Nathan Chen, the 17-year-old U.S. champion, faced the pressure of skating after Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu with a gold medal at stake on Sunday. He met it, bagging the biggest title of his young career at the Four Continents Championships.
Chen did so at the 2018 Olympic venue, and with minor jumping mistakes, boosting hopes he can prevail at worlds next month and again in South Korea next year.
Chen landed five quadruple jumps — matching his record for a free skate — to total 307.46 points. Hanyu landed four quads — with a costly double Salchow, as he did in the short program — for 303.