deep brown eyes.
Chan is quite conscious about his workout routine and hits the gym most days at 9 a.m. Initially, he starts with an aerobic warm-up, either on the treadmill or elliptical machine.
Usually, this warm-up lasts for 10-15 minutes and then moves on to active stretching. It is often followed by explosive-style resistance training involving mostly bodyweight-only exercises.
Likewise, he doesn’t always do weights but only does it mainly for his legs and core. Additionally, Chan skates up to six days a week, three and a half hours a day.
Back in the day, Patrick used to eat poorly and go to bed late, and the practice days were inconsistent.
At present, he follows a largely gluten-free and organic diet and rounds out what is often a nine a.m.-to-6 p.m. training day with “studio work.”
Patrick Chan | Career
Chan started being active in sports at the early age of five. By then, he had had plenty of sports interests that included taekwondo, tennis, golf, and mountain climbing.
Right then, he started skiing but had to focus on other sports when he moved to Toronto with his family. However, he again started skating in the year 1996.
Chan never had the intention to become a world-class figure skater. But he learned skating to play hockey.
Slowly, his passion turned out to be a profession. He gained his first accomplishment in 2001 when he won the bronze medal at the Canadian Junior National Championships at the juvenile level.
Following it, he had the pre-novice national title in 2003, the novice title in 2004, and the junior title in 2005. In the year 2005, Patrick collected his gold medal from the year’s Canadian Championships.
Likewise, he gained another gold in the ISU Junior Grand Prix held in Montreal.
Senior National Debut
Chan made his senior national debut in 2006 through the Canadian Championships. In the same season, 2006-07, he also advanced to the senior international level.
With several events in hand, Patrick made his debut at the 2006 Trophée Éric Bompard. In 2007, he became the first Canadian men’s skater since 1984 to win a silver medal at the World Junior Championships.
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Right after, Patrick joined the Grand Prix season and won the bronze medal in the 2007 Skate America. Then with a gold medal at the 2007 Trophée Éric Bompard, he bagged the 2008 Canadian Championships.
Hence, his foremost national title came at the age of seventeen. In the meantime, he bagged two golds respectively at the 2008 Skate Canada International and 2008 Trophée Éric Bompard.
In the 2009 international arena, Patrick then assisted Canada in bagging a silver medal at the 2009 World Team Trophy.
Olympic
After standing first at the 2010 Canadian Championships, Patrick Chan entered the Olympics team and played for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Back then, he scored his personal best being the fourth in the free skate. Following it, Chan bagged his second world silver medal at the 2010 World Championships.
The same year, Patrick landed his first-time quad for the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix season. However, it was only until the next year that Patrick bagged his fourth consecutive Canadian national title at the 2011 Canadian Championships.
Guinness World Records and Uphill Career
In September 2011, Patrick received three Guinness World Records certificates. He received the certificate after achieving world records in the short program, free skating, and overall score at the 2011 World Championships held in Moscow.
After a long interval, he then bagged gold at the 2011 Grand Prix events. Furthermore, he went on to win his second straight World title at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France.
Then, he bagged another gold at the 2012 Cup of Russia. He had it during the Canadian Championships that year.
Additionally, Patrick bagged a world record score at the time in the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix season.
Few Slips & Onward
During the 2014 Winter Olympics match, Patrick had a few slips as he fell twice during his free skate. Back then, he bagged a silver medal and missed most of the year’s events.
In the 2015-16 season, Patrick Chan won the Skate Canada for a record-tying the fifth time. He took over the Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.
Not long after it, he won the 2016 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, his eighth national title, and the 2016 Four Continents Championships.
The season 2016-17 only held more records for breakthroughs in his career. He first won his sixth Skate Canada title.
Furthermore, he had his tenth Canadian title at the 2018 Canadian Championships. Right after it, Patrick joined the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
During the event, he ranked third in the short and first in the free skate. With this, Patrick bagged his foremost gold medal at the Olympics.
Patrick Chan | Retirement
On April 16, 2018, Chan officially retired from the professional skating field after his Olympic game. Before his retirement, Chan dominated men’s skating for three years.
To date, Patrick is best known for his strength and speed on the ice and his artistry and exquisite skating skills. Patrick had the initial thought of retiring from the arena in 2014.
Chan had plans to retire after his silver-medal performance at the 2014 Games.
“It wouldn’t have been fair to end after 2014 because I didn’t really have a good understanding of who I was and what my aspirations were, and what I wanted from the sport. It just didn’t feel fulfilling; skating didn’t fulfill me completely.”
– Patrick Chan
Even after his retirement, Chan still participates in major figure skating tours in Canada. As the current skating coach, he envisions himself running a skating school.
Back in 2020, Chan also became the Olympic Committee ambassador. In the same year, he became the Athlete Role Model for figure skating at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Net Worth
Although there is no fixed estimated value regarding Patrick Chan’s net earnings, he is estimated to have a net worth of above $1 million.
Ever since the age of ten, Patrick has been raking up an impressive amount of financial winnings. From his silver Olympic medals, he has collected $15,000.
Moving on, he gained US$27,000 in prize money for his second world silver medal.
Furthermore, Patrick has sponsorship deals with McDonald’s and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Additionally, he got his first car after his third world championship title. Initially, he asked his mother after his first two wins to get a car; however, she declined.
After the third win, Patrick went out to buy a 2011 charcoal BMW.
Skating Techniques
Often several people and athletes describe Patrick Chan’s skills as the standard skill performance. With his high-level skating skills, he is named the “King of Skating.”
Patrick is the master of one–foot skating technique and has large ice coverage and ability. Moving on, he has highly flexible and complex step sequences.
Today, he is considered one of the pioneers of the modern era of men’s figure skating. He has a total of 6 types of triple jumps (Axel, Lutz, Flip, Salchow, Toe Loop, Loop).
Altogether, Chan has several spinning techniques, among which his Camel Spin is the most highly valued.
Chan’s mother has been heavily involved in his training throughout his dreamy passion. His mother was his manager, chauffeur, and cook during his initial days.
She took on all his responsibilities during his training years. Back in 2010, she assisted him while he trained in Florida and moved to Colorado.
“It was really hard for her. If it was her choice, she would definitely want to live with me. I had to draw the line. I’d turned 22. This was time for me to take ownership. It’s a step I had to take to prepare for the Olympics.”
– Patrick Chan
Injury
Chan’s foremost major injury came during the 2009-10 season. Initially, everyone suspected him of attracting H1N1 swine flu during a high-performance training camp in Vancouver.
Therewith, he began his treatment, and the antibiotics eventually weakened his muscles. Hence, in the 2009 event, Patrick experienced pain while jumping.
In the end, he struggled with a gastrocnemius tear in his left calf muscle.
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Achievements & Awards
- Chinese Canadian Youth of the Year (2007)
- Asian of the Year by Asia Network magazine (2008)
- Lou Marsh Trophy (2011)
- Sportsnet’s Canadian Athlete of the Year (2011)
- QMI Agency Canadian Male Athlete of the Year (2011)
- Lionel Conacher Award (2011)
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
- 15th Jean Lumb Award Winner (2012)
- John Ralston Saul Award (2012), etc.
Patrick Chan | Personal Life
Besides being a professional skater, Chan is also a father and a loving husband. He is married to Elizabeth Gale Putnam, a former competitive pair skater.
Elizabeth is the 2006 Four Continents bronze medalist and a two-time (2003–04) Canadian national bronze medalist.
The duo tied their knot in 2020, and in 2021, they welcomed a son, named Oliver.
Social Media
If you are interested in Chan’s personal life and uploads, check out his social media sites.
He is on Instagram as Patrick Chan (@pchan31). Likewise, he is on Twitter as Patrick Chan (@Pchiddy).
FAQs
What are Patrick Chan’s personal best scores?
Chan’s personal best score in ISU is 295.27 in combined total, 102.13 in the short program, and 203.99 in free skates.
Is Patrick Chan involved in any shows?
During the offseason of 2010, Chan debuted his newest show program, skating to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
