Patrick ChanPhoto illustration The Globe and Mail. Source photo Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
Patrick Chan is coming back down to Earth. For more than 15 years, he’s leaped, twizzled, spun and soared to astonishing heights: winning multiple world championships and Olympic medals on behalf of Canada. In 2018, he retired from international competition but kept entertaining his fans on the show circuit. Now, even that part of his life is coming to an end. On Thursday night in Moncton, he began his farewell tour of Stars on Ice, which will travel to 10 more cities across Canada and close in Victoria on May 16. Then, Chan, 33, will go home to Vancouver, where he lives with his wife, skater Elizabeth Putnam, whom he married in 2020, and their 2 1/2-year-old son, Oliver – they’re expecting another child later this year – and clock in for work in his first year as a wealth-planning intern at a local wealth-management firm. Already, one post-skating career for which he had high hopes, as a commercial realtor, didn’t pan out. It has all, he admits, been quite an adjustment.
When were you happiest?
The first few years after my retirement from competitive skating – talk about a high, living on cloud nine, because I was with the best Canadian figure skating team in probably decades, probably since the Elvis and Kurt era – you know, with Tessa and Scott, and Eric and Meagan. We had a wonderful time, touring Canada, doing shows in Japan and in Korea. Just kind of living our best days.
What do you consider your lowest depths of misery?
The first six months after my son was born, we were kind of coming out of the pandemic, I had started a new career in commercial real estate, and that combination of walking through uncharted territory in two different worlds, I felt like I had no control, I had no experience. I just felt so unprepared for all of it. I would rush off to work and then come back really upset or frustrated with whatever was going on there. I had zero patience by the time I got home and treated my wife and my son really unfairly. I wasn’t necessarily present or patient. That was a really dark time. We went to couples therapy and I went to a therapist for myself, personally. Just trying to figure out, how do I grow from this?
How did being a father change you?
My parents were immigrant parents and went through a lot of struggles as young adolescents, and I’m not blaming them, but I want to be a better version of them. And that took a lot of work – it’s still ongoing. Whether it’s as simple as – I hate to admit it, but just, like, being extremely frustrated, or yelling, being really impatient, all these things that I thought I had a good handle on – I didn’t really. It wasn’t a real test until I had a child. So, thank goodness for my wife, who is five years wiser than I am, and a perfect counterbalance to my personality. I’ve had to really put my ego aside and admit that I approach things maybe not the best way. So that’s taken a lot of vulnerability. Just to be like: Yeah, I was wrong and I messed up and I’m sorry.
What characteristic defines you?
I’m a very coachable person. I love having guidance, and almost being told what to do, like a coach did when I was skating – that was dangling the carrot for me. I’m very enthusiastic if you give me direction. I love a challenge, as long as I have direction and insights and kind of a mentor.
What is your main flaw?
Yeah, so, I’m an only child. And combined with having a long figure skating career as an individual male skater, it naturally made me a very selfish person. Sometimes I’m a bit brash with my actions instead of being thoughtful. That’s something I’ve learned in the last few years, sometimes it’s best just to sit back and let others speak and get some of their opinions and their thoughts and insight.
Why make the decision to retire now?
I have to take into account all the other aspects that are developing in my life. I have an endless amount of opportunity and chances to continue skating, or go to travel the world and perform and be who I am as a skater. But if I want to develop other skills and I want to be there at home and have some roots where I can grow my family and we can all grow together and I can continue to learn more about myself as a parent, I need to be home.
What do you think you will miss the most about performing on the public stage?
I’ll miss the camaraderie with the cast members, the other skaters, the crew members. We really travel a bit like a circus show. We talk and we learn about each other and we share stories, and it’s such a wonderful way to bond. I’ll miss the fans. I’ll just miss being able to listen to music and see it as an art piece. Like, every time I hear a piece of music, I’m like: Hmm, how could I interpret this via skating? And how can I add to this already beautiful piece of music? How can I enhance it? To have that ability is such a unique talent and skill. And then, on top of that, we get to do it in front of an audience. How many people get a chance to do that?
Do you have a favourite author?
I have a book on the road with me right now. It’s the new one by the author Mitch Albom. He wrote Tuesdays with Morrie and that was a book that my wife, she has three copies of it and I hadn’t read it until we got together and she’s like, ‘Oh my God, you need to read this.’ It’s wonderful. I’m not a big reader. I flew through the book; it was a page-turner for me. And then I got the opportunity to meet him in Michigan this past winter. He’s just a wonderful person and has some amazing stories, and he’s a sportswriter, obviously, so we kind of connected over sports.
Is there a talent you would like to have?
I would love to be a better public speaker, or a better writer. Better with words in general. I sometimes struggle with connecting thoughts and ideas into a beautiful couple of sentences. I tend to ramble and have really disorganized thoughts. So, yeah, just being a better speaker and being able to hold a dialogue better.
What would you consider your greatest achievement?
If you asked me that five years ago, I would say obviously winning the Olympic gold medal with the team, and being a two-time world champion and Canadian champion. That was obviously such a highlight for me, representing Canada for over a decade internationally.
So, that would have been your answer five years ago. And now?
Becoming a father is my greatest achievement. Getting to this place where I can comfortably say this is the end of one chapter and I’m prioritizing the next. I’m riddled with fear and uncertainty, but I know that this is what I want, and I can’t wait to see how this develops and grows.
Do you have a greatest regret?
I have a few regrets. They’re all quite great. Not going to university as a young boy, to push myself to balance skating and school at the same time. The other thing would be a couple of coaching choices in my career I think could have pushed me further, and I think I could have been more successful near the end of my career. But now we’re just being nitpicky.
Do you have a greatest extravagance?
My car. I’m a big motorhead. Our family car – it’s not a sports car, it’s a family sedan, but it’s quite sporty, and I pay ridiculous amounts of money to own it. It’s an Audi RS6. I’ve always dreamed to have it. It’s perfect for the family. We could throw the dog in the back, but it’s got, like, 600 horsepower – which is more power than I’ll ever need. And it’s really flashy. I love it so much, every time I park it, I look back at it probably three times as I’m walking away.