From The Wall Street Journal:
Chen delivered a rapturous free program with five quadruple jumps here on Thursday to win the men’s individual gold medal for the United States, avenging his devastatingly uneven performance at the Olympics four years ago in the grandest way and reigniting a conversation about whether he’s the greatest figure skater of his generation. . . .
Chen wasn’t battling Hanyu, Uno or Kagiyama so much as he was competing against his own past at the Olympics. He constructed his own personal bubble inside the strict Beijing closed loop, leaving his phone at home, resisting the urge to scroll for hours through social media and picking up his electric guitar instead.
To preserve his focus heading into a competition unlike any other, Chen added a sports psychologist and dropped social media, putting himself in the psychological headspace and physiological zone to peak at the Olympics.
Source: “Nathan Chen’s Golden Hour“
From Cal Newport:
He brought his guitar instead [of his phone], choosing to replace dopamine hacking with high quality leisure.
Most of us, of course, are not Olympic athletes struggling to live up to impossible expectations. There is, however, still a lesson to be learned from Chen’s disconnection. A life spent subservient to that small glowing screen is not a life where you’re living up to your potential.
Source: “Nathan Chen Didn’t Bring His Phone to the Olympics“