Elton John. Daft Punk. Phillip Phillips. Ricky Martin.
These musicians may not be synonymous with Olympic figure skating, but that may change in Beijing. They have headlined arenas and concert halls around the world, and on Thursday during the men’s free skate program, their songs are filling the Capital Indoor Stadium.
To be sure, the traditional accompaniments of Hans Zimmer, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Vivaldi will still be heard. But as a new generation of skaters comes of age, so, too, do their music selections.
Nathan Chen of the United States hopes to secure gold as he skates to a compilation of Elton John hits, including “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Rocket Man,” and “Bennie and the Jets.” His teammate Jason Brown is taking a more classical approach with music composed by John Williams for the film “Schindler’s List.”
Donovan Carrillo, the first Mexican in 30 years to compete in Olympic figure skating, qualified for the free skate under the spell of “Black Magic Woman” by Santana, whose founder and lead guitarist, Carlos Santana, was born in Mexico. Carrillo continued to feature Latino artists in his free skate routine, including Ricky Martin, Carlos Rivera and Deorro, a Mexican American D.J.
“It is something that I always try to do to my performance, to involve Mexican culture,” Carrillo said after his short program.
Keegan Messing of Canada skated to “Lullaby for an Angel” by Karl Hugo and “Home,” the 2012 pop hit made famous by Phillip Phillips, the season 11 “American Idol” winner. Adam Siao Him Fa of France skated to the electronic duo Daft Punk.
Singles and pairs skaters have been permitted to compete to music with words since the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea — an effort to make the sport more appealing to a younger generation.