Elton John Congratulates Nathan Chen on Olympic Gold Medal

Chen won a gold medal for his free skate in the Winter Olympics to the song “Rocket Man.”

Nathan Chen skated to an Elton John medley in the men’s free skate on Thursday, winning his first Olympic gold medal

Chen, who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics and placed fifth, received congratulations from all over the world for his performance. But one shoutout came from John himself.

The 74-year-old pop singer tweeted a picture of Chen on the podium, congratulated him for his performance and made sure to note how Chen used his songs, including “Rocket Man,” for his routine.

Chen’s routine medley included three of John’s all-time hits, including “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” ”Rocket Man” and ”Bennie and the Jets.”

Chen, who has not been active on Twitter in about a month, has not replied or liked John’s tweet yet.

With Chen’s free skate score of 218.63 and his 332.60 overall score, he reached the top of the podium at the Olympics for the first time in his career. Chen now also holds the record for the highest overall men’s figure skating score.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.