Patrick Chan

“Paris is beautiful, but nothing beats home.”

“If you look at all the sports in China, the government is extremely involved and they are extremely proud of their athlete.”

“When I was born, my parents were huge into skiing. I grew up on Mont Blanc, skiing on that hill. I was really a ski baby. Loved it; I still love it.”

“I was so proud to have the chance to be able to represent Canada at the Olympics in Vancouver.”

“I skate just to satisfy my own desire and not care about other people's desire for me to do well.”

“Every Olympics, we always end up having someone on the podium that we had no idea, or we didn't expect them to be.”

“I'm slowly feeling more Chinese and feel I should be more proud of being Chinese and appreciate where I've come from.”

“I feel proud to be a skater: it's taught me how to be emotional, more connected with myself, more mature, more understanding of my thoughts and the conversations I've had with myself.”

“All I can say is I'm proud to be Canadian.”

“I'm extremely well recognized in Korea just because of what I do on the ice, and there is a lack of that in Canada because hockey is our sport and it will be for eternity.”

“I'm going to stick to what I can do... because if I try and,,, do the impossible, I will either get too frustrated to the point where I won't enjoy the sport anymore, or I will get hurt and maybe have to get hip replacements at age 30.”

“The attitude is different in the U.S. I feel like, in Canada, there is more of a sense of community and more of a sense of, 'I'll take the shirt off my back to help you because you're my neighbour.' There is not many of us, right? So each and every Canadian is very special.”

“I carry a lot of muscle easily.”

“I can do all my jumps in practice, three in a row, five out of five, four out of five.”

“My parents are very good parents and have already said that they will look after me until the end of my skating career.”

“I love figure skating and what I am able to express creatively. I want to leave a legacy in the sport.”

“The lifestyle of Vancouver does seem to really draw me towards there.”

“I'm competing against men who are doing five quads between the short program and the long program, and I'm at three between the two programs. Who would ever imagine that three wasn't enough for some people?”

“Traditionally, skaters tend to tie their skates very tightly. I tend to just tie my foot down, then in the ankle area, I tend to keep it loose. It gives me better mobility. But also, you're relying on your own strength as opposed to resting on the boot.”

“I hope that people will one day look back at my skating and what I brought to the table. 'Remember when Patrick skated like this? Or remember when skating was like this?' That would be a cool legacy to leave behind.”