Evan Lysacek Says Nathan Chen Becoming Next U.S. Olympic Champion Was 'Absolutely the Highlight'

Among the many people celebrating Nathan Chen's gold medal win this week in men's figure skating at the Beijing Winter Games was one of the few who knows exactly how it feels: Evan Lysacek, the last American skater to be named Olympic champion.

"I'm happy to be able to pass the torch to someone who I've known since he was a kid and watched grow into a gentleman and a great champion," Lysacek, 36, tells PEOPLE.

The 2010 Olympic gold medalist continues: "Watching him win was meaningful for me as a friend to Nathan, and also as an American. He made our country proud!"

Lysacek and Chen, 22, are connected in more ways than their victory: In the small world of elite figure skating, the two actually trained at the same rink a decade ago, from 2011 to 2013, according to NBC Sports.

They also skated together in an event as well, at a 2010 gala preparing for the Vancouver Games that Lysacek went on to win.

And then, in the last year, they saw each other again when Lysacek — going a little stir-crazy during the pandemic — picked up some skates again and spent a few months at the same rink where Chen was preparing for Beijing.

According to NBC Sports, the two talked several times, with Chen opening up a bit about the emotional experience of his Olympic journey and Lysacek sharing some advice.

"The conversations were pretty brief, but just sharing some of the worries or things that I've dealt with over the past few years, the similar things that he's dealt with," Chen told NBC Sports in January. "Just kind of framing perspectives around the Olympics."

Lysacek said he advised Chen: "Hey, look, I think a clean skate will win."

"There's always kind of that one [program] that's perfect, and the rest are not, and the one that's perfect will win," Lysacek told NBC. "And that's kind of what I shared with Nathan. It doesn't matter if it's six quads, five quads, four quads or three."

In the end, of course, Chen completed five quads in his Olympic return — a redemption after his 2018 debut, in South Korea, was marred by falls.

"Nathan's win has absolutely been the highlight for me," Lysacek, who now works in real estate and got married in 2019, tells PEOPLE. "His ability to navigate the Olympic pressure and tremendous expectation placed on him made his winning performance even more impactful."

"There are so many factors that contribute to success on the Olympic level. Skill, mental control, etc. ... but also consequential is timing," Lysacek says. "A skater has to reach their peak just at the right moment for the Olympic season."

That's what Chen accomplished.

"I have no doubt that Nathan's win will inspire the next U.S. Olympic champion to discover the sport," Lysacek says.

To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.