Fresh from winning his fifth straight U.S. figure skating title, Salt Lake City native Nathan Chen will leap back into the national spotlight this week for another crowning event: the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The inaugural committee has announced that Chen will join fellow U.S. Olympians — sprinter Allyson Felix and swimmer Katie Ledecky — as participants in Wednesday’s virtual “Parade Across America.”
Scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. MST after Biden’s swearing-in, the parade will take place virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. It will feature diverse performers and highlight American heroes from all 50 states and a handful of U.S. territories.
“By lifting up voices from all walks of life, in every corner of our country,” committee chair Tony Allen said in a news release, “we want the first moments of the Biden-Harris administration to be a celebration of an inclusive, resilient united America.”
On Sunday in Las Vegas, the 21-year-old Chen again claimed the U.S. Figure Skating Championship, easily topping the rest of the field despite an early slip in his free-skate program.
Wednesday’s parade will be livestreamed at https://BidenInaugural.org/watch and on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch.