Nathan Chen was put under a modicum of pressure at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and he delivered.
Chen nailed his most daunting short program jumping layout since 2018, landing a quadruple Lutz, a triple Axel and, in the second half, a quad flip-triple toe loop combination to top the standings in Las Vegas with 113.92 points.
But Chen’s lead going into Sunday’s free skate is smaller than any of the last four years when he won the title.
It’s 6.13 points over childhood rival Vincent Zhou, who landed two quads in arguably the best short program of his career an hour before Chen skated at fan-less Orleans Arena.