Olympic champion Nathan Chen and his longtime figure skating coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, will be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame when it celebrates its 50th anniversary at the national championships next month in St. Louis.
Joseph Inman, who helped to develop the current scoring system after the 2002 Olympics judging scandal, also will be inducted.
The 26-year-old Chen helped to usher in the era of quadruple jumps in men's skating, becoming the first athlete to land five different types of quads in competition. He set several Olympic and world records during a competitive career spanning 12 years, and his overall score of 335.30 set during the 2019 Grand Prix Final still stands to this day.
While he won three world titles and six consecutive U.S. titles, Chen will forever be known for the Olympics. He helped the U.S. win team bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but struggled in the men's competition, then used that bitter disappointment as fuel to win the men's competition and help to deliver team gold four years later at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Chen stepped away from competition shortly after the Olympics, though he still skates in occasional shows. He graduated from Yale last year and is pursuing a career in medicine, and the Salt Lake City native is part of the athlete advisory committee helping the city prepare to host the 2034 Winter Games.
Chen may have been Arutyunyan's most notable protege over a coaching career spanning 50 years — at least, until reigning world champion and Olympic favorite Ilia Malinin, who has come along and threatened to wipe out many of his compatriots' records.
Arutyunyan competed for the former Soviet Union and coached the Russian national team in the late 1990s before moving to the U.S. and settling in California; he became a citizen six years ago. Arutyunyan has coached many U.S. champions, including Michelle Kwan, Ashley Wagner, Sasha Cohen, Adam Rippon and Mariah Bell, and international star such as Mao Asada and Jeffrey Buttle.
Arutyunyan is the head coach of the high performance team at Great Park Ice and Five Point Arena in Irvine, California.
Inman, a classically trained pianist, was appointed to the committee charged with overhauling figure skating's scoring system after a controversy erupting over the pairs competition at the 2002 Olympics. The longtime judge, referee and technical controller helped to create a system that championed objectivity while bringing program components to the forefront.
Inman also served 21 years with the United States Army band as its lead percussionist and substitute pianist.
“The Class of 2026 holds the prestigious distinction of being the golden class of inductees as we celebrate the Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary,” said Richard Dalley, the Hall of Fame's nominating committee chair. “In every category, this group features legendary recipients whose impact and legacy elevate the significance of this milestone celebration.”
AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Nathan Chen, of the United States, competes during the men's short program figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE - Nathan Chen, right, waves next to coach Rafael Arutyunyan after seeing his scores during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Jan. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was set to address the nation Wednesday night and offer an update on the war in Iran, his first prime-time speech since launching strikes alongside Israel more than a month ago.
The speech will offer Trump a wide audience to articulate clear objectives for the war that could attempt to reconcile weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he’s winding down or ready to escalate military operations — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors and airstrikes pounded Tehran.
It comes amid rising oil prices, volatile financial markets and polling showing many Americans feel the U.S. military has gone too far in Iran — even as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive. Trump opted not to deliver such an address closer to when the U.S. and Israel first launched attacks 4 1/2 weeks ago, and questions now remain about whether it is now too late for what he says to break through.
A White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the address and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president will talk about the U.S. progress on achieving his goals in Iran and will reiterate his estimated timeline for concluding operations within two to three weeks.
In a social media post Wednesday morning, Trump maintained a belligerent tone, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway vital to global oil supplies — or the U.S. would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” The president has also said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz — an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran’s power grid if it didn’t open the strait by April 6.
In another post, he claimed that “Iran’s New Regime President” wanted a ceasefire. It wasn’t clear to whom the U.S. president was referring since Iran still has the same president. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump’s claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
Speaking earlier to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Hours before Trump’s address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted a lengthy letter in English on his X account appealing to U.S. citizens and stressing that his country had pursued negotiations before the U.S. withdrew from that path. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” he wrote.
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has offered shifting objectives and repeatedly has said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about why.
Trump has also threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. And the U.S. could decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile — a complex and risky operation, fraught with radiation and chemical dangers, experts and former government officials say.
Adding to the confusion is what role Israel — which has been bombing Iran alongside the U.S. — might play in any of these scenarios.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war that has been pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for its nuclear program to be rolled back.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. And in a report last week by Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster, an anonymous official was quoted as saying Iran had its own demands to end the fighting, including retaining sovereignty over the strait.
In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
In a deal ostensibly to give diplomacy a chance, U.S. officials have given “clear assurances” that Araghchi and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf won't be targeted, according to three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The crew was evacuated and no casualties were reported. A Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired from Iran in the last 24 hours. No casualties were reported. Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia.
Very early on Thursday, Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles at the country, the first time of the day.
In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Grambell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
A young girl is comforted by her father and Israeli soldiers as they take cover in a bomb shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike amid debris and damaged vehicles in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man feeds stray cats in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A police vehicle is seen through a shattered windshield at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
