Emily Chan

For the doctor and public health academic, see Emily Ying Yang Chan.

Emily Chan
Chan/Howe at the 2023 Four Continents Championships
Born	(1997-08-11) August 11, 1997 (age 26) Pasadena, Texas, U.S.
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Partner	Spencer Akira Howe
Coach	Olga Ganicheva, Aleksey Letov
Skating club	The Skating Club of Boston
Began skating	2001
Medal record Representing   United States Figure skating: Pairs Four Continents Championships 2022 Tallinn Pairs 2023 Colorado Springs Pairs

Emily Chan (born August 11, 1997) is an American pair skater. With her skating partner, Spencer Howe, she is a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2022 and 2023) silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix silver medalist (2022 Skate America; 2022 NHK Trophy), and a two-time U.S. national medalist (silver in 2023; pewter in 2022).

Earlier in her career, she competed in women's singles, becoming the 2016 U.S. national junior champion and 2015 U.S. national novice champion.

Personal life

Chan was born on August 11, 1997, in Pasadena, Texas. ^[1] She attended Fairmont Elementary School and Fairmont Junior High in Pasadena, ^[2] and high school in McKinney, Texas. ^[1] In addition to skating, she has also trained in Chinese modern dance and ballet. ^[2] She was born to a Hong-Kong born father and Taiwanese born mother. ^[3]

Chan also coaches young figure skaters at The Skating Club of Boston, where she trains. ^[4]

Career

Single skating

Chan competed at the novice level until the 2014–15 season. At the U.S. Championships, she finished sixth in 2013 and ninth in 2014 before winning the gold medal in 2015. ^[1]

In 2015–16, Chan moved up to the junior level. She made her ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in Bratislava, Slovakia, finishing sixth. ^[1] She won the gold medal at the 2016 U.S. Championships. ^[5] She trained in Plano, Texas, coached by Aleksey Letov. ^{[1] [6]}

Pair skating

Early years

Chan began figure skating in 2001 at the age of four. ^{[7] [4]}

Chan competed for three seasons in juvenile pairs with J. Daniel Vallecilla. In December 2008, the two won the juvenile title at the 2009 U.S. Junior Championships. Nicole Sciarrotta Nichols coached the pair in Texas. ^[2]

Skating with Misha Mitrofanov, Chan placed eighth in novice pairs at the 2015 U.S. Championships

She teamed up with Spencer Howe in 2019, and the two decided to train at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, coached by Aleksey Letov and Olga Ganicheva. ^[8] In their second season together, Chan/Howe placed seventh at the 2020 Skate America and fifth at the 2021 U.S. Championships.

2021–22 season

Chan/Howe finished ninth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup. In January, they won pewter for fourth place at the 2022 U.S. Championships and were sent to the 2022 Four Continents Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. Ranked third in the short and second in the free, they moved ahead of Canada's Walsh/Michaud to take the silver medal behind fellow Americans Lu/Mitrofanov. ^[9]

2022–23 season

The international pairs scene going into the 2022–23 season was greatly altered by the International Skating Union banning all Russian skaters in response to their country's invasion of Ukraine. ^[10] With more podium opportunities for pairs outside of Russia, Chan/Howe began with a silver medal win at the 2022 CS U.S. Classic. Howe said that they were pleased with the outcome in light of injury troubles that had hindered their preparations. ^[11]

Given two Grand Prix assignments for the first time, they won the silver medal at the 2022 Skate Canada International. ^[12] They won a second silver medal weeks later at the 2022 NHK Trophy, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. ^{[13] [14]} Despite a jump error in the free skate, Chan said they were "very happy with our skate." ^[15] Chan/Howe struggled at the Final, finishing sixth of six teams. ^[16]

Chan/Howe won the silver medal at the 2023 U.S. Championships, a new best podium placement at the national championships. Chan said they were both "really grateful" for the result. ^[17] With national champions Knierim/Frazier declining to attend the 2023 Four Continents Championships in favour of a paid appearance at Art on Ice, Chan/Howe became the highest-ranked American team in attendance at a home ISU championship. ^[18] In the short program, Howe fell on his triple toe attempt, but they still placed third in the segment. ^{[19] [20]} In the free skate, they overtook Canadians Stellato/Deschamps for the silver medal, their second. Chan called it "a special moment for both of us." ^{[21] [22]}

Chan/Howe concluded their season by making their World Championship debut, finishing fifth at the 2023 edition in Saitama. ^[23]

2023–24 season

For most of the 2022–23 season, Howe had been dealing what was eventually revealed to be a torn labrum, which necessitated surgery in May of 2023. Chan and Howe resumed training together in July, and initially hoped to be ready to compete on the Grand Prix circuit in the fall. ^[24] However, they subsequently had to withdraw from their assignments, as Howe's return to readiness proved slower than they had hoped. He would later say that the process was about getting "to a place where it’s like, oh, wow, this is what it feels like to actually be able to skate and not always be dealing and managing with pain." ^[25]

Chan and Howe performing a pair spin during their free skate at the 2024 World Championships

Chan/Howe announced that they would return to competition at the 2024 U.S. Championships in Columbus. ^[25] Despite Chan putting a hand down on the pair's throw loop in the short program, they won the segment by 1.29 points over Kam/O'Shea. Afterward, they announced their withdrawal in advance of the free skate. Howe explained that the short program was "a big success for us, and a huge milestone to our comeback, but we feel we want to take this time to continue to get healthy and set ourselves up for success." ^[26]

Despite their withdrawal from the national championships, Chan/Howe were named to the American team from the 2024 World Championships in Montreal. ^[27] They came twelfth in the short program, having had issues on their throw and spins. ^[28] Thirteenth in the free skate, they finished twelfth overall. Chan viewed the result as "amazing for us," explaining that "last year we had a great debut. This year, we have a little bit different circumstances, but we're here and we're grateful." ^[29]

Programs

With Howe

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2023–24 [30]	Craw-Fever I Got a Feelin' in My Body by Elvis Presley choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 by Muse choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2022–23 [7]	Nyah (from Mission: Impossible 2 ) by Hans Zimmer performed by CH2 choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Ghost: The Musical Unchained Melody / The Love Inside performed by Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy Unchained Melody performed by Marc Martel choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Something's Got to Give by Labrinth
2021–22 [31]		Elegy For The Arctic Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2020–21 [32]	Onmyoji 2 by Shigeru Umebayashi choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	The Prayer by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa, Tony Renis performed by Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2019–20 [8]	Je Crois Entendre Encore by Alison Moyet choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter choreo. by Olga Ganicheva

Single skating

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2016–17 [1]	Je Suis Malade by Lara Fabian Olga Ganicheva	Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2015–16 [6]	I Will Always Love You (from The Bodyguard) by Whitney Houston choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Chopin by Edvin Martin choreo. by Olga Ganicheva

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix. Pewter medals (fourth place) awarded only at U.S. national and subnational events.

Pairs with Howe

International [33]
Event	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23	23–24
Worlds				5th	12th
Four Continents			2nd	2nd
GP Final				6th
GP NHK Trophy				2nd	WD
GP Skate America		7th
GP Skate Canada				2nd
CS U.S. Classic				2nd
CS Warsaw Cup			9th
Cranberry Cup			4th
John Nicks Challenge			6th	2nd
National [8]
U.S. Championships		5th	4th	2nd	WD
ISP Points Challenge		8th
Championship Series		1st
U.S. Pairs Final	6th
WD = Withdrew

Ladies singles

International [34]
Event	15–16	17–18
CS U.S. Classic		6th
JGP Slovakia	6th
National [1]
U.S. Champ.	1st J	20th
Levels: J = Junior

Detailed results

With Howe

2023–2024 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 18–24, 2024	2024 World Championships	12 62.86	13 112.58	12 175.44
January 22-28, 2024	2024 U.S. Championships	1 65.86	WD	WD
2022–2023 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 20–26, 2023	2023 World Championships	5 70.23	8 124.50	5 194.73
February 7–12, 2023	2023 Four Continents Championships	3 66.96	2 134.15	2 201.11
January 23–29, 2023	2023 U.S. Championships	2 66.86	2 130.00	2 196.86
December 8–11, 2022	2022–23 Grand Prix Final	6 53.85	6 109.06	6 162.91
November 18–20, 2022	2022 NHK Trophy	2 64.62	2 122.87	2 187.49
October 28–30, 2022	2022 Skate Canada International	2 67.39	3 119.09	2 186.48
September 12–16, 2022	2022 CS U.S. Classic	2 61.71	2 120.10	2 181.81
September 8–10, 2022	2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge	2 60.45	2 113.64	2 174.09
2021–2022 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	3 64.47	2 116.47	2 180.94
January 3–9, 2022	2022 U.S. Championships	4 61.94	5 115.31	4 177.25
November 17–20, 2021	2021 CS Warsaw Cup	12 56.94	8 106.45	9 163.39
September 9–10, 2021	2021 John Nicks Pairs Challenge	6 59.77	6 110.31	6 170.08
August 11–15, 2021	2021 Cranberry Cup International	4 63.61	4 118.83	4 182.44
2020–2021 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 11–21, 2021	2021 U.S. Championships	5 60.41	5 116.65	5 177.06
December 22, 2020	2021 U.S. Championship Series	–	1 105.94	1 105.94
October 23–24, 2020	2020 Skate America	7 55.58	8 95.57	7 151.15
September 21, 2020	2020 ISP Points Challenge	7 55.22	6 98.79	7 154.01
2019–2020 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 12–16, 2019	2020 U.S. Pairs Final	6 49.76	5 89.28	6 139.04

References

1. "Emily Chan". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016.
2. Sweeten, Valerie (December 30, 2008). "Pasadena girl performs well on ice". chron.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012.
3. "Spencer Howe and Emily Chan Honor Asian American Heritages". U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone. May 23, 2023.
4. "GOEing into Detail with Emily Chan and Spencer Howe". YouTube. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
5. Rutherford, Lynn (January 21, 2016). "Late-bloomer Chan topples ladies field in Saint Paul". IceNetwork.com . Archived from the original on June 30, 2018.
6. "Emily CHAN: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
7. "Emily CHAN / Spencer HOWE: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022.
8. • "Emily Chan and Spencer Howe: 2021/2022". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022.
   • "Emily Chan and Spencer Howe: 2020/2021". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021.
9. Slater, Paula (January 22, 2022). "USA's Lu and Mitrofanov: 'It means everything'". Golden Skate.
10. McCarvel, Nick (October 19, 2022). "Figure skating 2022/23 season preview: New Olympic quad begins with intrigue and plenty of familiar faces". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved November 1, 2022.
11. Sausa, Christie (September 15, 2022). "Ilia Malinin Rewrites the History Books with Quad Axel to Take Gold". U.S. Figure Skating.
12. Slater, Paula (October 29, 2022). "Miura and Kihara win historic pairs Gold for Japan". Golden Skate.
13. "'Confident' Miura/Kihara (JPN) delight home crowd to lead Pairs after Short Program at NHK Trophy". International Skating Union. November 18, 2022.
14. Slater, Paula (November 19, 2022). "Miura and Kihara take second Grand Prix title at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate.
15. "Miura/Kihara (JPN) take home Pairs gold in NHK Trophy to qualify for Grand Prix Final in style". International Skating Union. November 19, 2022.
16. Slater, Paula (December 9, 2022). "Miura and Kihara make history in Torino". Golden Skate.
17. Flett, Ted (January 29, 2023). "Knierim and Frazier reclaim US pairs title". Golden Skate.
18. McCarvel, Nick (February 6, 2023). "ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2023 preview: Levito, Miura/Kihara and Chock/Bates all aim for titles ahead of figure skating worlds". Olympic Channel .
19. "Miura/Kihara (JPN) capture Four Continents Pairs Short Program". International Skating Union. February 10, 2023.
20. Dombrowski, Judith (February 10, 2023). "Miura and Kihara 'achieve goal' in short program". Golden Skate.
21. Slater, Paula (February 11, 2023). "Miura and Kihara reign at Four Continents". Golden Skate.
22. "Miura/Kihara claim historic Four Continents Pairs title for Japan". International Skating Union. February 11, 2023.
23. Slater, Paula (March 23, 2023). "Miura and Kihara grand-slam their way into history". Golden Skate.
24. Kellar, Anna (August 24, 2023). "Chan and Howe: 'It's just the beginning'". Golden Skate. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
25. Zaccardi, Nick (January 24, 2024). "Top U.S. pair Emily Chan, Spencer Howe signal return at figure skating nationals". NBC Sports . Retrieved April 1, 2024.
26. "Pairs' leaders Emily Chan, Spencer Howe withdraw from figure skating nationals". NBC Sports . January 25, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
27. Henneman, Kristen (March 18, 2024). "Seventeen of Team USA's Best to Compete on World Stage". U.S. Figure Skating . Retrieved April 1, 2024.
28. Schwindt, Troy (March 20, 2024). "Levito shines in short program at Worlds, places second". U.S. Figure Skating . Retrieved April 1, 2024.
29. Schwindt, Troy (March 21, 2024). "Malinin third after short program at Worlds, with Brown close behind". U.S. Figure Skating . Retrieved April 1, 2024.
30. "Emily CHAN / Spencer HOWE: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024.
31. "Emily CHAN / Spencer HOWE: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022.
32. "Emily CHAN / Spencer HOWE: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021.
33. "Competition Results: Emily CHAN / Spencer HOWE". International Skating Union.
34. "Competition Results: Emily CHAN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020.